Pre-Task Planning Time Strategies for the Production of Request and Refusal Speech Acts in L2 English

There is a growing consensus that implementation of planning time exerts an effect on oral speech production oflearners. Research has yet to find out what strategies are used by learners in oral speech production. To contribute tothis ongoing debate, the present study examined activation of sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and contentknowledge strategies employed by learners in pre-task planning time to produce answers. Ten M.A. students andPh.D. candidates majoring in TEFL gave their answers to oral request and refusal DCTs through think-aloudprotocol. The results revealed that the pre-task planning time caused the participants to activate a high degree ofsociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and content knowledge awareness. Therefore, implementation of planning time inspeaking tests may help individuals to produce more fluent and socially appropriate utterances.