Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities May 2023. Vol.10, No.2, 119-136 The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during online study abroad Ismail Tahir*1, Aryati Hamzah2 1PhD candidate at the School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, Beijing, China Universitas Bina Mandiri Gorontalo, Indonesia 2Universitas Bina Mandiri Gorontalo, Indonesia Manuscript received October 24, 2022, revised January 18, 2023, accepted January 28, 2023, and published online May 7, 2023. Recommended APA Citation Tahir, I., & Hamzah, A. (2023). The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad. Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 10(2), 119-136. https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v10i2.15374 ABSTRACT Although several linguists have examined the studies on study abroad (SA), limited studies have focused on online study-abroad contexts. The current study investigates the production of pragmatic routine and its influence on online sociocultural adaptation during online study abroad. This study involved Indonesian students in English and Chinese-taught programs at Beihang University, China. As a mixed method, this study uses Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) and Sociocultural Adaptation Scale (SCAS) to measure the students’ pragmatic routines production and online sociocultural adaptation. VKS scale is used to investigate the expression categories, including expressions of thanking, requesting, complementing, and greeting. In addition, SCAS is also used to explore the students’ sociocultural aspects, cognitive aspects, and behavioral situations. As a result, the study shows that most Indonesian students enrolling in Chinese and English-taught programs tend to produce pragmatic routines even though the Chinese aspect is produced more than the English aspect. Furthermore, there is also a positive contribution to the production of pragmatic routine and its development influenced by sociocultural adaptation during online study abroad. Keywords: L2 pragmatics; Pragmatic routines; Sociocultural adaptation; Online Study Abroad *Corresponding Author: Ismail Tahir Universitas Bina Mandiri Gorontalo Jl. Profesor DR. H. Aloei Saboe, Wongkaditi, Kabupaten Bone Bolango, Gorontalo 96128, Indonesia Email: ismailtahir@ubmg.ac.id https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v10i2.15374 The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad 120 | Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 1. Introduction Bosker, Quené, and de Jong (2014) and Kuhl et al. (2003) have conducted studies on the importance of learning a second or foreign language with native speakers (Dewey et al., 2013). Study Abroad (SA) helps improve the target language and explore culture learning. Therefore, experiencing second language (L2) learning allows language learners to explore linguistic competence and cultural boundaries. As L2 learners, they have to be competent pragmatically and interculturally, which means that they are required to play as intercultural speakers. Furthermore, they have to be able to possess language interaction with different interlocutors in terms of their attitudes, society, and norms as well. To bring the phenomenon of study abroad, many Indonesian students pursue their degrees (bachelor, master, and Ph.D. degrees) every year abroad, especially in China, every year. They seek opportunities like other International Students (IS) to study in the classroom in several majors with English and Chinese language as language instruction. Concerning the targeted university for Indonesian students, Beihang University is one of the universities located in Beijing that can be a good University for pursuing their degree. Pursuing SA degrees provides several benefits. One of them is to develop students’ pragmatic competence (Ren, 2019). However, little research on Indonesian students’ SA experience in terms of pragmatic competence exists. Therefore, this study is considered as a way to investigate Indonesian students’ SA experience of gaining the pragmatic routines when they are studying abroad, especially in China, providing them the opportunities to explore as well as increase their second or foreign language, both English and Chinese language as the language instruction in the classroom. Many previous studies have conducted the L2 learners’ development in terms of the effect of instruction on pragmatic routines in academic discussion (Bardovi-Harlig et al., 2015b), developing the teaching materials using a spoken corpus (corpus-based materials) to teach pragmatic routines (Bardovi-Harlig et al., 2015a), and comparing the use of corpus-based materials and activities on pragmatic routines (Bardovi-Harlig et al., 2017). To fill the gap of SA research in the pragmatics context, the current case study explores the pragmatic routines of the SA context of Indonesian undergraduate students enrolled in different language instruction delivered in their classrooms. Some are enrolled in English, and others are enrolled in the Chinese program. They are doing the same major in the business program of the School of Economics and Management, Beihang University. Furthermore, the pragmatics routines in this study are addressed to explore the influence of the sociocultural adaptation of two Indonesian students during the fall term of 2021. The current study investigates the production of pragmatic routines employed by Indonesian learners and its influence on their sociocultural adaptation during online study abroad. Therefore, the research questions are as follows: - To what extent does the production of pragmatic routines by Indonesian learners studying in Business and International programs delivered in English and Chinese language instruction through online study abroad experience? Ismail Tahir & Aryati Hamzah Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 | 121 - How does online sociocultural adaptation influence the development of pragmatic routines? 