Pragmatic and grammatical competence, length of residence, and overall L2 proficiency

This study examines the influence of length of residence in the target language community and overall L2 proficiency on L2 pragmatic competence with a reference to L2 grammatical competence. Participants were 126 international students in the US with two academic levels of English proficiency from 17 countries, speaking 20 languages. A questionnaire consisting of 20 scenarios was administrated to the participants measuring their pragmatic and grammatical competence. Results revealed that both length of residence and overall L2 proficiency influenced L2 pragmatics significantly with overall L2 proficiency demonstrating a stronger influence. Findings also showed that there was a strong and positive correlation between pragmatic and grammatical competence for advanced participants and all participants as a group.