Exploring the learning benefits of website-delivered pragmatics instruction: The case of L2 Mandarin Chinese

Among the wide applications of digital tools in second language (L2) pragmatics, the utilization of self-access websites as a medium for instructional delivery has promising potential. To further investigate the learning benefits of website-delivered instruction, this study reported on the design, implementation, and effectiveness of an open-access Chinese pragmatics site. It features three everyday speech acts in Chinese and consists of a variety of instructional resources. Thirty participants studying Chinese as a foreign language at a US university were recruited to engage in the web-based study outside of regular class time for 6 weeks. An oral discourse completion task was employed to examine the participants' pragmatic production, and an online survey was utilized to solicit their evaluations of the website. Overall, the findings suggested that the web-based materials were conducive to the participants' appropriate production of speech acts. In addition, the website was perceived as useful and valuable in serving as a tool for delivering pragmatics instruction. On the basis of the results, improvements in the design of the instructional site and directions for future research are discussed.