learners‘ expressions of gratitude in L2 contexts. But, unfortunately, expressing gratitude is one of the most infrequently studied speech acts in interlanguage
pragmatics, in particularly within the field of pragmatic transfer.
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Noticing this fact, through the present study, the evidences of pragmatic transfer in the expressions of gratitude which are made by advanced Indonesian
learners of English who has lived in the US for at least one year is investigated. As the baseline data, the expressions of gratitude which are made by native
speakers of American English and Indonesian is first compared by pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic approaches in order to discover similaritys
and differences which may potentially lead Indonesian learners of English to do pragmatic transfer, at pragmalinguistic or sociopragmatic level, when they express
gratitude in the context of American English as L2.
B. Focus of the Study
The present study focuses on investigating the evidences of pragmatic transfer in the expressions of gratitude as responses after receiving a favor which
are made by advanced-level Indonesian learners of English who have lived in the US for at least a year.
C. Research Questions
According to the background of the study, the research questions which guide the study are as follow:
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Gabriele Kasper 1992, op.cit. p. 211.
1. How are native speakers of American English and Indonesian compared in
their expressions of gratitude as defined by pragmalinguistic and
sociopragmatic approaches?
2. What is the evidence of the pragmatic transfer in the expressions of gratitude
which are made by Indonesian learners of English?
D. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are: 1.
To analyze how native speakers of American English and and Indonesian are compared in their expressions of gratitude by pragmalinguistic and
sociopragmatic approaches. 2.
To examine what the evidence of the pragmatic transfer in the expressions of gratitude which are made by Indonesian learners of English is.
E. Significances of the Study The writer hopes that the research will be:
1.
Benefit in enriching research in pragmatic transfer on expressing gratitude.
2. Benefit in enriching an insight of cross-cultural comparison of expressing
gratitude by native speakers of American English and Indonesian.
3. Benefit in providing better understanding that, in second language use, learners
are not only expected to understand on grammatical aspects. In specifically expressing gratitude in L2 contexts, to be pragmatically successful and
mutually satisfying the recipient and the favor giver, language learners are
required to recognize which their L1-based pragmalinguistic or sociopragmatic
knowledge which is transferable to L2 contexts.
F. Research Methodology 1. Method