2. Literature review 2.1. Personal experiences in study abroad Students studying abroad (SA) will interact with their social environment. They meet many other people who speak differently from their first language. SA experiences provide opportunities for the students to explore several things, such as cultural exchange/differences, educational environment, language, etc. It is considered that this SA experience allows students to learn L2 during their studies. It is believed that SA facilitates the learners to explore more on getting the pragmatic context more in communicating with the NSs or other language users, which can lead to a high level of students’ pragmatic competence (Ren, 2019). It may develop language skills, increase classroom interaction, and decrease anxiety in the foreign language classroom. Some previous studies have investigated the personal or the learners’ experiences when they study abroad. Goldoni (2013) investigated the learners’ immersion experiences in study-abroad. The context of the study explored the ways of the learners’ opportunities to interact with the host community when they were studying abroad, including the cultural clash, miscommunication, and misunderstanding context they were facing in their daily interaction that can be done through online communication such as social media (Sandel, 2014). By emphasizing this study, it came to the recommendation that it was important thing to provide the pre-departure experience for the learners with a valuable program in terms of study abroad that would help them to become more aware of the socio-cultural identities, the values of the culture, the learning goals, and the expectation of the program. Concerning the learners’ identity, Kinginger (2013) studied identity and language in the context of studying abroad. This study emphasized the effect of identity to influence the learners’ language qualities learning in the study-abroad setting and the language choices of the learners to be appropriate or rejected. Moreover, it holistically defined shaping language learning opportunities and examined the development of pragmatic abilities related to the learners’ identity. This study also identified the classification of nationality or foreigner status, gender, linguistic inheritance, age, and ethnicity. Of course, identity and pragmatic context were included for every category influencing the learners' language education and studies abroad. Furthermore, Kaypak, and Ortaçtepe (2014) conducted a study concerning both the language learner beliefs and the study-abroad context focusing on English as a lingua franca (ELF). This study explored the relationship between Turkish exchange students' beliefs about English language learning and the study abroad in the ELF context. The researcher, in this case, used three instruments to obtain the data related to this study. These instruments were LLBQ (language learner belief questionnaire), elicited journals, and SAPQ (study abroad perception questionnaire). Besides, there were three important findings after gaining quantitative and qualitative results. The first point explored that after the pre-test and post-test results of their beliefs, there was a relationship between The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad 122 | Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 English language learning and the learners’ perceptions of study-abroad experiences. The next one was that it suggested that the students might stay longer than five months so that they would have any changes in their belief about language learning. The last point showed that the learners focused on the accuracy of intelligibility that might help them get interaction among the ELF communities. Furthermore, Langley and Breese (2005) studied the students’ out-of-class experiences in a study-abroad program in Maynooth, Ireland. Their study determined three main points: how the program influences the students’ desire to be involved in the out-of-class activities, how the out-of-class activities encourage students to learn Irish culture, and how the students’ experiences affect their attitudes regarding the cultures they were facing other than their own cultures. Acknowledging the fact that the students’ experiences in the study-abroad context contribute more to some aspects, such as the pragmatic aspect, the contextual factors, and the individual differences (Sánchez-Hernández & Alcón-Soler, 2019), thus, the current study explores the students’ experience during study abroad in terms of the context of the pragmatic routine addressing the influence of the socio-cultural adaptation of Indonesian students during the fall term in 2021. 