Thuy-Minh Nguyen

• PhD
• Associate Professor at University of Otago

Pragmalinguistic competence, or knowledge of linguistic forms (e.g., lexical items, prosodic features, and syntactic forms) and their communicative functions, constitutes an important part of the L2 learner's ability to use language as social action. Because learners' pragmalinguistic competence is closely related to their linguistic development (d...

Pragmatics of institutional interaction is concerned with how utterances acquire their meanings in professional or organizational contexts. Most of the insights on institutional interaction or “talk at work” come from ethnomethodological and conversation analytic studies. A majority of research in this area focuses on the interaction between the pr...

The learning effects of task-based interaction is an emerging topic in the field of instructed pragmatics for ESL learners. Specifically, researchers are exploring the impact of different task features on pragmatics learning. This article reports a review of the extant research. First, the review aimed to identify specific task design and implement...

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of four oral corrective feedback (OCF) types, namely recast, clarification request, explicit correction, and metalinguistic clues, on the acquisition of English requests by low intermediate Vietnamese university learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) (N = 122) in the context of explici...

his study investigates email pragmatic instruction in four sets of international English textbooks. The prevalence of email communication in today’s technology-mediated world necessitates its inclusion in second language classroom instruction. However, our analysis of the books reveals inadequate attention to the sociocultural aspects of email writ...

(This conference paper is currently being considered for publication as a journal article) In the field of L2 pragmatics, explicit instruction is generally considered more effective than implicit instruction for enhancing pragmatic performance (Plonsky & Zhuang, 2019; Taguchi, 2015). However, review studies have revealed that the terms "explicit’ a...

The learning effects of task-based interaction is an emerging topic in the field of instructed pragmatics for ESL learners. Specifically, researchers are exploring the impact of different task features on pragmatics learning. This article reports a review of the extant research. First, the review aimed to identify specific task design and implement...

Writing is one of the most challenging skills for a language learner to acquire due its sheer complexity, and language teachers are faced with a demanding task in the teaching and testing of writing. A great deal of research on different aspects of writing has been carried out to date, however despite the abundance of publications in this field, fe...

Skill Acquisition Theory describes second language (L2) learning as a gradual transition from effortful use to more automatic use of L2 knowledge, as a result of deliberate and systematic practice. In this chapter, we address the skill-acquisition based approach to teaching L2 pragmatics by first presenting the theory and its constructs of declarat...

Our actions arise from our beliefs about life: what we need and how best to achieve it. This article asks English language teachers to undertake an open-minded examination of some long-held beliefs in our profession and of the teaching practices that derive from those beliefs. Perhaps, based on this examination, teachers may wish to modify some bel...

The present study evaluates how upper-secondary school English language textbooks in Vietnam teach disagreement, a speech act that is central to classroom discourse but has received limited attention in textbook evaluation studies. The study employs an analytical framework derived from previous pragmatics research to analyse three textbooks and the...

This paper investigates how language ideologies are implicitly constructed and negotiated in the social interactions between two three-years-old children and their parents in Singapore. Conversation analysis shows that complex and competing varietal ideologies in the broader Singaporean society were present in family discourse at the micro level. F...

The current study examines the role of instruction in developing L2 learners’ ability to comprehend two types of implicatures: indirect refusals and indirect opinions. According to Taguchi (2005 Taguchi, N. 2005. Comprehending implied meaning in English as a foreign language. The Modern Language Journal 89, no. 3: 543–562. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2...

Family talk is a rich site for children’s language learning as well as navigating into cultural values, social roles and stances. This study examines a child’s stancetaking in language-focused interaction initiated by the parent, in order to understand children’s role in language learning as a social activity and in their own language socialization...

This is the first edited collection focusing exclusively on how second language users interpret and engage with the processes of email writing. With chapters written by an international array of scholars, the present volume is dedicated to furthering the study of the growing field of L2 email pragmatics and addresses a range of interesting topics t...

This study aims to contribute to current understandings about young children's roles and actions in discourse about language with adults in informal contexts. Using conversation analysis, we examine how a young child (aged 3;7 to 4;2) initiated talk about aspects of language in conversations with his parents in language-focused sequences (sequences...

Research has shown that Global English textbooks tend to promote native-speakers’ sociocultural and interactional norms while failing to represent the diverse ways in which global English users communicate. However, in order to adequately prepare learners for intercultural communication where English users can come from all different linguacultural...

Instructed pragmatics is a subfield of second language acquisition that investigates how the learning of pragmatic language use occurs as a result of classroom language teaching. This chapter highlights key issues in the teaching and learning of pragmatics and presents possible questions for future research.

Research impact is important because as researchers we want to ensure that our research is useful and relevant to its beneficiary. When we say that our research has impact, we usually mean that it helps contribute to building new knowledge and that this new knowledge contributes in some way to the well-being of the community in which we live. In th...

In response to the calls to incorporate the changing sociolinguistic reality of English in classroom practices, textbooks can serve as a powerful tool for equipping learners with knowledge of world Englishes and intercultural communication skills. This article explores the extent to which a set of locally produced English textbooks in Vietnam have...

In response to the calls to incorporate the changing sociolinguistic reality of English in classroom practices, textbooks can serve as a powerful tool for equipping learners with knowledge of world Englishes and intercultural communication skills. This article explores the extent to which a set of locally produced English textbooks in Vietnam have...

Series: Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education This timely volume opens a window on issues related to English language education in Vietnam. The authors consider that teacher quality is the key factor to be considered if the national English language curriculum outcomes are to be achievable. Aiming to shed light on key issues recently observ...

