Cognitive Awareness of Pragmatic Failure Based on Modern Family

Abstract

The goal of this study is to help learners to be consciously aware of pragmatic failure in a conversation and to suggest techniques to get over this. In daily life, we may frequently face pragmatic failure due to lack of cultural information, negative transfer from our first language, different beliefs and values, incorrect translation, and different shared knowledge. For language learners, pragmatic failure is very common in every kind of conversation. When we face pragmatic failure in a specific context, we need to recognize it, ask for clarification and ask directly about implied meaning to continue a conversation smoothly without being embarrassed. Studying dialogues in movies or sitcoms is a very effective way to help students learn about pragmatic failure, because they provide authentic contexts with abundant examples of pragmatic failure. This study analyzes some conversations of family members in the sitcom, Modern Family to look at how pragmatic failure occurs in a given context and how it affects a conversation. Beyond cognitive awareness of pragmatic failure, a teacher needs to teach their students some techniques or strategies to consciously overcome it.