Sociopragmatics is slower: a reply to Chang

Yuh-Fang Chang (2011) [Interlanguage pragmatic development: the relationship between pragmalinguistic competence and sociopragmatic competence, Language Sciences 33, 786–798] argues that sociopragmatics does not develop more slowly than pragmalinguistics in an L2. She bases this contention on her own data, explicitly contrasting her findings with those of two earlier studies which suggest that sociopragmatics is slower to develop. In fact Chang’s (2011) data do not show more impressive sociopragmatic development than found in those two earlier studies. Chang’s (2011) study is useful additional evidence that L2 sociopragmatics seems to develop slowly, especially in foreign language settings.

► Chang’s (2011) paper in Language Sciences claims to show sociopragmatic development.
► Chang’s own data actually suggest slow sociopragmatic development.
► Sociopragmatic development seems to lag behind pragmalinguistic development in an L2.