Interaction through vague language: L 1 and L2 perspectives

Abstract

Questions such as how often is often or how many is many have been the concern of the study of vague language (VL). This study focuses on the elastic use of VL across three groups of speakers of English: L1 speaker of English, Chinese-speaking learner of English and Persian-speaking learner of English. It is found that the elasticity inherent in VL can enrich communication. The findings have implications in language pedagogy.