A Comparative Study Measuring the Pragmatic Competence of the Badini Kurdish EFL and ESL Learners of English in Relation to Native Speakers in Producing Requests

Many studies on pragmatic competence have analyzed the pragmatics of different groups exploring the importance of the language's global reach. Moreover, since English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is prevalent in non-English-speaking countries, its use often remains limited to specific functions. Despite grammatical proficiency, fluency and competence may not be automatic, as learners often encounter pragmatic errors and struggle with sociocultural nuances upon encountering non-standard English expressions. The present study examines how EFL and ESL groups perform the speech act of requests in English, compared to native speakers of English (NSE). A purposive snowball sample comprising 18 Badini Kurdish EFL learners, 14 Badini Kurdish ESL learners, and 10 NSEs participated in the study. The data set was created by collecting utterances of requests in English using a quantitative research method, that is, a discourse-completion task (DCT) with nine scenarios of requests. Their pragmatic features were classified, quantified, and analyzed based on the classifications established by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989). The findings of the ESL and NSE groups showed more similarities in terms of directness, politeness standards, and modifications when compared to the EFL group. The research showed that social factors such as power and social distance impact participants' speech act of requests.