Pragmatics in the ESL classroom

Pragmatics in the ESL classroom

In the ESL classroom, from early on the main focus of teachers’ and learners’ attention alike is forming grammatically correct utterances. But outside the walls of this artificial environment grammatical accuracy is not enough. In real-life situations choosing the right or wrong word often decides whether communication is successful. In the cases where ESL learners do encounter pragmatics, it is usually the subject of higher-level courses (intermediate level and above), which might be too late. In this paper I intend to find the earliest point of language acquisition when knowledge of grammar is strong enough that correcting the students on the basis of pragmatics is no longer harmful. From that point on, concentrating solely on grammar hinders the learner’s progress, and should be avoided.

Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Mahan-Taylor, R (Eds.) (2003). Teaching Pragmatics. Retrieved from http://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/teaching-pragmatics

The book is a collection of fully detailed exercises for teachers. In their introduction, the editors assert the importance of pragmatics in the classroom, and emphasise that for a native speaker, the rules of pragmatics are applied without consideration, but non-native speakers must be made aware of the rules for them to be used consciously. Awareness of possible contexts and the appropriate forms for them is key. The editors also stress that the book has a wide range of exercises as there is no singular correct way of teaching pragmatics, and they encourage teachers to experiment with the resources given.

This book is the cornerstone of my paper, probably more important than any other on the list. It contains exercises for all levels, from simple forms of greeting to convoluted conversational situations. Some of those that are for higher level students, can be easily adapted to lower-level students. It is my intention to use these exercises in an actual classroom of beginner, elementary and pre-intermediate level students and record how the results vary.

Félix-Brasdefer, J. C., & Cohen A. D. (2012). Teaching Pragmatics in the Foreign Language Classroom: Grammar as a Communicative Resource.  Hispania, 95(4), 650-669. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41756418

The article focuses on grammatical forms which have pragmatic significance. It also states that pragmatics should be used from the beginning of the course, and presents a way to amalgamate teaching grammar with teaching pragmatics. It also outlines a pedagogical plan to carry out its goals, pairing up grammatical functions such as the conditional and their communicative function besides the primary meaning, like showing politeness using conditional forms.

This article is about teaching Spanish as a second language, but its principles are above teaching a specific language, it describes an approach to teaching languages in general which is very useful. This means that its general points are worthwhile, but the exercises it proposes need to be checked whether they work in English or not. Its proposed plan of teaching pragmatics also recommends the use of online resources and activities, which emulate real-life situations, and can even be performed in the course, like reviewing example e-mails and rewriting them in the appropriate manner.

Huth, T. (2007). Pragmatics Revisited: Teaching with Natural Language Data. Teaching German,40(1), 21-33. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20479916

Huth talks about the importance of using the right kind of data when teaching language, and especially pragmatics. He stresses that pragmatics as a communication strategy must be made conscious, because the learners often use their L1 strategies in communication, even when they are not appropriate. Similarly, when interacting with L2 speakers or situations, lacking correct information, they fall back on stereotypes, which can be worse than using no backround information at all. His suggestion is a curated list of empirical studies and resources describing the behaviour of different cultures in similar situations – his example is listing differences between American and German responses to receiving compliments.

Huth’s paper serves as a good reminder and guideline when devising the exercises intended to be recorded in the paper. If the exercises use the internet as Marda, Félix-Brasfeder and Cohen suggest in their article, it must be considered carefully, what the learners are given access to. If not, their incorrect stereotypes might be ingrained inadvertently.

Marda, R. (2012). Grammar in the Real World: Enhancing Grammar Lessons with Pragmatics. Hispania, 95(4), 670-680. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41756419

This article starts from the perspective that the learning of any language can be aided by the use of “metapragmatic” strategies, ones that are independent of language. In accordance with this, it suggests the use of approaching teaching from an alternate perspective. It proposes that traditional grammar lessons can be enhanced with the use of its methods. The example it gives is actually for lower level students, teaching the imperative, reviewing its use through practicing ordering drinks, understanding the difference between polite and impolite forms. It makes the point clear with reading and understanding a joke together that is set in this situation.

Similarly to the Félix-Brasdefer – Cohen article, this one suggests the use of online resources, which seem promising. Learners’ independent use of the Internet and their research into original texts might be too high-level for this paper. This approach would need modification to suit lower-level students.