Factors Affecting Teachers’ Pragmatic Knowledge Incorporation into Thai EFL Classrooms

Authors

  • Somboon Pojprasat
  • Somchai Watcharapunyawong

Keywords:

L2 pragmatics; pragmatic competence; Thai EFL teachers; self-reflection

Abstract

In second language pragmatics, the student has long received much more attention than the teacher with the principal aim to examine the former’s pragmatic competence and to innovate teaching in order to increase it. However, reports on students’ poor pragmatic performance have identified the ineffectiveness of this predisposed interest. Therefore, the researchers argue for a closer investigation into the teachers who are crucial in contributing to the latter’s ability. In the present study, a survey and a structured interview were used with a purposive sample of 38 Thai EFL university instructors to elicit in-depth information about their beliefs in the value of pragmatic knowledge, their self-reflection of incorporating pragmatic content in class, and factors that might complicate the relation between the beliefs and actual teaching. Findings show that while participants hold considerable positivity regarding the need for pragmatic content, their existent teaching is relatively less due to certain limitations. Among them, student background and type of course are the most influential factors in their pragmatic teaching knowledge. Moreover, participants’ pragmatic knowledge background and language experience have a significant correlation with their existing teaching (r =.38, p = .01). The inadequate proportion of in-class pragmatic content presents itself as a direct cause for students’ poor performance since they lack both the necessary knowledge and practice. The paper concludes with practical steps to systemize in-class teaching of pragmatic knowledge in Thai EFL contexts and perhaps elsewhere.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.9.11

References

Al-Sha'r, A. A. (2017). Efficacy of teaching pragmatic aspects on improving undergraduate English major students' conversational skills and expressive abilities in authentic situations. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(8), 11-23.

Alsuhaibani, Z. (2020). Developing EFL students’ pragmatic competence: The case of compliment responses. Language Teaching Research, 1-20.

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2001). Evaluating the empirical evidence: Grounds for instruction in pragmatics? In K. Rose & G. Kasper (Eds.), Pragmatics in Language Teaching (pp. 13-32). Cambridge University Press

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2010). Exploring the pragmatics of interlanguage pragmatics: Definition by design. In A. Trosborg (Ed.), Handbook of pragmatics (pp. 219-260). Mouton de Gruyter.

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2013). Developing L2 pragmatics. Language Learning, 63(1), 68–86.

Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Mahan-Taylor, R. (2003). Teaching pragmatics. United States Department of State.

Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Shin, S.-Y. (2014). Expanding traditional testing measures with tasks from L2 pragmatics research. Iranian Journal of Language Testing, 4, 26-49.

Barron, A. (2003). Acquisition in interlanguage pragmatics: Learning how to do things with words in a study abroad context. John Benjamins.

Basturkmen, H., Loewen, S., & Ellis, R. (2004). Teachers’ stated beliefs about incidental focus on form and their classroom practices. Applied Linguistics, 25(2), 243-272.

Basturkmen, H., & Nguyen, T.T.M. (2017). Teaching pragmatics. In A. Barron, G. Steen, & Y. Guo (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of pragmatics (pp. 563-574). Routledge.

Berry, R. (2000). “You-ser” friendly metalanguage: What effect does it have on learners of English? International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 38, 195-211.

Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (1989). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Cane, G. (1998). Teaching conversation skills more effectively. The Korea TESOL Journal, 1, 31-37.

Celce-Murcia, M. (2007). Rethinking the role of communicative competence in language teaching. In E. Alcón-Soler & M. P. Safont Jordà (Eds.), Intercultural language use and language learning (pp. 7-22). Springer.

Chaisuriya, A., & Shin, S.-Y. (2004). Examining English test practicality among different stakeholders in Thailand. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 16(1), 107-120.

Chi, S. (2017). College students' English pragmatic competence analysis and college English teaching. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 119, 1140-1144.

Cohen, A. (2016). The teaching of pragmatics by native and nonnative language teachers: what they know and what they report doing. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(4), 561-585.

Chokwiwatkul, R. (2017). Indirect Speech Act comprehension of Thai Undergraduate Students in ESP Context [Master’s Thesis, Thammasat University].