2.2. Pragmatic routines The pragmatic routines are always expressed by a speech community in a particular situation of everyday life, including (Bardovi-Harlig et al., 2017) thanking, apologizing, requesting, greeting, insulting, complementing, and offering strategies. Moreover, using pragmatic routines in the SA context helps the L2 learners gain confidence and develop their interaction and communication skills with Native Speakers (NSs) and other language users. Thus, it allows them to be engaged in the use of the target language (TL) community to a greater extent. The learners’ proficiency level is determined by their routines and the opportunities of their interactions (Roever, 2012); moreover, the recognition depends on the exposure to their routines. Often called conventional expressions, pragmatic routines consist of strings such as You are welcome, Take it easy, Nice to meet you, and Have a great day, which native speakers use in particular contexts. Moreover, pragmatic routines are crucial to communication in social life, dealing with social knowledge expressed by daily situations. The concept of pragmatic routines may be expressed by one community because every region might have different pragmatic routines used by a particular generation. The pragmatics routines are categorized based on their meaning and function. The meaning category is illustrated to be more loosely or tightly linked to specific situations. A particular routine can imply a literal significance, for example, Do you need my help?, or it may make only in a particular situation of the context (a situationally-bound meaning) “Let me help you.” Besides, an utterance may have more than one meaning, for example, “Do you have the time?” Ignoring the context, this expression indicates the time expressed in hours, minutes, and even seconds. On the other hand, it can also indicate the availability of someone. To distinguish the meaning directly linked to the specific situations and the function, the specific Ismail Tahir & Aryati Hamzah Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 | 123 situation is used in a situation with a more fixed internal structure, as in the question What would you like to order? Or What do you want? Asked by a waiter to the diner(s) at the beginning of ordering the food and drink. Thus, the significance of the expression is a little bit difficult to be understood without contextual clues. On the contrary, functional routines involve a more flexible form. These expressions may be used in different settings and discerning where the meanings are less presented. Moreover, the inferential reasoning of the functional routines is not necessary, for example, Do you mind if…? Several studies have conducted the pragmatic routines produced by L2 learners during study abroad. Sánchez-Hernández (2018) investigated the effect of sociocultural adaptation related to the development of pragmatic production during study abroad, which focused on pragmatic routine production. This mixed-method research found that socio-cultural adaptation development obtained a partial effect on pragmatic gains and a direct effect on the learners’ cultural background based on the quantitative analysis. Moreover, the qualitative analysis said that those socio-cultural adaptations, background culture, and gains played the role of pragmatic routine production. Bringing back to the study by Taguchi (2013), this preliminary study emphasized the effect of the proficiency and experience of studying abroad on the routine production of the learners’ ability. The participants involved in this study were 64 Japanese students studying at a university in Japan who taught English-medium as the language instruction in the classroom. The study results indicated a significant effect of the proficiency and study abroad experience on the appropriateness, planning time, and speech rate aspects. The next study by Sánchez- Hernández, and Alcón-Soler (2019) investigated the L2 learners’ pragmatic development in the context of study abroad. The present study focused on recognizing the pragmatic routines affected by the influence of sociocultural adaptation. The study suggested that it was important to consider the study abroad program for acquiring pragmatic routines. 2.3. Pragmatic development on sociocultural competence The exposure to cultural competence is considered the feature to accommodate L2 learners’ pragmatic development (Taguchi, 2018) because the students are expected to be interculturally competent (Root & Ngampornchai, 2013). Besides, intercultural competence is a complex of abilities needed by someone to communicate effectively and appropriately when interacting with other people linguistically and culturally. Elola and Oskoz (2008) studied intercultural development in the study abroad context. They investigated the study abroad and at-home students’ context to seek the intercultural competence obtained by the students as the blog users to mediate over the courses of a semester the students were taking. Their study showed that the study abroad and foreign language learners employed intercultural competence by showing the unique characteristics of each group; moreover, the blog interaction positively affected the development of intercultural competence's development. Furthermore, Lee (2011) stated in the result of his study that the use of the internet, particularly the use of