Percepción de la (des)cortesía de los actos exhortativos en la adquisición del español por dicentes de E/LE

Abstract

As it is known (Haverkate 1994, Bravo 1996; 1998, Hernández 2002) in Spanish, interlocutors prefer to choose a more direct and assertive way of saying things, while in English the opposite, i.e. less direct and less assertive seems to be the norm. Therefore, from a cross-cultural perspective, there are direct speech acts that may be considered polite in peninsular Spanish while being considered impolite by members of another cultural group. This thesis presents some answers that might help learners of E/LE, within a British educational context, to avoid misunderstandings in communicative exchange. More specifically, this work studies learners’ perceptions of politeness in relation to the use of direct speech acts. An analysis is developed of the degree to which learners of E/LE, level A2-B1 according to Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR), perceive linguistic politeness when interlocutors choose a specific type of linguistic expression in conversations: the imperative mood. The term ‘imperative’ is defined semantically. Nevertheless, the imperative does not always suggest an imposition upon the desires of others. In the majority of occasions the pragmatic perception of the imperative could be inferred as an invitation, permission, warning and suggestion. Teaching pragmatic knowledge through direct speech acts offers learners the inevitable perception of bringing into the classroom linguistic politeness that influences the process of making-meaning and interpretation of the ilocutive act of request in the target language...