REFUSING AND CANCELING AN APPOINTMENT VIA VOICE MESSAGE IN ITALIAN. WHICH MODELS FOR ASSESSING LEARNERS’ PERFORMANCE?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54103/2037-3597/30518Abstract
This study explores how two related speech acts—refusals and cancellations—are realized by Italian speakers through voice messages. While refusals have been widely investigated in pragmatics research, cancellations remain underexplored. The aim is to identify general trends in the realization of these acts, offering empirical reference points for the teaching and assessment of Italian as a second language. Data were collected using oral discourse completion tasks (ODCTs), prompting participants to respond to two scenarios via voice messages. The analysis revealed several shared features: both refusals and cancellations tend to be lengthy and include justifications, often framed using the Impossibility strategy to shift responsibility away from the speaker. Both acts also commonly feature Remedial Moves and a high frequency of modifiers. However, notable differences emerged, linked to the distinct social dynamics of the two scenarios. Cancellations, occurring in peer relationships, featured more empathy expressions and direct apologies, while refusals, typically involving asymmetric relationships, relied more on general statements of regret. These findings highlight the pragmatic expertise of native speakers not as a standard of linguistic superiority, but as a benchmark shaped by sociocultural participation. In the context of L2 assessment, corpus-based data such as these provide a useful alternative to subjective intuitions.
Rifiutare e annullare un appuntamento attraverso messaggi vocali in italiano. Quali modelli per valutare le prestazioni degli studenti?
Questo studio esplora in che modo due atti linguistici correlati – il rifiuto e la disdetta – vengono realizzati da parlanti italiani attraverso messaggi vocali. Mentre i rifiuti sono stati ampiamente indagati nella ricerca pragmatica, le disdette rimangono ancora poco esplorate. L’obiettivo è identificare alcune tendenze generali nella realizzazione di questi atti, offrendo punti di riferimento empirici utili per l’insegnamento e la valutazione dell’italiano come lingua seconda. I dati sono stati raccolti tramite compiti di completamento del discorso, in cui ai partecipanti è stato chiesto di reagire oralmente a due scenari. L’analisi ha messo in luce diverse caratteristiche comuni: sia i rifiuti che le disdette tendono a essere lunghi e articolati, e includono quasi sempre giustificazioni, spesso formulate secondo la strategia dell’impossibilità, che consente di spostare la responsabilità al di fuori del parlante. Entrambi gli atti prevedono inoltre frequentemente mosse riparative e un uso marcato di modificatori. Tuttavia, emergono anche differenze significative, legate alle diverse dinamiche sociali dei due scenari. Le disdette, che si verificano in rapporti tra pari, mostrano una maggiore presenza di espressioni empatiche e scuse dirette, mentre i rifiuti, tipicamente inseriti in relazioni asimmetriche, si basano più spesso su dichiarazioni generiche di rammarico. Questi risultati mettono in evidenza la competenza pragmatica dei parlanti nativi non come standard di superiorità linguistica, ma come punto di riferimento modellato dalla partecipazione socioculturale. Nel contesto della valutazione in L2, dati basati su corpora come quelli presentati offrono un’alternativa valida rispetto alle intuizioni soggettive dei valutatori.
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