Ambiguous invitations: The interlanguage pragmatics of Polish English language learners

This study examines the interlanguage behavior of Polish learners of English, focusing on how they respond to the conventionally indirect speech of ambiguous invitation in a second language. In this dissertation, Polish learners' response behavior in Polish is compared with their response behavior in English and that of American native English speakers' to reveal how Polish native speakers understand and reply to this speech act in different linguistic contexts.;The data for this exploratory study were collected through a questionnaire and an open Discourse Completion Task (DCT), which contained 6 scenarios. Thirty English native speakers and 26 Polish participants completed DCTs. Semi-structured post-task interviews were conducted with the Polish participant group in order to better understand their pragmatic choices.;It was found that some Polish participants perceived the ambiguous invitations as concrete, and there is evidence of pragmatic transfer from Polish to English with similar L1 and L2 realization patterns in terms of strategy use and the volume of production.;The findings also show that Polish verbal behavior was more direct than that of native English speaking participants. When responding in English, Polish participants chose to use a refusal strategy to decline invitations, which was clear evidence of violating L2 pragmatic norms. Usage of these strategies does not violate Polish pragmatic rules, however, as directness is linked with sincerity in Polish culture.;The interviews showed that some participants claimed to be aware of cultural differences, yet no significant differences were detected in their Polish and English dialogues. Males and females exhibited similar patterns and pragmatic choices; however, females were found to be more direct than their male counterparts and were more likely to decline the invitation or forego responding altogether.