Measuring EFL Learners' Pragmatic Competence in EAP Writing: A Metaphor Analysis

Being able to use figurative language appropriately to suit a communicative purpose is defined as pragmatic competence in the communicative competence construct (Bachman, 1990); particularly when writing different genres, whether figurative language uses and illocutionary functions served vary across genres properly is an indication of such competence. Though previous research has found EFL learners using figurative expressions in writing to reach textual consistency, to express illocutionary intentions, and to disclose L1 culture influence over L2, none has answer the question of whether EFL learners are competent to adjust their uses of figurative language to suit the communicative purposes of given genres.

The present study explores EFL learners' pragmatic competence through analyzing their figurative language uses in academic writing. Sixty essays written by sixteen Taiwanese university sophomores with intermediate proficiency level in English were collected for analysis; the essays were categorized by commonest genre types in academic writing: descriptive, narrative, expository, and argumentative essays. The Metaphor Identification Procedure was adopted and modified to identify figurative expressions in the essays. Types of figurative expressions - similes, metaphors, personifications, metonymies, and idiomatic expressions - were identified, and then each expression was assigned its illocutionary function - ideational, heuristic, manipulative, or imaginary functions - based on the context; finally, the illocutionary functions were cross-examined with the genre types to determine whether the uses of figurative expressions match the communicative purposes of genres, and further to elaborate on how the EFL learners employ figurative language in writing. The results suggest to develop EFL learners' pragmatic competence through genre-based approaches.