Table Of ContentSociocultural Theory and L2
Instructional Pragmatics
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Series Editors: Professor David Singleton, University of Pannonia, Hungary and
Fellow Emeritus, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
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Sociocultural Theory and L2
Instructional Pragmatics
Rémi A. van Compernolle
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Bristol • Buffalo • Toronto
To Claire and Annalise
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Compernolle, Rémi A. van.
Sociocultural Theory and L2 Instructional Pragmatics/Rémi A. van Compernolle.
Second Language Acquisition: 74
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Second language acquisition. 2. Pragmatics. 3. Interlanguage (Language learning). 4.
Language and culture—Study and teaching. 5. Speech acts (Linguistics). 6. Sociolinguistics.
I. Title.
P99.4.P72C58 2014
401'.45–dc23 2013036367
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-78309-139-3 (hbk)
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Copyright © 2014 Rémi A. van Compernolle.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Transcription Conventions ix
1 Introduction 1
Introducing Sociocultural Theory and Second Language
Instructional Pragmatics 1
Sociocultural Theory as a Basis for Educational Praxis 9
Research Context and Data Sources 23
Overview of the Chapters 27
2 Appropriateness in Language Learning and Language Teaching 29
Introduction 29
Theoretical Foundations of Appropriateness 30
Pragmatics as Mediated Action: A Pedagogical Framework 42
Conclusion 62
3 Understanding Learners as People 64
Introduction 64
Education and the Development of Personalities 66
Internalization as Personalization 76
Emotion and Instructional Pragmatics 85
Conclusion 90
4 Developing Awareness of Pragmatic Knowledge Through
Verbalized Reflections 93
Introduction 93
Language as a Psychological Tool 95
Monologic Verbalized Reflection 98
Dialogic Verbalized Reflection 109
Conclusion 117
v
vi Sociocultural Theory and L2 Instructional Pragmatics
5 Developing Pragmatic Knowledge Through Appropriateness
Judgment Tasks 120
Introduction 120
Dynamic Assessment and Pragmatic Knowledge 122
Dynamically Administered Appropriateness Judgment Tasks
as Transformative, Developmental Activity 128
Pre-enrichment and Post-enrichment Appropriateness
Judgment Tasks 144
Conclusion 150
6 Developing Performance Abilities Through Strategic
Interaction Scenarios 153
Introduction 153
Dynamic Assessment and Pragmatic Performance 156
Human Mediation and the Emergence of Controlled
Performance 162
Orientation, Execution and Control 171
Conclusion 181
7 The Future of Vygotskian Approaches to Instructional Pragmatics 184
Introduction 184
Implications for Research 188
Implications for the Classroom 196
Implications for Teacher Education 202
Final Comments 207
References 209
Acknowledgments
I thank first and foremost the students with whom I have worked over the
years, who have helped to shape my view of language, language learning and
language teaching as I explored various approaches to integrating sociolinguis-
tic and pragmatic features of discourse into classroom pedagogy. In particular,
I extend my gratitude to the eight learners of French who participated in the
study upon which this book is based, for without them the framework for
instructional pragmatics illustrated here would not exist. I am also indebted
to the late Mr Gil Watz, whose endowment for a dissertation fellowship in
applied linguistics at the Pennsylvania State University provided financial
support for the original study reported on in this book. I would also like to
thank my many friends and colleagues for their substantive support and
stimulating conversations, which have directly and indirectly shaped the
present work in many ways. I am particularly grateful to the following people
whose comments, questions and critiques about my work over the years have
had a significant impact on the framework for instructional pragmatics pre-
sented in this book: Lawrence Williams, Celeste Kinginger, Jim Lantolf, Joan
Kelly Hall, Heather McCoy, Steve Thorne, Matthew Poehner, Kwanghyun
Park and Kimberly Buescher. I would also like to acknowledge the Department
of Modern Languages and the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social
Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University who provided material support for the
completion of this book. Finally, many thanks are due to my editor, Laura
Longworth, and to an anonymous reviewer whose comments, questions and
critiques have helped to strengthen the book in many ways.
vii
Transcription Conventions
The following conventions are used throughout this book for transcribing
spoken interaction. They are intended to provide detail about the sequenc-
ing, timing and delivery of the talk while at the same time making tran-
scripts of interactions accessible to a wide audience.
