A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF DEICTIC EXPRESSIONS USED IN THE IELTSSPEAKING TEST

Abstract

The present study aimed to identify the patterns, frequency, and functions of deictic expressions used by test-takers in the IELTS speaking test. The distribution of deictic expressions was based on Levinson’s (1983) classification of deictic expressions. The corpus of this study was (30) IELTS speaking tests representing various proficiency levels (ranging from low-intermediate to high-level test takers) to examine the variations in the use of deictic expressions across different language proficiency levels. The results of this study showed that personal deixes were the most frequently used deixis, followed by time and place deixis. The results also revealed no statistically significant differences in the use of various types of deixis attributed to language proficiency level. It was apparent that the test-takers used personal deixis in the context of the IELTS speaking test to refer to individuals involved in the conversations, and this may include the speaker himself/herself or other people. Time deixes were used by the test-takers to situate events or actions in time relative to the speaker and the context of the conversation, while place deixes were used to locate entities in space relative to the speaker and/or other participants in the conversation.