On the effects of instruction in second language pragmatics
Introduction
This paper examines what research on pedagogical intervention has to say about the effects of different instructional strategies for second language pragmatic learning. The rationale for examining the effects of instruction in pragmatics is underscored by Schmidt’s (1993) contention that simple exposure to the target language is insufficient – pragmatic functions and relevant contextual factors are often not salient to learners and so not likely to be noticed even after prolonged exposure. Furthermore, Bardovi-Harlig (2001) makes a strong case for the necessity of instruction, documenting that second language learners who do not receive instruction in pragmatics differ significantly from native speakers in their pragmatic production and perception in the target language. I will first discuss the learning targets, learner characteristics, and learning contexts represented in the small, but growing body of research on the effects of instruction in second language pragmatics. Following this, I turn to three central questions relating to the effect of instruction on pragmatics: whether pragmatics is teachable, whether instruction in pragmatics produces results that outpace exposure alone, and whether different instructional approaches yield different outcomes.
Section snippets
Learning targets
A wide range of discoursal, pragmatic, and sociolinguistic targets of instruction have been the object of research on the effectiveness of instruction in pragmatics. These include discourse markers and strategies, pragmatic routines, speech acts, overall discourse characteristics, and pragmatic comprehension.
Among the studies that have examined the effects of instruction on discourse markers and strategies are Wildner-Bassett, 1984, Wildner-Bassett, 1986 work on gambits in English and Yoshimi’s
Learner characteristics and learning contexts
The scope of learner characteristics represented in studies on the effectiveness of instruction in second language pragmatics is rather smaller than the range of learning targets. These include learners’ first language, the target language, age, proficiency, educational context, and the status of the target language in the wider community.
In terms of learners’ first languages, English (Liddicoat and Crozet, 2001, Lyster, 1994, Tateyama, 2001, Tateyama et al., 1997, Yoshimi, 2001) and Japanese (
Research issues and findings
Studies on the effect of instruction in pragmatics seek to answer three basic questions: first, is the targeted pragmatic feature teachable at all? Second, is instruction in the targeted feature more effective than no instruction? And third, are different teaching approaches differentially effective? The first question, whether pragmatics are amenable to instruction at all, is the most basic of the three questions, representing at best a starting point analogous to Long’s (1983) early survey of
Conclusion
Based on results from the studies carried out to date, it is possible to come to some tentative conclusions regarding the effects of instruction in second language pragmatics. First, there is considerable evidence indicating that a range of features of second language pragmatics are teachable. These include a variety of discoursal, pragmatic, and sociolinguistic targets of instruction, such as discourse markers and strategies, pragmatic routines, speech acts, overall discourse characteristics,
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