Abstract
In this chapter, I overview current research issues in L2 pragmatic learning, instruction, and assessment. The chapter begins by discussing how pragmatic competence has been conceptualized under various theoretical and analytical frameworks and then examines the recent development of data collection methods in pragmatics research focusing on how pragmatic competence has been operationalized. Two example studies are discussed to illustrate the distinct data collection and analytical approaches in L2 pragmatics research. Along with the conceptual and methodological issues, the chapter offers a survey of research issues in pragmatic learning, instruction, and assessment, in each case synthesizing the research findings available across diverse contexts focusing on current research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alcón-Soler, E. (2015). Pragmatic learning and study abroad: Effects of instruction and length of stay. System, 48, 62–74.
Al-Gahtani, S., & Roever, C. (2012). Proficiency and sequential organization of L2 requests. Applied Linguistics, 33, 42–65.
Al-Gahtani, S., & Roever, C. (2015). The development of requests by L2 learners of modern standard Arabic: A longitudinal and cross-sectional study. Foreign Language Annals, 48, 570–583.
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1999). The interlanguage of interlanguage pragmatics: A research agenda for acquisitional pragmatics. Language Learning, 49, 677–713.
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2012). Formulas, routines, and conventional expressions in pragmatics research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32, 206–227.
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2013). Developing L2 pragmatics. Language Learning, 63, 68–86.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Griffin, R. (2005). L2 pragmatic awareness: Evidence from the ESL classroom. System, 30, 401–415.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Hartford, B. S. (Eds.). (2005). Interlanguage pragmatics: Exploring institutional talk. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bella, S. (2012). Pragmatic development in a foreign language: A study of Greek FL requests. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 1917–1947.
Belz, J. A. (2007). The role of computer mediation in the instruction and development of L2 pragmatic competence. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, 45–75.
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (1989). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. D. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (1997). A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell.
Eslami, Z. R., Mirzaei, A., & Dini, S. (2015). The role of asynchronous computer mediated communication in the instruction and development of EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. System, 48, 99–111.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2010). Data collection methods in speech act performance: DCTs, role plays, and verbal reports. In E. Usó Juán & A. Martinex-Flor (Eds.), Speech act performance: Theoretical, empirical, and methodological issues. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gass, S. M., & Houck, N. (1999). Interlanguage refusals: A cross-cultural study of Japanese-English. Berlin: Mouton.
Golato, A. (2003). Studying compliment responses: A comparison of DCTs and recordings of naturally occurring talk. Applied Linguistics, 24, 90–121.
Grabowski, K. (2009). Investigating the construct validity of a test designed to measure grammatical and pragmatic knowledge in the context of speaking. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University.
Hassall, T. (2015). Individual variation in L2 study-abroad outcomes: A case study from Indonesian pragmatics. Multilingua, 34, 33–59.
Hudson, T., Detmer, E., & Brown, J. D. (1995). Developing prototypic measures of cross-cultural pragmatics (Technical Report #7). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.
Huth, T. (2010). Can talk be inconsequential? Social and interactional aspects of elicited second-language interaction. Modern Language Journal, 94, 537–553.
Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. D. (2010). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet. Harlow, UK: Pearson Longman.
Jeon, E. H., & Kaya, T. (2006). Effects of L2 instruction on interlanguage pragmatic development: A meta-analysis. In J. M. Norris & L. Ortega (Eds.), Synthesizing research on language learning and teaching (pp. 165–211). Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Kasper, G. (2006). Speech acts in interaction: Towards discursive pragmatics. In K. Bardovi-Harlig, J. C. Félix-Brasdefer, & A. S. Omar (Eds.), Pragmatics and language learning (Vol. 11, pp. 281–314). University of Hawai’i at Manoa, HI: National Foreign Language Resource Center.
Kasper, G. (2009). L2 pragmatic development. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), New handbook of second language acquisition. Leeds, UK: Emerald.
Kasper, G., & Blum-Kulka, S. (1993). Interlanguage pragmatics: An introduction. In G. Kasper & S. Blum-Kulka (Eds.), Interlanguage pragmatics (pp. 3–17). New York: Oxford University Press.
