This section discusses the finding that the learners in this study use direct questions as their main Asking strategy (see 4.1.10.2).
Learners do not appear to be relying on LI pragmatic knowledge in selecting this strategy to ask for inform ation. Evidence consistently shows English native speakers to favour query preparatory forms, not direct questions, in asking for information. In a study by Blum-Kulka (1982, 1983), Canadian English subjects used no direct questions at all to ask directions from a stranger in the street; instead, QP modal forms were invariably used (Blum-Kulka 1982: 46). In a study by Cook (1985), British English speakers routinely selected query preparatory strategies (e.g. "Could you tell me ...? ”) or question hints (e.g. "Have you got the time?”) to ask for information in common situations, and Aijmer (1996: 180), too, finds that query preparatory forms ("Can you?" and "Could you?") are routinely used in asking for information by British English speakers.
In selecting direct questions to ask for information in Indonesian, these learners are likely to be influenced by formal instruction. In their main textbook (Johns 1977), structures containing indirect questions (such as equivalents to “Can you tell me if...? ” or “Do you know w here...?”) are not presented or practiced at all. On the other hand, direct questions are given very heavy emphasis. Simple interrogative forms are modelled and drilled extensively, from a very early stage (from Chapter 2), and occur very frequently in illustrative dialogues throughout the textbook. The learners are likely to infer that the direct question is the most appropriate strategy in these specific instances, and then to generalise from this EL knowledge to conclude that it is the most appropriate strategy in these role play situations, too. Another likely result of this intensive instruction in direct questions is that learners are likely to develop sound formal mastery over direct questions, in the sense of highly automatized knowledge of these forms (cf. Bialystok 1991, 1993). This, too, is likely to influence them to select these forms in speech.
The element of formal simplicity of direct questions is also likely to influence the learners’ selection of this strategy. The main request strategy of these learners — the query preparatory modal request — involves considerably m ore formal complexity in asking for information than in other requests. This is because it requires a question to be embedded inside the modal request (e.g. Bisa saya
diberitahu di mana kantor pos ? “Can I be told where the post office is?”"). So even if these learners start planning their Asks by analogy with English conventionally indirect forms, they are likely to perceive linguistic difficulties and choose to reformulate with a direct question instead.
The importance of formal simplicity in the selection of direct questions by learners seems borne out by Harlow’s (1990) research. In this study, “upper-level” English learners o f French mostly used direct questions in asking for information, and this seems to be partly because the conventionally indirect forms favoured by L2 native subjects demanded linguistic resources the learners lacked. For example, the expression m’indiquer “show me” which was routinely used by the L2 native speakers to make conventionally indirect requests for directions (cf. “Could you show me the way?") seemed unknown to the learners who, apparently, would ask a direct question (Ou est...? “Where is...? ”) in this situation instead.
The finding that BI NSs themselves use direct questions as their main Asking strategy is itself interesting. Blum-Kulka, Danet and Gherson (1985) find that despite a general ethos of directness in Israeli speech act behavour, native speakers of Hebrew opt for conventionally indirect strategies when asking for information. Moreover, these authors imply (Blum-Kulka et al 1985: 130) that the use of indirect strategies in asking for information is to be expected, as this act by its nature consists of two elements: a genuine question about an unknown fact and a request to be told that fact.35
Accepting that point of view for a moment, the prefacing moves that BI NS subjects frequently use before direct questions (see 6.1.3.3.1) can perhaps be seen as a means of fulfilling this norm. This is illustrated in [107] below:
107 (asking a stranger for directions to the post office)
NS: Bisa nanya ini Bu?
P: Hm [mm
NS: uhl (.) kantor pos utama di mana ya ?
NS: Can (I) ask this 'mother'?
P: Mm [hm
In [107] above, the request element of the Ask could be said to be located in the prefacing move (Bisa nanya ini...? “Can I ask th is...?”), and the question element to be located in the head act itself (Di mana kantorpos utama...? “W here’s the main post o ffic e ...? ”). However, this analysis seems to beg the question o f why speakers should choose to make a request — rather than simply ask a question — in the first place, particularly in a society where an ethos of directness prevails. And indeed, Blum-Kulka et al (1985) acknowledge that factors such as the particular information asked about in their study (about a puppy for sale, including delicate information such as whether it was “house-clean”), as well as the channel used (telephone rather than face-to-face), may have prompted their subjects to opt for indirect Asking strategies. Also, it seems important (although not mentioned by Blum -K ulka et al 1985) that all Hebrew native subjects in an earlier study by Blum-Kulka used a direct question to ask for information (asking for directions in the street from a stranger: Blum -K ulka 1983: 50). This suggests that direct questions, rather than C l requests, may indeed be the norm in asking for information in Hebrew.
To sum up, this finding that BI NS subjects favour direct questions in asking for information challenges the notion that the Cl request is an inherently natural means of asking for information, and provides evidence that it is not the archetypal strategy used for this speech act across languages.