blogs, could maximize the learners’ potential in terms of their learning autonomy and intercultural communication or competence. The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad 124 | Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 Similarly, the intensity of interaction during study abroad can significantly affect the students’ recognition and production in terms of conventional expressions. Bardovi - Harlig and Bastos (2011) conducted a study related to the proficiency, length of stay, and intensity of interaction employed by the host-environment learners of English, focusing on the use of the conventional expression in L2 pragmatics. This study showed that the conventional expression of the learners significantly influenced both proficiency and interaction intensity. In contrast, the length of the study did not significantly affect the recognition and production of conventional expressions, particularly in L2 pragmatic development. Dwyer (2004) investigated the impact of study abroad program duration. This study measured the impact of program duration in terms of five learning outcomes: student academic choices, career development, the development of personal and social, the use and commitment to foreign language, and intercultural competence and awareness. As a result, it was found that studying abroad significantly influenced the mentioned outcomes. Surprisingly, this study states that the impact investigated in this study would be sustained for as long as fifty years. In conclusion, several previous studies have explored the potential of intercultural competence and interaction intensity in the study-abroad context for developing pragmatic routines. However, no previous study has investigated Indonesian students’ pragmatic routines development during study abroad, taking English and Chinese language as language instruction in the everyday classroom. The current study fills this issue by enriching the knowledge and research of this study. 3. Method The present study employed a mixed-method approach. The qualitative data were explored further by obtaining quantitative results. The combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches in the pragmatic context was supported by exploring the pragmatics routines in the illustration of making practical, contextual, and consequential considerations (Datta, 1997). 3.1. Participants and settings The participants involved in the current study were Indonesian undergraduate students enrolled in different language instruction in their online classroom activities. There were 12 students majoring in Business and International trade programs at Beihang University. All these students were asked to fill out a questionnaire related to online sociocultural adaptation and their pragmatic routine production during their online first year in 2021, the fall semester. Furthermore, they were also asked to have an in-depth interview to explore their online sociocultural adaptation. Unfortunately, there were only two students who were able to participate in the in-depth interview conducted by the researchers. One is English taught and the other is enrolled in a Chinese taught program. The names presented in the present study are pseudonyms. They both are women. Nelly was in her first semester and her first year studying in China, majoring in Business and International Trade at Beihang University, having English as the language instruction. However, Silva was in her first year studying at Beihang University, taking Chinese as Ismail Tahir & Aryati Hamzah Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 | 125 the language instruction in the Business and International Trade program, and her second year studying in China. She had been studying the Chinese language for one year in 2020. 3.2. Instruments In collecting the data on the participants’ vocabulary knowledge of the pragmatic routines, the adapted multilevel Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) version (Wesche & Paribakht, 1996) was used. This vocabulary test uses five scales to gain the core knowledge of the given words. The current study used those five possible answers in creating some expressions. The VKSs were created in two forms, one was created to be distributed to the student who was currently having English as the language instruction, and another VKS was for the student who had Chinese as the language instruction. In creating the Chinese format, the researcher asked for help from his friend, who is mastering the Chinese language. Example 1 shows one of the test items given to the participants. Instructions: - Read the key carefully and make sure you understand the four choices below - Mark the appropriate column for each word after you read each of them. - You are not allowed to use a dictionary while doing this test. A: I do not remember or see this expression before B: I have seen this expression before, but I do not have any idea about it C: I have seen this expression before, and I think I know the meaning of this expression D: I know this expression. It means ________ E: I can use this expression in daily life (translation, synonym, or explanation) Besides, the Sociocultural Adaptation Scale (SCAS) by Ward and Kennedy (1999) was used to measure the sociocultural adaptation of the participants focusing on both behavioral and cognitive adaptation. This adapted