Complaint sequences across proficiency levels: the contribution of pragmatics and multimodality

Abstract

El objetivo de esta tesis es contribuir a la investigación en pragmática del interlenguaje y multimodalidad. El objetivo principal es explorar como aprendices de lengua en distintos niveles de lengua realizan quejas desde la perspectiva del análisis de la conversación (Kasper, 2006). Un análisis multimodal de la conversación se ha realizado para examinar cómo diferentes modos interactúan en la construcción de la conversación. El marco teórico presentado en el estudio se centró en la naturaleza de la pragmática (Crystal, 1985; Leech, 1983; Thomas, 1983), pragmática del interlenguaje (Kasper & Blum-Kulka, 1993), análisis de la conversación (Sacks et al., 1974), nivel de lengua (e.g. Al-Gahtani & Roever, 2012), el acto de habla de las quejas (e.g. Trosborg, 1995; Laforest, 2002), y la multimodalidad (Jewitt, et al., 2016).

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the research on interlanguage pragmatics and multimodality. The main purpose is to explore how learners at different proficiency levels perform complaints and responses to complaints following a conversation analysis approach (Kasper, 2006). Furthermore, a multimodal conversation analysis is conducted in order to examine how different modes interact in the construction of the conversation. To meet the objectives of the thesis, the theoretical framework presented in the study focused on the nature of pragmatics (Crystal, 1985; Leech, 1983; Thomas, 1983), interlanguage pragmatics (Kasper & Blum-Kulka, 1993), conversation analysis (Sacks et al., 1974), proficiency (e.g. Al-Gahtani & Roever, 2012), the speech act of complaints (e.g. Trosborg, 1995; Laforest, 2002), and multimodality (Jewitt, et al., 2016). This framework served to explore participants' performance of complaints sequences at different proficiency levels, specific conversational features such as backchannel and overlapping, paralanguage and kinesics.