Representative Speech Acts of Chinese ESL Students in Deliberative Discussion
Abstract
With the increasing proliferation of collaborative activities in English learning classes, deliberative discussions centered around achieving shared objectives are more likely to emerge during classroom conversations conducted in English. Through the lens of Speech Act Theory, this study examined and analyzed the English speech performance as second language of Chinese college students’ deliberative dialogues in groups. In discussion, the participants demonstrate sufficient pragmatic proficiency to reach a consensus on contentious issues through their deliberative speech acts, which involve four stages: proposing ideas, providing reasoning and arguments, responding to others’ viewpoints, and modifying or reformulating ideas. The analysis reveals that students can achieve an optimal deliberative dialogue through a congenial and supportive attitude. In their collaborative consultations, they diligently worked towards reaching a consensus that aligned with the collective interest, albeit failing to determine a feasible course of action. It is evident that students tend to overlook their communicative purposes amidst the process of test-oriented second language acquisition. Further English teaching should shift the focus from standard grammar and semantic accuracy to satisfying pragmatic functions.
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