“Accept That You Should Change Your School’s Policy”: Pragmatic Strategies in EFL Written Communication

Abstract

The present study seeks to focus on the pragmatic strategies used in EFL learners’ written discourse. To this end, two groups of EFL learners were asked to write on two face-threatening topics. The analysis revealed that EFL learners used epistemic modal markers as an attempt to fulfill a range of certain pragmatic functions. Nevertheless, lack of attention to pragmatic functions of epistemic modals caused pragmatic infelicities, in particular for the lower proficient group. Besides, the study shed some light on the forms and functions of hedging devices and the strategies EFL learners use to fulfill certain pragmatic goals. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of pragmatic knowledge and the sequential and developmental stages involved in the acquisition of L2 pragmatic norms.