Term
Fall 2017
Capstone
Thesis
Degree Name
MAESL
Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair
Mari B. Rasmussen
Secondary Advisor/Reader One
Celia Martin Mejia
Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two
Kelly Rynda
Abstract
This study compared the effects of explicit-deductive and explicit-inductive instruction methods on the participants’ request types. Specifically, the researcher explored the following questions:
how Chinese university students’ English request types are affected by a ninety-minute explicit- deductive treatment or a ninety-minute explicit-inductive treatment; which request types are
most frequently used prior to the treatments; which request types are most frequently used following the treatment; and how do the request type frequencies differ between the two treatment groups. The participants were undergraduate and graduate students from an urban university in China. Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs) were used to gather data from the participants before and after a ninety-minute treatment focusing on indirect request types. Initial findings showed how both groups changed their request types following the treatment and highlighted a preference for conventionally indirect requests, specifically reference to preparatory conditions requests. Finally, suggestions are provided for a future study built off the foundation laid by this one.
Research Methodology
Action Research
Keywords
ESL/ ELLs, International Teaching, Indirect Requests
Recommended Citation
Reishus, Nicholas J., "Indirect Requests: A Comparative Study Of Explicit-Deductive And Explicit-Inductive Instruction Methods" (2017). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 4396.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4396