the nexus of age, pragmatic competence and language proficiency among iranian efl learners

In the light of significance of pragmatic competence in the process of second language acquisition, the current study initially tried to uncover the relationship between age, pragmatic competence and language proficiency among iranian efl learners. furthermore, the researcher looked into the effect of age and language proficiency on the learners’ pragmatic competence. to this end, 157 participants from the age ranges of 17-20 and 21-24 comprised the sample of the study. to collect the required data, the researcher employed oxford placement test to measure the learners’ language proficiency and a discourse completion task to assess learners’ pragmatic competence. findings revealed that age was not significantly related to language proficiency and pragmatic competence. in an ex-post facto design, age could not make a difference in learners pragmatic competence; however, the effect of language proficiency was found significant on the learners’ pragmatic competence. findings revealed that the performance of the elementary learners on the discourse completion task was significantly different from that of other proficiency levels (i.e., lower intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced). lower intermediate learners manifested their pragmatic competence significantly different from that in elementary and advanced learners. while the performance of upper intermediate learners on the discourse completion task was not significantly different from that of lower intermediate and advanced learners, advanced learners’ pragmatic competence was only similar to that of upper intermediate learners. this study can provide informative insights for the material developers and curriculum planners.