The Relationship between Pragmatic Competence and Speaking Performance

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between students’ pragmatic competence and their speaking performance. To achieve this goal, students’ pragmatic competence was measured by means of a pragmatic competence test; students’ speaking performance was measured by iBT- type speaking test and iBT speaking section scores. The participants in the study were 62 incoming students from different departments at the American University of Armenia (AUA). Research questions were: 1. What is the relationship between pragmatic competence and speaking performance? 2. What is student's attitude towards communicating in real life situation? 3. What is student's attitude towards language rules of use (e.g., politeness rules)? The instruments that were used for collecting data were: a. One pragmatic competence test. b.iBT speaking section scores & iBT-type speaking section (PBT supplement). c. One questionnaire. The quantitative data collected from the pragmatic competence test, iBT- type speaking test and iBT speaking section scores were analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis in order to find the relationship between pragmatic competence and speaking performance. The qualitative data were collected through questionnaire and analyzed. The result of the quantitative data showed that there was no relationship between students' pragmatic competence and their speaking performance. The result of the qualitative data showed that the majority of the students find difficulty in communication with native speakers in social situation.