Language Learning ISSN 0023-8333 The Effect of L2 Proﬁciency and Study-Abroad Experience on Pragmatic Comprehension Naoko Taguchi Carnegie Mellon University This cross-sectional study examined the effect of general proﬁciency and study-abroad experience on pragmatic comprehension in second-language English. Participants were 25 native English speakers and 64 Japanese college students of English divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 22) had lower proﬁciency and no study-abroad experience. Group 2 (n = 20) and Group 3 (n = 22) had higher proﬁciency than Group 1 but differed in their study-abroad experience. Group 2 had no study-abroad experience, but Group 3 had a minimum of 1 year of study-abroad experience in an English-speaking country. They completed a pragmatic listening test measuring their ability to comprehend conventional and nonconventional implicatures. Group performance was compared for the comprehension accuracy scores and response times. There was a signiﬁcant effect of proﬁciency on response times but no effect of study-abroad experience. Comprehension accuracy scores revealed mixed ﬁndings. It was advantageous for students to have study- abroad experience in the comprehension of nonconventional implicatures and routine expressions but not in indirect refusals. Keywords interlanguage pragmatics; pragmatic comprehension; conventional and nonconventional implicatures; routines; study-abroad Introduction Corresponding to the growing interest in the functional and social aspects of second-language (L2) ability, the last two decades have seen a steep increase in I wish to thank the students who participated in this research and for the instructors in the research site who assisted me with data collection. Thanks also go to the associate editor, Scott Jarvis, and three anonymous reviewers of Language Learning for their constructive feedback. I am also grateful for Marc Siskin for his technological assistance and Courtney Sutter for proofreading the manuscript. I am responsible for all the errors that may remain. This study was funded by a Language Learning Small Research Grant. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Naoko Taguchi, Modern Lan- guages Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Baker Hall 160, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890. Internet: taguchi@andrew.cmu.edu Language Learning 61:3, September 2011, pp. 904–939 904 C  2011 Language Learning Research Club, University of Michigan DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00633.x