test was created to have the participants’ responses in rating from 1 (very difficult) to 5 (not difficult). There were 25 items included in this test. The original scale had 41 items, but this adapted scale was reduced to 25 items (Ward & Kennedy, 1999). These items included five cognitive aspects, including “understanding the educational system of China” and “seeing the particular regulation of China,” and 20 behavioral situations, such as “making friends,” “getting used to the environment,” and “finding a place to enjoy.” This situation also included the communication experienced by the participants, such as “understanding the utterances including jokes and humor” and “making themselves understood.” To make it understandable, the present study used the rating score based on the original version. Thus, the higher score corresponds with a positive adaptation. Table 1 The adapted items from the sociocultural adaptation scale. No Items 1 Making friends 2 Using the transportation 3 Making yourself understood 4 Getting used to the environment The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad 126 | Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 5 Going for shopping 6 Joining the social events 7 Having talked with others 8 Being understood by the jokes and humor 9 Being dealt with unpleasant 10 Getting used to the local environment (food, drink, etc.) 11 Following the regulations 12 Being adapted to the local accommodation 13 Communication with people who have different ethnic 14 Being related to different gender 15 Being dealt with unsatisfactory service 16 Being dealt with people staring at you 17 Going and enjoying the coffee shops 18 Understanding the local language, including the accent 19 Being adapted to the local etiquette 20 Relating to elderly 21 Understanding the educational system 22 Seeing the particular regulation 23 Being dealt with the bureaucracy 24 Dealt with the foreign staff at the university 25 Understanding the different cultures “The items used in the sociocultural adaptation” Moreover, the qualitative interview was used to have an informal conversation with the participants. This qualitative interview was used to obtain additional evidence to make the research more valid. The participants were interviewed to check their pragmatic development related to pragmatic routines focusing on intercultural adaptation. 3.3. Data collection and analysis As the preliminary data obtained from this study, the questionnaires were distributed once to seek the participants’ second language vocabulary knowledge or expressions and their pragmatic routines regarding their intercultural adaptation. Table 2 Word categories in VKS. No VKS Thanking Requesting Complementing Greeting Total Expressions 1 Preliminary VKS in English 5 5 5 5 20 2 Preliminary VKS in Chinese 5 5 5 5 20 The participants were asked to put a tick in front of the option they thought was right. As mentioned above, there were five options in front of each expression. The result of this scale would help the researcher identify the participants' pragmatic routines. In coding the participants’ pragmatic routines, each response in the VKS test obtained a point value for each participant. The average scores of this test were calculated on a scale from 0 to 4. Option a): “I do not remember or see this expression before” received zero points. b): “I have seen this expression before, but I do not have any idea about it” received 1 point; c): “I have seen this expression before, and I think I know the meaning Ismail Tahir & Aryati Hamzah Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 | 127 of this expression” received 2 points, d): “I know this expression. It means ________” received 3 points and e): “I can use this expression in daily life” received 4 points. Moreover, in supporting the data collection on the participants’ pragmatic routines to have the qualitative analysis, a case study was employed to obtain an in-depth understanding of the participants’ dynamic interaction in the online study abroad environment for their cases. For four months, observations, interviews, and documents were conducted to collect the data. The observations have been applied from September to December to determine how each participant interacts with others in their environment in the online classroom. 4. Findings 4.1. Quantitative findings: General patterns The production of pragmatic routines was explored to answer the present study's first research question (RQ1). As a preliminary result, the VKS test was distributed to each participant. As mentioned earlier, the response given by the participant receives a point value from 0 to 4. As calculated from each VKS, both English and Chinese, it consisted of four categories: thanking, requesting, complementing, and greeting. The overall scores were the sum of the production of the pragmatic routines. Thus, the maximum score each participant could achieve in overall pragmatic routine production was eighty points. The preliminary results obtained from the VKS in English and Chinese version as follows: Table 3 Summary data for the pragmatic routines based on four aspects (thanking, requesting, complementing, and greeting). The Preliminary VKS test Mean sd N 1 Preliminary VKS in English 13.50 1.91 4 2 Preliminary VKS in Chinese 14.75 2.22 4 To elaborate on the result above, the pragmatic routines