This study investigated the efficacy of different feedback conditions in developing accurate and fluent production of L2 English email requests. Sixty-nine intermediate-level Vietnamese EFL university students were randomly assigned to one control and three experimental groups. All the four groups received three hours of explicit metapragmatic inst...

This article reports an eight-month investigation into the long-term impact of explicit instruction on the learnability of different aspects of email requests by a group of Vietnamese university students. Two intact classes were randomly assigned to the treatment (N = 13) and control conditions (N = 19). Over a four-week period, the treatment group...

The globalization of English has resulted in the constant contact of this language with indigenous languages in the periphery and hence unprecedented variation in the norms of the English‐speaking world. Notwithstanding this variation, the dominant paradigm of English language assessment is still based strongly on an invariant, monolithic view of t...

This paper examines moments in which desired categories such as “good boy/girl” are invoked explicitly in parent–child conversations. Guided by Membership Categorization Analysis (MCA) and Conversation Analysis (CA), we describe the sequential contexts of these explicit categorical identities and the interactional practices that parents and childre...

This study investigates effects of pragmatics-focused instruction using different types of written corrective feedback (CF) on the development of pragmatic competence of Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign language. Five intermediate-level groups of learners who were learning syntactic downgraders for mitigating their email requests were ra...

This paper presents a longitudinal study of a four-year-old child's development of the interactional practices to negotiate requests when immediate granting from the parents was not given. While many studies have focused on the development of requesting abilities by children and some have shed light on their request negotiation practices, little is...

The textbook is a key component in most language programs. In an English as a foreign language context, it may even constitute the main and perhaps only source of language input that learners receive and the basis for language practice that occurs both inside and outside the classroom. However, research has suggested that despite their important ro...

As email requests from students to professors have become increasingly common in academic settings, research has also shown second-language (L2) students’ unfamiliarity with email etiquette in L2 has adversely affected their communication with their professors. The present study examines whether giving corrective feedback on students’ performance d...

This study investigates the combined effects of input enhancement and recasts on a group of Vietnamese EFL learners' performance of constructive criticism during peer review activities. Particularly, the study attempts to find out whether the instruction works for different aspects of pragmatic learning, including the learners' sociopragmatic and p...

Data collection methods constitute a major area of concern in interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) research, since there is no easy way to collect the type of data that is relatively ‘naturalistic’ while at the same time allowing for researcher control. Further, current ILP research also suffers from the shortage of studies making use of self-report data...

This study examines the effects of the various types of corrective feedback (CF) given during parent-child interaction on the pragmatic performance in English by three L1 English-speaking Singaporean pre-schoolers aged between 3 and 4. Analysis of 18 hours of audio-recordings of parent-child interaction shows that parents tended to vary their corre...

This study examines the acquisition of request modifiers by learners of L2 Vietnamese, with a view to expanding the range of target languages under inquiry and contributing to the field of L2 pragmatics acquisition. Data were collected from nine Vietnamese native speakers and 18 learners from various language backgrounds, using open role-plays in s...

This study examines requests in Vietnamese, a much under-researched language, with a view to expanding the range of languages under inquiry. Open role-plays in six scenarios with differing social power and perceived imposition levels were used to elicit requests from nine Vietnamese native speakers. Data were analyzed with reference to the categori...

This study explores how a group of learners of English as a second language (ESL) criticize in everyday situations compared to the native speaker (NS) with a view to expanding the range of speech acts under inquiry in the interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) literature. Data were collected from five NSs of New Zealand English and five intermediate learne...

Central to teacher professional development is teacher learning, which is situated in a classroom, a school, or an informal social setting. Using an ecological framework which incorporates a wide range of influences at multiple levels, including intrapersonal, interpersonal/ cultural, institutional, and physical environment, this research sets out...

This study evaluates the relative effectiveness of two types of form-focused instruction on the acquisition of the speech act set of constructive criticism by sixty-nine Vietnamese learners of English. Over a 10-week course, the explicit group (N = 28) participated in consciousness-raising activities, received explicit meta-pragmatic explanation an...

Previous research has shown that learners of English might experience considerable difficulty when giving constructive criticism to peers in instructional settings. Unlike native speakers, they tend to soften their criticism far less frequently while aggravating it far more often, and thus require pedagogical help in this area. The present study ex...

Although a key component in English language teaching programs, English textbooks have been criticized for not offering classroom learners adequate opportunity for learning authentic language (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001; Grant and Starks, 2001; Wong, 2002; Vellenga, 2004). This is because instead of making use of language samples that native speakers act...

This study examines how Vietnamese adult learners of Australian English modified their criticisms in a peer-feedback session. Data were collected from three groups of learners (12 high beginners, 12 intermediate, and 12 advanced), via a conversation elicitation task, a written questionnaire, and a retrospective interview. L1 and L2 baseline data we...

Criticizing has been a rather under-represented speech act in interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) literature. Native speakers (NSs) find this speech act challenging, often needing to pre-plan how to perform it (Murphy & Neu 1996). Thus, it can be expected that second-language (L2) learners will also experience considerable difficulty. This paper reports...

This paper presents a study of the development of L2 pragmatic competence in the speech act of criticisms. Data were collected from three proficiency groups of Vietnamese foreign language learners of English via a conversation elicitation task and a written questionnaire. An interview was also conducted to probe into the learners' pragmatic decisio...

Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only. Interlanguage pragmatics research has contributed a great deal to our understanding of L2 pragmatic use but less to our understanding of L2 pragmatic development, although developmental issues are also its primary research goal. Additionally, previous studies have been confined to a ra...