Degree of multilingualism, code-switching and intensity of target language contact predict pragma-linguistic awareness in an English as a foreign language context

This paper investigates the relationship between multilingualism, code-switching, target language contact and pragmatic and grammatical awareness in learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Participants (N = 144) were university students enrolled in English language courses at a German university. The study employed a cross-sectional design with degree of multilingualism, frequency of code-switching and intensity of target language contact as between-subject factors. The linguistic measure of pragmatic and grammatical awareness was a written appropriateness and accuracy judgement test involving three speech acts: apologies, refusals and requests. In addition, participants completed two questionnaires assessing their language background, code-switching behaviour and the intensity of their contact with the English language. Regression analyses revealed that degree of multilingualism was a strong positive predictor of pragmatic awareness in an EFL learning environment. Frequent code-switching appeared to enhance pragmatic awareness in those participants who grew up with two languages, but not those who were monolingual in childhood and became bilingual through education. Moreover, the results demonstrated that intensity of target language contact emerged as the only predictor of both pragmatic and grammatical awareness in this study.