The Acquisition of Scalar Implicatures by Second Language Learners: What Does Current Research Tell Us?

This study investigates how Indonesian learners acquire scalar implicature. The objectives are to examine the robustness of the pragmatic effects of scalar implicature acquisition and to find out whether such variables as language proficiency (measured by the students’ Grade Point Average), gender and previous English learning experience, which were not controlled in previous studies, can affect the interpretation of SI. Twenty-eight learners participated in this study. The instruments used were adopted from Noveck (2001) and Slabakova (2010). They included both factually universal and factually existential statements, to which the students were asked to choose Agree or Disagree. Results showed that despite an attempt to control such variables as language proficiency, gender and previous English learning experiences, the majority of the participants in the present study had a tendency of thinking more pragmatically than logically. The finding of the present study confirms the assumption held in previous studies that the pragmatic effect of the interpretation of scalar implicatures is robust.