are divided into four aspects, as follows Table 4 Means and standard deviation of pragmatic routine expressions based on five rates (0-4). No VKS Pragmatic Routine Expression Mean Std Dev N 1 VKS in English Thanking 3.00 .71 5 Requesting 2.20 1.30 5 Complementing 2.60 .55 5 Greeting 3.00 1.00 5 2 VKS in Chinese Thanking 3.40 .55 5 Requesting 2.40 .55 5 Complementing 3.20 .84 5 The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad 128 | Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 Greeting 2.80 .84 5 The statistical analysis above indicates that the preliminary VKS test for Chinese taught is greater than for English (mean = 14.75, and mean = 13.50). Moreover, in a particular aspect of the five scales, the Chinese pragmatic routine produced by the participant is greater than the English one. It can be seen from the overall mean in the result of VKS in Chinese. Even one aspect (greeting) is not greater than the English one. Overall, both Table 1 and Table 2 are similarly based on the mean provided. To conclude the results related to RQ1, the current investigation reveals that Indonesian students mostly use the pragmatic routines, but the Chinese language taught is higher than the English taught in the production of the pragmatic routines in the first semester of their first year during study abroad at Beihang University. Besides, the findings of this investigation provide new insight that proficiency in the language influences the production of pragmatic development in terms of pragmatic routines. The present study's second research question (RQ2) investigated whether sociocultural adaptation influences the production of pragmatic routines. Table 5 Sociocultural, cognitive, and behavioral adaptation by the Chinese language taught. Mean Std Dev Sociocultural adaptation 3.56 .71 Cognitive 4.0 .71 Behavioral 3.45 .69 Based on the result obtained from the participant, mostly his participant responded to a scale of 3 or 4, which means that most of her responses positively contributed to the pragmatic development influenced by sociocultural adaptation. Moreover, concerning the mean and standard deviation in sociocultural, cognitive, and behavioral adaptations, the participant is adaptable to the living environment. On the contrary, some participants show the same contribution in producing pragmatic routines. Still, some also show different responses in the sociocultural adaptation aspects, as shown in the table below. Table 6 Sociocultural, cognitive, and behavioral adaptation by English taught. Mean Std Dev Sociocultural adaptation 1.32 1.38 Cognitive .00 .00 Behavioral 1.65 1.35 Obtaining the results above, the sociocultural adaptation for the participant (taking English as the language instruction) shows a little bit of positive contribution to the development of pragmatic development compared to the participant taking Chinese as the language instruction. In summary, the results of the pragmatic routines focusing on the sociocultural adaptation during one semester of the participant taking Chinese as the language instruction revealed that the sociocultural adaptation supports the development of the Ismail Tahir & Aryati Hamzah Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 | 129 participants’ pragmatic development, particularly the pragmatic routines. However, it shows a slightly different contribution to the participant taking English as the language taught. 4.2. Qualitative findings (both RQ1 and RQ2) An in-depth interview was conducted to gain information related to their pragmatic routines’ awareness and sociocultural adaptation in the L2 of the study abroad context to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the quantitative results above responded by Indonesian undergraduate students as the results obtained from the interview showed that Nelly experiences all aspects in the production of pragmatic routines but not in sociocultural adaptation aspects, however, Silva experiences all aspects as well as the sociocultural adaptation aspects. These two students were voluntarily interviewed. Moreover, their names were pseudonyms. Nelly As mentioned, the names in the present study are pseudonyms; Nelly has been enrolled in online learning for one semester studying at Beihang University. She provided an IELTS result when she applied to pursue her bachelor’s degree at this University as she told the researcher that she got 6.0 on the IELTS score. Moreover, to illustrate her environment, most of the people she communicates with are Indonesian students since she lives in Indonesia, but she sometimes communicates with other people using English. She explained that she does not have enough time to communicate using English outside the classroom. Also, she gets confused about whom she needs to talk to, but she always spends her time watching movies, TV, or videos in English. Concerning the research result from this participant, the positive development of the pragmatic routine production was not only evident by the results received in each expression of the VKS version but also by her comments during the interview. Regarding sociocultural adaptation, she determines that it has a low influence on her pragmatic development during online study abroad. “As my first year studying here, I seldom interact using English both in the classroom and outside the classroom. I also communicate