Choraih, M. A., Loutfi, A., & Mansoor, A. (2016). The importance of pragmatic competence in the EFL curriculum: Application and implications. Arab World English Journal, ASELS Annual Conference Proceedings, 183-195.

Ekin, M. T. Y., & Damar, E. A. (2013). Pragmatic awareness of EFL teacher trainees and their reflections on pragmatic practices. ELT Research Journal, 2(4), 176-190.

Farashaiyan, A., Tan, K. H., & Subakir, M. (2014). An investigation of Iranian instructors' methods and techniques in teaching interlanguage pragmatics. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 118, 61-67.

Glasgow, G. (2008). Language awareness, metapragmatics and the L2 teacher. Accents Asia, 2(2), 1-16. http://www.accentsasia.org/2-2/glasgowg.pdf

Grant, L., & Starks, D. (2001). Screening appropriate teaching materials: Closing from textbooks and television soap operas. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 39, 39-50.

Hagiwara, A. (2010). Journal watch. Pragmatic Matters, 11(1), 240-250.

Hudson, T., Detmer, E., & Brown, J.D. (1992). A framework for testing cross-cultural pragmatics (Technical Report 2). University of Hawai‘i, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.

Hudson, T. (2001). Self-assessment methods in cross-cultural pragmatics. In T. Hudson and J. D. Brown (Eds.), A focus on language test development (pp. 57-74). University of Hawaii Press.

Hudson, T., Detmer, E., & Brown, J. D. (1995). Developing prototypic measures of cross-cultural pragmatics. University of Hawai’i Press.

Imsa-ard, P. (2020). Voices from Thai ELF teachers: Perceptions and beliefs towards the English test in the national examination in Thailand. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 13(2), 269-287.

Ishihara, N. (2007). Web-based curriculum for pragmatics instruction in Japanese as a foreign language: An explicit awareness-raising approach. Language Awareness, 16(1), 21-40.

Ishihara, N. (2011). Co-constructing pragmatic awareness: Instructional pragmatics in EFL teacher development in Japan. TESL-EJ, 15(2), 1-17.

Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. D. (2010). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet. Pearson Longman.

Jalilifar, A. (2009). Request strategies: Cross-sectional study of Iranian EFL learners and Australian native speakers. English Language Teaching, 2(1), 46-61.

Kasper, G., & Dahl, M. (1991). Pragmatics and SLA. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 19, 81-104.

Kasper, G. (1992). Pragmatic transfer. Second Language Research, 8, 203-231.

Kasper, G., & Schmidt, R. (1996). Developmental issues in interlanguage pragmatics. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18, 149-169.

Kasper, G. (2001). Four perspectives on pragmatic development. Applied Linguistics, 22, 502-530.

Kasper, G., & Rose, K. R. (2002). Pragmatic development in a second language. Blackwell.

Kim, D., & Hall, J. K. (2002). The role of an interactive book reading program in the development of second language pragmatic competence. Modern Language Journal, 86, 332-348.

Koike, D., & Pearson, L. (2005). The effect of instruction and feedback in the development of pragmatic competence. System, 33, 481-501.

Krishnamurthy, S., Ithindi, E., Brewis, A., & Eiseb, J. (2009). Pragmatic analysis of students’ performance at the Polytechnic of Namibia. NJLC, 3(2), 206-221.

Liu, J. (2007). Developing a pragmatics test for Chinese ELF learners. Language Testing, 24, 391-415.

Liu, Y. (2015). An empirical study on the development pattern of Chinese EFL learners' pragmatic competence. Foreign Language Research, 182(1), 114-119.

Martínez-Flor, A., & Usó-Juan, E. (2006). A comprehensive pedagogical framework to develop pragmatics in the foreign language classroom: The 6Rs approach. Applied Language Learning, 16, 39-64.

McLean, T. (2004). Giving students a fighting chance: Pragmatics in the language classroom. TESL Canada Journal, 21(2), 72-92.

Meihami, H., & Khanlarzadeh, M. (2015). Pragmatic content in global and local ELT textbooks: A micro analysis study. SAGE Open, 1-10.

Mei-Xiao, L. (2008). Pragmatic failure in intercultural communication and English teaching in China. http://www.chinamediaresearch.net/vol4no3/06Mei-xiao%20Lin-final.pdf

Mirzaei, A., & Rezaei, M. S. (2012). Exploring the underrepresentation of pragmatic competence in the L2 classrooms in Iran. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, 4(1), 73-84.

