Gratitude for compliance: A developmental study on the speech act of thanking

This study investigates the production of the speech act of thanking by L2 learners of Greek from three different proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) and seeks to examine the effect of proficiency on the learners’ competence to express gratitude in symmetrical and asymmetrical situations. The quantitative analysis of the results indicates that no significant development is achieved with proficiency and that, irrespective of their proficiency, learners lag far behind native speakers in regard to expressing gratitude adequately and appropriately. It is maintained here that no aspect of pragmatic development should be taken for granted and that pedagogical intervention is indispensable for the learners’ development of pragmatic competence.