Development of Pragmatic Production

This chapter examines the longitudinal development of request production in young Chinese second language (L2) learners. The analysis draws on data collected through a web-based Cartoon Oral Production Task (COPT). Analyses focused on opting out, request strategy use, and the deployment of internal and external request modifiers. Over the 2-year period, learners demonstrated a gradual shift from direct and formulaic requests toward predominant use of conventionally indirect strategies, accompanied by increased grammatical and pragmatic sophistication. While request strategies showed earlier and more systematic improvement, gains in internal and external request modification emerged later and remained limited. Overall, the findings indicate continuous progress in young L2 learners’ (YLLs) pragmalinguistic competence alongside persistent challenges in developing sociopragmatic flexibility.