Kasper, G., & Dahl, M. (1991). Research methods in interlanguage pragmatics. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13, 215–247.
Kasper, G., & Roever, C. (2005). Pragmatics in second language learning. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language learning and teaching (pp. 317–334). Mahwah, NJ: Earlbaum.
Kasper, G., & Rose, K. R. (2002). Pragmatic development in a second language. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kasper, G., & Wagner, J. (2014). Conversation analysis in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 34, 171–212.
Kasper, G., & Youn, S. J. (2017). Transforming instruction to activity: Roleplay in language assessment. Applied Linguistics Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2017-0020
Kim, J. (2014). How Korean EFL learners understand sarcasm in L2 English. Journal of Pragmatics, 60, 193–206.
Leech, G. (1983). Principles of pragmatics. London: Longman.
Li, S. (2014). The effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of L2 Chinese request production during study abroad. System, 45, 103–116.
Liu, J. (2006). Measuring interlanguage pragmatic knowledge of EFL learners. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Louw, K. J., Derwing, T. M., & Abbott, M. L. (2010). Teaching pragmatics to L2 learners for the workplace: The job interview. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 66, 739–758.
Nguyen, T. T. M., Do, T. T. H., & Nguyen, A. T. (2015). Teaching email requests in the academic context: A focus on the role of corrective feedback. Language Awareness, 24, 169–195.
Okada, Y. (2010). Role-plays in oral proficiency interviews: Interactive footing and interactional competencies. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 1647–1668.
Roever, C. (2005). Testing ESL pragmatics. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang.
Roever, C. (2011). Testing of second language pragmatics: Past and future. Language Testing, 28, 463–481.
Roever, C., Fraser, C., & Elder, C. (2014). Testing ESL sociopragmatics: Development and validation of a web-based test battery. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Rose, K. R. (2005). On the effects of instruction in second language pragmatics. System, 33, 385–399.
Rose, K. R., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (2001). Pragmatics and language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ross, S., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (2013). Assessing second language pragmatics. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schauer, G. (2009). Interlanguage pragmatic development: The study abroad context. London: Continuum.
Searle, J. (1976). A classification of illocutionary acts. Language in Society, 5, 1–23.
Sydorenko, T. (2015). The use of computer-delivered structured tasks in pragmatic instruction: An exploratory study. Intercultural Pragmatics, 12, 333–362.
Sykes, J. (2013). Multiuser virtual environments: Learner apologies in Spanish. In N. Taguchi & J. Sykes (Eds.), Technology in interlanguage pragmatics research and teaching (pp. 71–100). Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Taguchi, N. (2005). Comprehension of implied meaning in English as a second language. Modern Language Journal, 89, 543–562.
Taguchi, N. (2011). Teaching pragmatics: Trends and issues. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 289–310.
Taguchi, N. (2015). Instructed pragmatics at a glance: Where instructional studies were, are, and should be going. Language Teaching, 48, 1–50.
Taguchi, N., & Kim, Y. (Eds.). (2018). Task-based approaches to teaching and assessing pragmatics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Taguchi, N., & Sykes, J. (Eds.). (2013). Technology in interlanguage pragmatics research and teaching. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Walters, F. S. (2007). A conversation-analytic hermeneutic rating protocol to assess L2 oral pragmatic competence. Language Testing, 24, 155–183.
Yamashita, S. O. (1996). Six measures of JSL pragmatics (Technical Report #14). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center.
Youn, S. J. (2014). Measuring syntactic complexity in L2 pragmatic production: Investigating relationships among pragmatics, grammar, and proficiency. System, 42, 270–287.
Youn, S. J. (2015). Validity argument for assessing L2 pragmatics in interaction using mixed methods. Language Testing, 32, 199–225.
Youn, S. J., & Brown, J. D. (2013). Item difficulty and heritage language learner status in pragmatic tests for Korean as a foreign language. In S. Ross & G. Kasper (Eds.), Assessing second language pragmatics (pp. 98–123). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Youn, S.J. (2018). Second Language Pragmatics. In: Phakiti, A., De Costa, P., Plonsky, L., Starfield, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Linguistics Research Methodology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59900-1_38
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59900-1_38
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59899-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59900-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)