An Interlanguage Pragmatic View: The Influence of Vietnamese Native Language and Culture on Their L2 Production and Comprehension

This research paper explores language performance of Vietnamese English learners from an interlanguage (IL) pragmatic perspective. Pragmatic competence has been set alongside with linguistic competence to the contribution of successful intercultural communication. It is clear that pragmatic knowledge of the L1 has influenced the production of learners’ IL and L2. This thesis uses comparative approach in analyzing language production of native speakers of English and native speakers of Vietnamese, and comparing it with the IL produced by Vietnamese learners to examine the differences in pragmatic performance among the three groups. These data are also analyzed quantitatively from cultural viewpoints of the mother tongue and the target language. The paper then explains some internal and external factors resulting in negative pragmatic transfer. Finally, it provides some pedagogical recommendations for teachers to help Vietnamese learners improve their competence in L2 sociopragmatics and pragmalinguistics. The methods presented here stress on the important role of language educators and instructors in terms of building cross-cultural awareness as well as pragmatic competence in the target language in addition to teaching grammatical structures