Pragmatics instruction in the English as a second language classroom: Teachers' and students' perceptions.

摘要

This mixed-method study examined how target language pragmatics was taught in the second language classroom and the perceptions of both ESL instructors and their students. The ESL instructors in the study were two English language instructors who taught high intermediate to advanced levels at a private language school in Southern California. The ESL students in the study were students, aged 18-40, who were taking classes with at least one of the two instructors. Two teacher participants were interviewed using semi-structured recorded interviews. An additional four teachers were given a survey to determine their perceptions on their teaching and assessing pragmatics as well as their educational background. The students were given a questionnaire to determine their beliefs and opinions about their pragmatic learning. Additionally, student focus groups were interviewed and recorded to gain more rich data. Recorded interview data was transcribed and analyzed to determine themes. Quantitative data from the survey and questionnaire were used to support the themes. This study aimed to describe how ESL teachers teach and assess pragmatics in their second language classroom, and to determine the reasons for their methods of teaching and assessing in this area in relation to their TESOL training in pragmatics. This study allowed ESL students the opportunity to voice their opinions on the target language social norms that are or are not being taught, as well as on the target language pragmatics instruction. The results of this study showed that teacher education in TESOL has largely ignored pragmatics; however, when it was covered, it focused on the theory and not practical applications. The lack of pragmatics instruction evident in the classroom observations proves that teachers may not be able to translate exposure to theory into practice. The activities that engage the students may differ for each student; there is no strategy to predict the activity they may like. It was determined that students greatly preferred role plays and group discussions; however, they also wanted variety. The focus of the discussion need not be on whether pragmatics should be included or not, but rather how to include it in the ESL curriculum.