THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND CREATING CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES AMONG IRANIAN EFL STUDENTS

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL learner's level of language proficiency and their ability to flout Grice's maxims in order to create implicatures. The participants were 120 senior students (both intermediate and advanced), studying EFL at Borujerd Islamic Azad University. They were selected out of 150 students on the basis of their performance on MTELP. The selected subjects had each an oral interview consisting of 10 questions regarding 'your friend'. The questions were the same for all subjects, and in some cases, the students' answers triggered other questions, as well. The interview had an attempt to test their familiarity with creating implicatures through 'flouting'. The research followed a special kind of ex post-facto design called criterion-group design. The collected data underwent chi-square statistical analysis and the result revealed that there is no significant relationship between the Iranian EFL learners' level of English language proficiency and their familiarity with flouting maxims of conversation as a way of creating implicatures. That is, both intermediate and advanced students were poor in this regard. Accordingly, the researcher came to this conclusion that this strategy is neglected in EFL teaching and it should be taken into more consideration as a way of proceeding conversation.