+ short pause
++ long pause
+++ very long pause
(2.0) timed pause (2.0 seconds or more)
. full stop marks falling intonation
, slightly rising intonation
? raised intonation (not necessarily a question)
↑ markedly higher pitch relative to preceding talk
↓ markedly lower pitch relative to preceding talk
(word) single parentheses indicate uncertain hearing
(xxx) unable to transcribe
((comment)) d ouble parentheses contain transcriber’s comments or
descriptions
- abrupt cutoff with level pitch
: i ndicates elongated delivery (each colon represents one
extra beat)
underline underlining indicates stress through pitch or amplitude
= latched utterances
[...] indicates that a section of the transcript has been omitted
[ onset of overlapping speech
] end of overlapping speech
CAPITALS capital letters indicate markedly loud speech
ix
1 Introduction
Introducing Sociocultural Theory and Second
Language Instructional Pragmatics
Aim and scope of the book
The purpose of this book is to construct a framework for second language
(L2)1 instructional pragmatics that is grounded in Vygotskian cultural-
historical psychology, most often referred to in applied linguistics and L2
acquisition (SLA) research as sociocultural theory (SCT) of mind (see Lantolf
& Thorne, 2006). Vygotskian SCT provides a powerful theoretical account of
human development that recognizes the central importance of social relation-
ships and culturally constructed artifacts in transforming biologically
endowed psychological capacities into uniquely human forms of mental activ-
ity. From the perspective of SCT, the sociocultural domain is not merely a set
of factors that trigger innate developmental processes within the mind/brain
of the individual. Instead, it is the primary source, and principal driver, of
mental development. When extended to formal schooling, including L2 edu-
cation, such an orientation to human psychology compels us to engage in
educational praxis wherein instruction drives development rather than fol-
lowing an assumed progression of innate developmental stages. As Vygotsky
(1978: 89) forcefully argued, the only good instruction ‘is that which is ahead
of development’.
Although this book is about the teaching of L2 pragmatics, it is not
intended to present a set of teaching techniques or tips from which one can
pick and choose at will. Instead, it aims to illustrate a coherent, systematic
pedagogical program based on the principles of SCT. This not only includes
recommendations for materials design and teaching practices, but also – and
more importantly – a reconceptualization of the object of instructional
1
2 Sociocultural Theory and L2 Instructional Pragmatics
pragmatics. Teachers will certainly find the book useful, and the data
excerpts analyzed throughout are intended to show how an SCT approach
to instructional pragmatics works in practice. Teachers are also encouraged
to think about ways of adapting the pedagogical framework to suit their
own needs and to work within institutional constraints. However, the reader
should bear in mind that the pedagogical recommendations assume a par-
ticular perspective on the nature of language, pragmatics, mental develop-
ment, and so on, that is derived from SCT. It is therefore necessary to
understand the theoretical framework in order to appreciate the developmen-
tal significance of the specific pedagogical practices illustrated in this book.
The chapters – whose contents are described at the end of this introduction –
are organized with the aim of leading the reader through the components of
the theoretical framework, using empirical data to illustrate the aspects of
the theory under discussion as they apply to L2 instructional pragmatics.
The data used in this book were collected as part of a study of US univer-
sity learners of French who participated in a pedagogical enrichment program
that was designed to incorporate Vygotskian principles into L2 instructional
pragmatics (more details are provided below). Although the data deal exclu-
sively with French, the study serves to illustrate the principles and compo-
nents of an SCT framework for instructional pragmatics. The framework can
certainly be adapted for use in the teaching of any other language.
Defi ning pragmatics
The focus of pragmatics is on the way people accomplish actions through
language. For example, a common area of inquiry examines the realization
of speech acts such as invitations, apologies and requests. Inviting someone
to a party, apologizing for being late, and requesting to borrow a book are all
actions that can be – and are more often than not – accomplished at least in
part through written or spoken language. Other actions accomplished
through (or at least fundamentally shaped by) language include problem-
solving, teaching, reflecting particular world views, creating and maintain-
ing interpersonal relationships, performing social-relational roles and
identities, and so on. How these actions are accomplished – that is, the lan-
guage choices made by speakers – and their effects on other people are in turn
subject to various communicative constraints and affordances. In this
respect, Crystal (1997) offers a useful definition of pragmatics as a user-
centered perspective on language-in-use.
[Pragmatics is] the study of language from the perspective of users, espe-
cially of the choices they make, the constraints they encounter in using
