earticle

영어

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at a Korean university have been observed to overuse salutations in personal letters. This is interesting in light of the English as an International Language (EIL) paradigm. As previous research on the specific topic of Korean writers' use of salutations was not found, this study comprising ten focused, metapragmatic interviews about student production, therefore, attempts an initial exploration of the issue. The curious usage of double salutations is considered in light of Thomas’ (1983) distinction between pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic failure and the degree of language control attributed to the learner. Although transfer appears to be the main cause of pragmatic failure, incomplete understanding of salutation meaning and function (resulting in an inappropriate assignment of pragmatic force), as well as a declared preoccupation with relational considerations aimed at achieving comity (resulting in sociopragmatically inappropriate moves), also come into play. Limited by the number of participants available, this study only purports to make a modest contribution. However, the pedagogical implications that students may need to acquire a deeper awareness of salutation use in both their native and the target languages and also reassurance of the relational effectiveness of new conventions in order to take ownership of the speech act is noteworthy.