3.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the general methodology employed in the study to answer the research questions. It begins with an argument for a longitudinal case study, descriptions of the subject, the data collection procedures, the data sets, and concludes with the classification of request strategies that underpins the analysis of the acquisition of requests by the child second language learner.

3.1 The Longitudinal Case Study

We will argue that the research questions above can be best answered by a longitudinal case study in which records are kept of the learner's pragmatic development from the onset of the language acquisition process. Tarone and Liu (1995: 110) point out that longitudinal data for single individuals are necessary in order to investigate whether 'synchronic variation across situations is related to diachronic change'. A longitudinal case study makes it possible to show synchronic variation within the same individual across different contexts as well as diachronic change. Neither a DCT (Discourse Completion Test/Task) nor a role-play is suitable for a developmental study because a learner's target language has to be good enough from the start to fill in a DCT or engage in a role-play. In fact, Kasper and Schmidt (1996: 151) point out that none of the studies using these methods has subjects at the very first stage of second language development because of their inability to engage in such activities. As indicated in Chapters 1 and 2, there are few longitudinal studies of learners' pragmatic development. There is a substantial literature in learners' pragmatics but most of it consists of cross-sectional studies. According to Bardovi-Harlig and Hartford (1993: 280), cross-sectional studies show what learners of different levels of proficiency know, but they do not show change within individuals. Therefore, there is a gap, a gap that can be filled by longitudinal case studies. Such studies are essential for a clear understanding how the features of pragmatics in the second language actually emerge. It is this task that we have set ourselves.