Nu, A. T. T., & Murray, J. (2020). Pragmatic content in EFL textbooks: An investigation into Vietnamese national teaching materials. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language: The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 24(3), 1-28.

Pinyo, S., Aksornjarung, P., & Laohawiriyanon, C. (2010, April 10). Pragmatic competence in requests: A case study with Thai English teachers. The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Teacher – Teaching Aids_006.

Prapphal, K. (2008). Issues and trends in language testing and assessment in Thailand.

Language Testing, 25(1), 127-143.

Povolna, R. (2012). Pragmatic awareness in teacher education. Acta academica karviniensia, Karviná: Slezská univerzita v Opav?, Obchodn? podnikatelská fakulta v Karviné, 12(1), 148-158.

Qiao, Y. (2014). A case study of pragmatic Failures committed by undergraduate [Paper presentation]. International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication (ICELAIC), Luoyang.

Ren, W., & Han, Z. (2016). The representation of pragmatic knowledge in recent ELT textbooks. ELT Journal, 1-11.

Roeover, C. (2005). Testing ESL pragmatics. Peter Lang.

Roever, C., Fraser, C., & Elder, C. (2014). Testing ESL sociopragmatics: Development and validation of a web-based test battery. Peter Lang.

Rue, Y., Zhang, G., & Shin, K. (2007, July 12-13). Request strategies in Korean [Paper presentation]. The 5th Biennial Korean Studies Association of Australasia Conference, Perth, Australia.

Rueda, Y. T. (2006). Developing pragmatic competence in a foreign language. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 8, 169-182.

Savvidou, C., & Economidou Kogetsidis, M. (2019). Teaching pragmatics: Nonnative speaker-teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and reported practices. Intercultural Communication Education, 2(1), 39-58. https://doi.org/10.29140/ice.v2n1.124

Sinwongsuwat, K. (2012). Rethinking assessment of Thai EFL learners’ speaking skills. Language Testing in Asia, 2(4), 75-85.

Soboleva, A. V., & Obdalova, O. A. (2014). The methodology of intercultural competence development on the basis of a cognitive style inclusive approach. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 154, 155-161.

Soler, E. A., & Flor, A. M. (2008). Investigating pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching and testing. Cromwell Press Ltd.

Suh, J.-S. (2012). EFL pre- and in-Service teachers' pragmatic attitude. English Teaching, 67(3), 205-225.

Suprijadi, D. (2013). Teacher's awareness in developing pragmatic competence of EFL learners. ELTIN Journal, 1(1), 1-10.

Tajeddin, Z., & Pezeshki, M. (2014). Acquisition of politeness markers in an EFL context: impact of input enhancement and output tasks. RELC Journal, 45(3), 269-286.

Thijittang, S. (2010). A Study of Pragmatic Strategies of English of Thai University Students: Apology Speech Acts [Doctoral dissertation, University of Tasmania]. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/10754/7/Thijittang_whole_thesis.pdf

Vasquez, C. & Sharpless, D. (2009). The role of pragmatics in the Master’s TESOL curriculum: Findings from a nationwide survey. TESOL Quarterly, 43(1), 5-28.

Vellenga, H. (2004). Learning pragmatics from ESL & EFL textbooks: How likely? The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 8(2), 2-18.

Xu, L., & Wannaruk, A. (2016). Testing university learners’ interlanguage pragmatic competence in a Chinese EFL context. PASAA, 52, 209-235.

Yuan, Y., Tangen, D., & Mills, K. A. (2015). Learning English pragmatics in China: An investigation into Chinese EFL learners’ perceptions of pragmatics. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 19(1), 1-16.

Yue, X., Ding, Q., & Feng, Y. (2020). Pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication of Chinese students: An investigation in a Guangxi Normal University. Scholars International Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 3(2), 35-44.

Zhang, Y., Wang, F., & Wannaruk, A. (2019). Pragmatic competence in business context: A case study of Thai EFL university students. Suranaree Journal of Social Science, 13(2), 1-24.

Downloads

Published

2022-09-30