with my Indonesian friends who speak the same language.” Compared to her responses in the production of pragmatic routines shows a positive contribution to pragmatic development. However, as a result, revealed in terms of the quantitative and qualitative sociocultural adaptation, she responded that the sociocultural adaptation is quite influenced. Silva To support the quantitative results revealed by this participant, the qualitative result emphasizes that this participant illustrates the strong influence she obtains from the sociocultural adaptation for developing pragmatic routines during online study abroad context. As it is shown in table 5, the cognitive aspect shows the highest mean among those three aspects (sociocultural, cognitive, and behavioral). His comments during the interview session also revealed her pragmatic routines were influenced by sociocultural adaptation. Most of her comments positively contribute The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad 130 | Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 to her pragmatic development focusing on pragmatic routines. As shown in a short comment by this participant: I always talk to everyone wherever I am. During my daily activities, I always use the MRT as public transportation, but sometimes I also take the buses to a particular place. I think I always say thank you and say ni hao / hi to everyone. Her answers in the production of pragmatic routines and their form influenced by sociocultural adaptation illustrate positive expressions. She explains that her environment, including the place she lives, and the people she meets daily, including classmates, teachers, or strangers, help her improve her Chinese language skills. Even though she said, "I think my Chinese has decreased a little bit compared to one year studying in the previous college, I still think that people around me still help me keep my language skills.” This case illustrates that this participant does not experience a low language skill level. It can also be explained that some factors effectively affect her use of Chinese. The reason is that she has to manage her time to deal with many assignments and homework. She also has to manage her time to follow and join several online events of the students' union program. It is because this participant joins as a member of the Indonesian student union. 5. Discussion The current study attempts to investigate the development of the pragmatic routines influenced by sociocultural adaptation employed by two Indonesian students taking English and Chinese as the language instruction for their bachelor program by addressing two research questions. The one asked whether a semester contributes to the development of the pragmatic routines at Beihang University, China. The second one explored whether sociocultural adaptation determines the production of pragmatic routines in the context of study abroad. The findings related to the first research question indicate that the two Indonesian undergraduate students positively contributed to the development of pragmatic routine production during study abroad in their first year at Beihang University, China. These results support the development of pragmatic studies (Anderson et al., 2006; Taguchi, 2011; Taguchi, 2015; Sabater, 2011; Félix-Brasdefer & Hasler-Barker, 2015) and particularly in the development of pragmatic routine (Soler & Hernández, 2017; Sydorenko et al., 2018; Üstunbas, 2017; Barron, 2019). Moreover, the present study innovates in producing pragmatic routines during a short time as the preliminary research of pragmatic development is influenced by sociocultural adaptation. Like its results, this study emphasizes the participants’ pragmatic ability to express the meaning they obtain in their daily lives. The participants encourage themselves to keep practicing communicating with others such as classmates, teachers or instructors, strangers, and roommates anywhere. These findings are in line with the previous studies (Taguchi, 2008; Shively, 2011; Sabater, 2011; Anderson et al., 2015). Furthermore, concerning the results of the first question (RQ1), it collaborates with the previous investigation of the second language pragmatics development in the short-term study abroad (Reynolds-Case, 2013) and (Hassall, 2013), particularly the Ismail Tahir & Aryati Hamzah Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 | 131 pragmatic routines (Hernández & Boero, 2018; Halenko et al., 2019). In this study, the production of the pragmatic routines highlights the various expressions employed by the participants. Each participant shows a positive production in their pragmatic routines, such as “you did a great job” as they complement others and “could you please do me a favor” as they request people to do something for them, which facilitates them of the development of pragmatically appropriate language in the request form over time. Regarding the second research question (RQ2), the obtained findings of the production of pragmatic routines are determined by the influence of sociocultural adaptation. Each participant shows the different results of the pragmatic routines in this aspect. The participant taking the Chinese language taught positively influences the sociocultural adaptation to her pragmatic-routine development. However, the other one shows almost the same result as