Teaching and Testing Second Language Pragmatics and Interaction: A Practical Guide

209 Pages·2021·11.44 MB·

by  Carsten Roever

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TEACHING AND TESTING SECOND
LANGUAGE PRAGMATICS AND
INTERACTION
Pragmatic ability is crucial for second language learners to communicate
appropriately and effectively; however, pragmatics is underemphasized in language
teaching and testing. This book remedies that situation by connecting theory,
empirical research, and practical curricular suggestions on pragmatics for learners
of different proficiency levels: it surveys the field comprehensively and, with useful
tasks and activities, offers rich guidance for teaching and testing L2 pragmatics.
Mainly referring to pragmatics of English and with relevant examples from
multiple languages, it is an invaluable resource for practicing teachers, graduate
students, and researchers in language pedagogy and assessment.
Carsten Roever is Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at the University of
Melbourne, Australia.
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TEACHING AND
TESTING SECOND
LANGUAGE
PRAGMATICS AND
INTERACTION
A Practical Guide
Carsten Roever
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First published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
© 2022 Taylor & Francis
The right of Carsten Roever to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him 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 utilised
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 identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Roever, Carsten, author.
Title: Teaching and testing second language pragmatics
and interaction: a practical guide / Carsten Roever.
Description: New York: Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2020054080 (print) | LCCN 2020054081 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367202811 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367203030 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780429260766 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Pragmatic–Study and teaching. |
Second language acquisition.
Classification: LCC P53.62 .R64 2021 (print) |
LCC P53.62 (ebook) | DDC 418.0071–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020054080
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020054081
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 20281- 1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 20303- 0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 429- 26076- 6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9780429260766
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
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CONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
1.1 What Is Pragmatics and Why Does It Matter? 1
1.2 Who This Book Is For (and Some Terminology
You Might Need) 3
1.3 How This Book Is Organized 4
2 Pragmatic Competence and Interactional Competence 6
2.1 Pragmatics 6
2.2 How to Talk to Whom: Pragmatic Competence 8
2.2.1 Speech Acts and Politeness 10
2.2.2 Learning L2 Speech Acts 12
2.2.3 Conclusion 14
2.3 Understanding Non- literal Speech: Implicature 15
2.3.1 Learning L2 Implicature 16
2.4 Fixed Expressions for Fixed Purposes: Routine Formulae 17
2.4.1 Learning L2 Routines 18
2.4.2 Conclusion: Implicature and Routine Formulae 18
2.5 Interactional Competence 19
2.5.1 Learning L2 Interactional Competence 29
2.5.2 Conclusion 30
2.6 Summary: Speech Acts, Implicature, Routines, and Interactional
Competence 31
2.7 Resources and Further Readings 32
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3 How to Make Teaching Materials and Tests for Pragmatics 33
3.1 The Basics: How to Establish Context 33
3.2 Metapragmatic Judgments 36
3.2.1 Types of Metapragmatic Judgment Tasks 37
3.2.2 Procedure: Administering Metapragmatic Judgment Tasks 40
3.2.3 Resources and Further Readings 40
3.3 Multiple- choice Tasks 40
3.3.1 Creating Multiple- choice Items for Routines 41
3.3.2 Creating Multiple- choice Items for Implicature 42
3.3.3 Creating Multiple- choice Items for Speech Acts 44
3.3.4 Procedure: Administering Multiple- choice Tasks 46
3.3.5 Beyond Multiple Choice: Multi- response Tasks 46
3.3.6 Resources and Further Readings 47
3.4 Discourse Completion Tasks 47
3.4.1 Types of DCTs 49
