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F I G U R E 3 . 3 Example of field observation instruments
Adapted from Kakiuchi (2005b).
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their gender;
■
their relative social status; and
■
the level of distance between them.
The choice of factors to consider when observing would depend, of course,
on the purpose of the observation, the learners’ awareness about pragmatics,
their level of proficiency, and so forth.
Using these field observation techniques, a research team collected over
1,200 naturally occurring compliments in the early 1980s.
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The data can
still serve today as a foundation of pragmatics-focused instruction on how
to give and respond to compliments in American English. Observation of
the language and context can be made based on the observer’s memory or
audio-/video-recording. Below are two examples (Figures 3.3 and 3.4) of a
field observation instrument and data collected using audio-recording.
Teachers may also decide to have learners collect their own data on how
target language speakers use language.
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Learners may even decide what sort
of data they are going to collect. For example, they might want to know
how one can invite someone on a date and how to accept or refuse such an
19
See Manes and Wolfson (1981).
20
See Tatsuki and Houck (in press) for more details about this procedure.

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invitation. Authentic language use in such situations may not be in their
language textbooks and warrant collection of naturally occurring (or at least
reasonably naturalistic) data. Below is an example, an assignment in which
data on giving and responding to compliments were collected by high inter-
mediate ESL learners as part of awareness-raising instruction.
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The learner
language is quoted verbatim in the following table.
For the next few days, pay attention to any compliments that you give,
receive, or overhear and jot them down in your notepads as accurately 
as possible after the conversation. Observe carefully the circumstances 
in which these compliments were given and responded to in terms of
gender, age, role, distance/closeness, and compliment topics. Fill out the
following form and bring it to your next class.