As indicated, among others, by Badrovi-Harlig (2017), Cohen (2016) and Sykes (2013), the teaching of pragmatic features in the language classroom is confronted with numerous challenges, related, among others, to limited... [ view full abstract ]
As indicated, among others, by Badrovi-Harlig (2017), Cohen (2016) and Sykes (2013), the teaching of pragmatic features in the language classroom is confronted with numerous challenges, related, among others, to limited theoretical support for curricular development, poor quality of teaching materials, lack of pragmatic knowledge and requisite instructional skills on the part of instructors, severe time-constrains, lack of reference books and resources, examination requirements and individual learner variation. As a result, pragmatics is seldom the focus of instruction in the foreign language context, irrespective of whether learners are trying to develop a rudimentary communicative ability or majoring in a foreign language to become professionals in this respect, although it is clear that the knowledge of sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic features is vital in the latter case. A study was conducted to partly remedy the situation and it aimed to: (1) determine whether, which, and how pragmatic features are taught in the practical English component of BA and MA programs in English in four European countries, and (2) use the results as a point of departure for creating a tentative pragmatics curriculum. The participants were 30 university-level instructors in Italy, Poland, Spain and Turkey, and data were collected by means of questionnaires containing both Likert-scale and open questions, interviews and observations of two classes taught by three participants from each country. Rather unsurprisingly, it was found that pragmatics was typically relegated to the back seat, when instruction did take place, it was mainly confined to basic speech acts (e.g., requests) and the materials used for this purpose were not always appropriate. Apart from articulating the reasons for the neglect of pragmatics which by and large overlapped those mentioned by Badrovi-Harlig (2017), the participants provided a number of suggestions on how the situation can be improved. Basing on such suggestions as well as the existing literature, an attempt is made to propose a tentative curriculum for teaching pragmatics features to English majors in foreign language contexts and to recommend specific instructional techniques in this respect, with a particular focus on the provision of direct metapragnmatic information, practice and feedback (Taguchi, 2015).
