Korean EFL Learners' Pragmatic Strategy Use in Responding to Rudeness

The present study investigates Korean EFL learners' pragmatic strategy use in responding to rudeness. To investigate the difference between proficiency groups and gender difference, Discourse Completion Task (hereafter DCT) and statistical analysis were used. The Korean EFL data were gathered from Korean university students and the students were assigned to high and low proficiency group in accordance to their University's English proficiency test. The result showed that learners of different proficiency levels had basically the same range of pragmatic strategies. However, the most frequently used strategy was different between lower and higher proficiency group. Higher proficiency group used 'Insult' the most while lower proficiency group used 'Apologize' the most. In terms of gender difference, male used 'Insult' the most while female used 'Apologize' the most. The current study also compared the data of EFL students' with those of English native speaker's. The biggest difference between English native speakers and EFL students in the usage of pragmatic strategies in responding to rudeness was that English natives used 'Acquiesce' and 'Argue' strategy. Lastly, some implications of the study are given in terms of the learning and acquisition of pragmatic strategies in EFL context.