Mobilizing assistance through troubles-complaints in L2 settings

Abstract Sometimes we face material or practical troubles that require assistance from others to be resolved. While assistance can be mobilized through requests for assistance, it can also be mobilized through complaints. However, while L2 requests have been the object of numerous studies, there has been very little work examining how complaints can be used by L2 speakers to mobilize assistance. In this article, we examine how troubles-complaints are used by Saudi L2 speakers of English as a method by which to mobilize assistance. It is suggested that mobilizing assistance through troubles-complaints provides for the negotiation of the material and moral contingencies associated with any such assistance. It is also suggested that the mobilization of requests through complaints is preferred over requests for assistance when the nature of assistance and who will provide it needs to be negotiated. Leading with requests for assistance in such cases thus occasions interactional misalignment. We conclude that the learning and teaching of pragmatic competence needs to go beyond traditional sets of speech acts such as requests.