Introduction: the pragmatics of humor

Abstract

Various EAP language use situations require pragmatic competence, such as making a recommendation letter request to a professor or composing e-mails for different purposes. These situations reflect real-life contexts emphasizing what students are able to do with the language, which speaks to the essence of task-based pragmatic instruction. However, research on a task-based approach to EAP pragmatic needs and how stakeholders' needs can inform pragmatic instruction is still limited. Thus, this study investigates various stakeholders' perceptions of task-based pragmatic needs in an EAP context. The needs analysis conducted for this study involved interviews with administrators, instructors, and students and a questionnaire administered to 180 students. In general, relatively strong pragmatic needs were revealed along with different patterns of needs across the stakeholder groups, students' proficiency levels, and academic status. The majority of students expressed needs in communicating with a professor and culture-specific written genres. Low-level students expressed stronger pragmatic learning needs and high-level students expressed noticeable interests in understanding a professor's cultural jokes and implied meaning. Triangulating various stakeholders' opinions enabled gaining multiple perspectives on the task-based pragmatic needs in an EAP context. The findings are further discussed in terms of how they inform the development of meaningful EAP pragmatic tasks.