the Chinese language taught program, but it does not significantly contribute to developing pragmatic routines. These results reveal some factors influencing their sociocultural adaptation, such as the increased social interaction related to communication and literary adaptation. This illustration is in line with the previous investigation by (Forbush & Foucault-Welles, 2016). Moreover, the next piece of evidence is that both participants join extracurricular activities while studying at Beihang, which can influence their sociocultural adaptation concerning the development of their pragmatic routines. The previous studies have emphasized the intervention activities both in the academic and co-curricular in the context of sociocultural adaptation (Antonakopoulou, 2013) as well as their second language beliefs (Yang & Kim, 2011) because the sociocultural adaptation will fully result in the development of the drawing the personal experiences during study abroad of the global cultural awareness (Savicki et al., 2013). Another proof also concerns the different cultures the participant faces in the study abroad context influencing their sociocultural adaptation. As explored by (Presbitero, 2016) in his study, adapting to a different culture can negatively affect sociocultural adaptation. Thus, it is highly suggested that every participant become more aware of sociocultural adaptation (Gieser, 2015; Wilson et al., 2013). Notably, the influence of sociocultural adaptation on the development of pragmatic development in terms of pragmatic development represents the contribution to the pragmatic interlanguage field because, during study abroad, the students will experience many changes over time (Matsumura, 2001; Matsumura, 2007). Regarding the findings revealed from the findings of the current study, both behavioral and cognitive are important for the development of pragmatic routine production. Therefore, supporting (Ren, 2014) emphasized the L2 learners’ cognitive skills during study abroad, revealing the students’ perceptions of the factors affecting their pragmatic development. Moreover, the behavioral aspect can collaborate with the way how the participants communicate and how they motivate themselves (Hernández, 2010; Allen, 2010) to be encouraged to be involved in social interaction among all ages, particularly dealing with adults (Xiao, 2015) because during study abroad, the students are expected to more adaptable with a foreign culture that is usually becoming ever more pressing (Savicki, 2010). Overall, the findings from the present study contribute to the understanding of how the students studying in the study abroad context acquire the production of pragmatic The relationship between sociocultural adaptation and L2 pragmatic development during study abroad 132 | Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.10, No.2, May 2023 routines (Sánchez-Hernández, 2018). Hassall (2013) reported that the production of pragmatic development could be obtained during a short-term period. This study explores the first semester in the first year of the participants’ academic lives. Moreover, Sánchez- Hernández (2018) explored that sociocultural adaptation partially influenced the students’ pragmatic development during study abroad. Thus, the students should be able to use language proficiency and intercultural competence (Watson & Wolfel, 2013) as well as experience cultural development (Anderson & Lawton, 2011). 6. Conclusion The findings from the current study have revealed that the development of pragmatic routines focusing on the pragmatic routines experienced by Indonesian students currently studying at Beihang University majoring in Business and International Trade (English and Chinese language instruction) showed a positive contribution to the production of their pragmatic routines. It is determined mainly by the sociocultural adaptation experienced by the participants having Chinese language instruction. There is also a positive contribution experienced by the students having English instruction, but it gains a few influences compared to the Chinese ones. Specifically, the present study has shown that the production and acquisition of pragmatics and intercultural competence are interrelated in bridging the L2 learners' interaction with native speakers or other different second language users in the context of studying abroad. Furthermore, this study has several limitations that present future directions for future research. In mixed-method research, quantitative instruments were proposed to measure the participants’ production of pragmatic routines and intercultural adaptation. Moreover, in supporting the enrichment of the findings and their analysis to gain more validity, the qualitative has been conducted by including the interviews to understand the quantitative results further. In addition to this study, the current analysis focuses on Indonesian students at Beihang University, China. Therefore, the findings obtained from this analysis may not be generalized to Indonesian students in the Chinese population. Thus, future research is needed to conduct the study with different SA learner samples of pragmatic routines. References Allen, H. W. (2010). Language-learning motivation during short-term study abroad: An activity theory perspective. 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