Operationalizing conversation in studies of instructional effect in L2 pragmatics

This paper examines how conversation is operationalized in studies that investigate the effect of instruction on L2 pragmatics. This survey of 81 instructional effect studies published from 2000 to 2013 considers the operationalization of conversation at three points in the design of such studies: the task(s) used for evaluation, the input used as models, and the activities used for practice. The findings suggest that how conversation is operationalized is a variable that should be taken into account to better understand the range of outcomes reported by studies of how instruction affects development of L2 pragmatics.