Pragmatics for Language Educators: A Sociolinguistic Perspective

353 Pages·2011·2.235 MB·

by  Virginia LoCastro

PRAGMATICS FOR LANGUAGE
EDUCATORS
Making pragmatics accessible to a wide range of students and instructors without
dumbing down the content of the fi eld, this text for language professionals:
• raises awareness and increases knowledge and understanding of how
human beings use language in real situations to engage in social action;
• fosters the ability to think critically about language data and use; and
• helps readers develop the ability to “do pragmatics”.
The book features careful explanations of topics and concepts that are often
diffi cult for uninitiated readers; a wealth of examples, mostly of natural speech
from collected data sources; and attention to the needs of readers who are
nonnative speakers of English, with non-Western perspectives offered when
possible. Suggested Readings, Tasks, Discussion Questions, and Data Analysis
sections involve readers in extending and applying what they are reading. The
exercises push readers to recall and synthesize the content, elicit relevant
personal experiences and other sources of information, and engage in changing
their own interactional strategies. The activities go beyond a predictable frame-
work to invite readers to carry out real-life observations and experiment to
make doing pragmatics a nonjudgmental everyday practice.
Virginia LoCastro has worked in the United States, Canada, Japan, Slovakia,
and Mexico as a teacher and researcher in the fi elds of sociolinguistics and
language education, most recently as Associate Professor of Linguistics and
Director of the Academic Spoken English and Academic Written English
Programs, University of Florida, and has published widely on ESL/EFL peda-
gogy and teacher development.
ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series
Eli Hinkel, Series Editor
Vandergrift/Goh T eaching and Learning Second Language Listening
Metacognition in Action
LoCastro Pragmatics for Language Educators: A Sociolinguistic
Perspective
Nelson I ntelligibility in World Englishes: Theory and Practice
Nation/Macalister, Eds. Case Studies in Language Curriculum Design
Johnson/Golombek, Eds. Research on Second Language Teacher Education: A
Sociocultural Perspective on Professional Development
Hinkel, Ed. Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and
Learning, Volume II
Nassaji/Fotos Teaching Grammar in Second Language Classrooms: Integrating
Form-Focused Instruction in Communicative Context
Murray/Christison What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volume I:
Understanding Learning
Murray/Christison What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volume II:
Facilitating Learning
Wong/Waring C onversation Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy: A
Guide for ESL/EFL Teachers
Nunan/Choi, Eds. L anguage and Culture: Refl ective Narratives and the
Emergence of Identity
Braine Nonnative Speaker English Teachers: Research, Pedagogy,
and Professional Growth
Burns Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A
Guide for Practitioners
Nation/Macalister Language Curriculum Design
Birch The English Language Teacher and Global Civil Society
Johnson Second Language Teacher Education: A Sociocultural
Perspective
Nation Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing
Nation/Newton Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking
Kachru/Smith C ultures, Contexts, and World Englishes
McKay/Bokhosrt-Heng International English in its Sociolinguistic Contexts: Towards
a Socially Sensitive EIL Pedagogy
Christison/Murray, Eds. L eadership in English Language Education: Theoretical
Foundations and Practical Skills for Changing Times
McCafferty/Stam, Eds. Gesture: Second Language Acquisition and Classroom
Research
Liu I dioms: Description, Comprehension, Acquisition, and
Pedagogy
Chapelle/Enright/Jamison, Eds. Building a Validity Argument for the Text of English as a
Foreign Language ™
Kondo-Brown/Brown, Eds. Teaching Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Heritage Students:
Curriculum Needs, Materials, and Assessments
Youmans Chicano-Anglo Conversations: Truth, Honesty, and
Politeness
Birch English L2 Reading: Getting to the Bottom, Second Edition
Luk/Lin Classroom Interactions as Cross-cultural Encounters: Native
Speakers in EFL Lessons
Levy/Stockwell CALL Dimensions: Issues and Options in Computer
Assisted Language Learning
Nero, Ed. Dialects, Englishes, Creoles, and Education
Basturkmen Ideas and Options in English for Specifi c Purposes
Kumaravadivelu Understanding Language Teaching: From Method to
Postmethod
McKay Researching Second Language Classrooms
Egbert/Petrie, Eds. CALL Research Perspectives
Canagarajah, Ed. R eclaiming the Local in Language Policy and Practice
Adamson Language Minority Students in American Schools: An
Education in English
Fotos/Browne, Eds. New Perspectives on CALL for Second Language Classrooms
Hinkel Teaching Academic ESL Writing: Practical Techniques in
Vocabulary and Grammar
Hinkel/Fotos, Eds. New Perspectives on Grammar Teaching in Second Language
Classrooms
Hinkel Second Language Writers’ Text: Linguistic and Rhetorical
Features
Visit www.routledge.com/education for additional information on titles in the ESL &
Applied Linguistics Professional Series

PRAGMATICS FOR
LANGUAGE
EDUCATORS
A Sociolinguistic Perspective
Virginia LoCastro
First published 2012
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2012 Taylor & Francis
The right of Virginia LoCastro to be identifi ed as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
LoCastro, Virginia, 1945-
Pragmatics for language educators: a sociolinguistic Perspective / Virginia LoCastro.
p.cm. — (ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Pragmatics. 2. Language and languages—Study and teaching. 3. Sociolinguistics.
4. Teacher-student relationships. I. Title.
P99.4.P72L67 2011
401'.45—dc22 2011009583
ISBN: 978–0–415–80115–7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–415–80116–4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978–0–203–85094–7 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk, UK
Printed and bound in the United States of America on acid-free paper by
Edwards Brothers, Inc.
To all my third culture friends, colleagues, and former students who understand

CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvi
List of Transcription Conventions xvii
PART I
What is Pragmatics? 1
1 Defi ning the Territory 3
2 Principles of Pragmatic Meaning 18
3 Sociolinguistic Theories of Pragmatic Meaning 46
PART II
Core Areas of Pragmatics 77
4 Cross-cultural Pragmatics 79
5 Interlanguage Pragmatics 111
6 Politeness 136
7 Interactional Construction of Identity 159
8 Institutional Talk 184