Abstract
Language learners’ pragmatic ability enables them to interact competently in communication events. Pragmatics main distinguishing feature from other branches of language study is that it portrays how language is used in real social interactions. Pragmatics ability has a broad base as it requires knowledge not only in theoretical content such as phonology, semantics, speech acts, but also in applied language subjects like sociolinguistics, cultural studies and communication. This inclusive nature of pragmatics poses some challenges in the type of instruction which will ensure the acquisition and demonstration of pragmatic competence. The debate is usually between teaching strategies falling under two paradigms of instructions – explicit and implicit. This is a reflective paper and its objective is to discuss two teaching activities role plays (implicit instruction) and e-learning (explicit learning) as possible ways of enhancing English second language pragmatic development, in a rural classroom, in South Africa. The conclusion reached is that due to conceptual and practical challenges associated with role plays and e-learning, these approaches to pragmatic development may not produce dramatic results as may be wished. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p1235
Highlights
Learning second or subsequent languages is fraught with issues internal and external to the student and to the classroom and the extensive literature on second language acquisition testifies to researchers’ interest in the subject (Krashen, 1982; Bialystok, 1994; Ellis, 2005; Cook, 2008; Slabakova, 2010)
Among the few undisputed facts in language study is the acceptance that competent performance in any communication event, in any language is determined by an array of skills, among them a person’s pragmatic ability (Rueda, 2006; Gu, 2011; Mohammed, 2012)
Atieh et al, (2014) reporting on a study into the type of instruction with the most impact on development of pragmatic ability examines as many as 37 different strategies and go on to rank them according to preference
Summary
Learning second or subsequent languages is fraught with issues internal and external to the student and to the classroom and the extensive literature on second language acquisition testifies to researchers’ interest in the subject (Krashen, 1982; Bialystok, 1994; Ellis, 2005; Cook, 2008; Slabakova, 2010). Pragmatic ability is an all-embracing ability which embodies competence in other aspects of language knowledge like phonology, syntax, semantics as well as topics in pragmatics like speech act theory, direct and indirect speech acts, inference, conversation principles, and relevance theory These competences are coupled with background in applied studies like, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, non-verbal communication, second language acquisition, discourse analysis, cultural studies, communication studies and politeness theories. L2 users’ misapplication of surface structure rules or pronouncing of words with strong first language (L1) accent are usually indulgently regarded as they usually only slow down the pace of the interaction as interlocutors mentally adjust in their bid to communicate and interpret each other’s intentions (Kaburise, 2007) In such situations the more proficient users subconsciously apply communication organizing principles like the theory of speech acts (Searle, 1980), conversation maxims (Grice, 1989) and the relevance theory of Wilson & Sperber (2005)to move the conversation along. The potential of L2 users giving unintentional pragmatic offence has necessitated the call for instruction to develop such users’ pragmatic ability, whether explicitly or implicitly
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