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This study investigates developmental patterns in the ability of Greek FL learners to refuse a request. Drawing data from role-plays and verbal reports, it attempts to explore the strategies that learners of three different proficiency levels (lower intermediate, intermediate and advanced) employ when performing refusals in equal and unequal status situations. The results suggest that, although there is a great deal of development with increasing proficiency, even the advanced learners' performance lags far behind native speakers in several respects. Furthermore, the study investigates the impact of both grammatical development and sociocultural knowledge on the development of these learners' ability to perform refusals. Finally, it is suggested that the developmental stages of pragmatic competence proposed in the literature in regard to other speech acts and especially requests (Ellis, 1992; Achiba, 2003) can also be valid for the development of refusals. © 2013. |
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