3.4.2 Designing DCTs 51
3.4.3 Procedure: Administering DCTs 53
3.4.4 Resources and Further Readings 53
3.5 Role Plays 53
3.5.1 Types of Role Plays 55
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3.5.2 Target Features in Role Plays 56
3.5.3 Role Play Scenarios 56
3.5.4 Interlocutor Considerations 62
3.5.5 Procedure: How to Run Role Plays 63
3.5.6 Resources and Further Readings 64
3.6 Elicited Conversation 65
3.6.1 Designing Elicited Conversation Tasks 66
3.6.2 Procedure: How to Run Elicited Conversation Tasks 68
3.6.3 Resources and Further Readings 68
4 Pragmatics and Curriculum 69
4.1 The CEFR and Other Frameworks: A Brief Introduction 70
4.2 A Developmentally Sensitive Pragmatics Curriculum 73
4.3 Pragmatics and Proficiency Levels 74
4.4 Beginners: the A1 Level Learner and Pragmatics 74
4.4.1 Getting Learners from 0 to A1 76
4.5 Upper Beginner/Low Intermediate: the A2 Level Learner and
Pragmatics 79
4.5.1 Getting Learners from A1 to A2 81
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Contents vii
4.6 Intermediate: the B1 Level Learner and Pragmatics 82
4.6.1 Getting Learners from A2 to B1 86
4.7 Upper- intermediate: the B2 Level Learner and Pragmatics 88
4.7.1 Getting Learners from B1 to B2 93
4.8 Advanced: the C1 Level Learner and Pragmatics 95
4.8.1 Getting Learners from B2 to C1 98
4.9 The High Advanced Learner: Pragmatics at the C2 Level 101
4.9.1 Getting Learners from C1 to C2 103
4.10 Resources and Further Readings 103
4.11 Conclusion 103
5 Teaching Pragmatics 105
5.1 Overview: Findings and Issues in Teaching L2 Pragmatics 105
5.1.1 Effectiveness of Teaching L2 Pragmatics 106
5.1.2 Factors in Teaching Pragmatics 107
5.2 Materials for Teaching Pragmatics 108
5.3 Phases of a Pragmatics Lesson 110
5.3.1 Step 1: Presenting the Target Feature 112
5.3.2 Step 2: Receptive Practice 115
5.3.3 Step 3: Productive Practice 118
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5.4.1 Requests at A1 Level 122
5.4.2 Requests at B1 Level 130
5.4.3 Requests at C1 Level 137
5.5 Resources and Further Readings 140
6 Testing Pragmatics 141
6.1 Pragmatics Testing So Far 142
6.2 Testing in Pragmatics Research 145
6.3 Pragmatic Norms 148
6.4 Assessing Learning: Classroom- based Testing of Pragmatics and
Interaction 149
6.5 How to Make Sure Tests Work: Validation of Large- scale Tests 150
6.6 Validating “Objective” Tests 153
6.7 Validating Sociopragmatic Judgment Tests 155
6.8 Validating Productive Tests and their Rating Scales 158
6.9 Fairness and Bias in Testing of Pragmatics 167
6.10 Conclusion 168
6.11 Resources and Further Readings 169
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7 Outlook: the Future of Teaching and Testing of L2 Pragmatics 170
7.1 Pragmatics in General Language Teaching 170
7.2 Specific- purposes Pragmatics: Needs Analyses, Tasks, and
Indigenous Criteria 173
7.3 Making Pragmatics Tests Practical: the Role of Technology 175
Notes 178
References 179
Index 193
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INTRODUCTION
This book is about teaching and testing second language pragmatics and inter-
action. Even language teachers may be unaware of what pragmatic competence
and interactional competence are but we all use them all the time. In the next
chapter, I will go into much more detail of what pragmatics and interactional
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competence consist of, and what we know about how learners acquire them. For
now, a shorthand definition will suffice to explain why this book was written.
1.1 What Is Pragmatics and Why Does It Matter?
To put it simply, pragmatic knowledge is knowing how to adapt one’s language use
to other people. Consider the following scenario:
You are in the post office and filling out a form when your pen dies. There
is a woman about your age right next to you. She has just finished filling
out her form and is folding it. You would like to borrow her pen. What do
you say?
It is perfectly grammatically correct in English to say any of the following:
1. “Give me the pen.”
2. “Can you pass me your pen?”
3. “My pen doesn’t work. I so wish I had a pen.”
4. “Excuse me, could I borrow your pen for a second?”
5. “Forgive the intrusion but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind letting me
use your pen for just a moment. I’ll return it right away.”
DOI: 10.4324/9780429260766-1