earticle

영어

This research explores the Korean university students' use of English adverbials by studying how adverbials contribute to pragmatic tone. English oral data from 80 participants whose native language is Korean were transcribed and analysed. All adverbials that have assertive tone and intense tone were identified and grouped by proficiency level of the Korean university students. The results show that both the range and frequency of adverbials used are very similar between the lower- and higher-proficiency groups. Both groups use adverb “so” that has intense tone far more frequently than other adverbials. However, the two groups differ in their use of adverbials to convey pragmatic tone. The lower-proficiency learners tend to rely more upon intensifiers by repeatedly using a limited number of adverbs. Compared with the lower-proficiency group, the higher-proficiency learners have a tendency to use various adverbials in interactional contexts. The findings indicate that pragmatic proficiency should be studied in the skillful use of adverbials to convey messages. Finally, EFL teachers should consider that the appropriate use of adverbs which are pragmatically rich items contributes to the learners' utterance.