Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T02:00:18.036Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Second Language Pragmatics

A Historical Overview and Future Directions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2022

By
Naoko Taguchi
Edited by
Nicola Halenko  and
Jiayi Wang
Nicola Halenko
Affiliation:
University of Central Lancashire, Preston
Jiayi Wang
Affiliation:
De Montfort University, Leicester
Get access

Summary

Over the last four decades, research in second language (L2) pragmatics has grown rapidly in its scope, quality, and amount of empirical investigations. This chapter surveys historical developments of L2 pragmatics research from the 1980s up to now. The chapter discusses a range of topics including definitions of pragmatic competence, models of pragmatic competence and development, and theoretical underpinnings of pragmatics learning. Specific topics such as instruction and assessment, longitudinal investigation into pragmatic development, and contexts of pragmatics learning (i.e., study abroad) are also discussed.  Research areas that emerged with the recent surge of globalisation and advancements in technology are presented with a discussion on how these new areas have advanced our investigation of pragmatics learning and development. The chapter concludes with directions for future research.

Keywords

L2 pragmaticspragmatic competence
Type
Chapter
Information
Pragmatics in English Language Learning , pp. 7 - 26
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alcón-Soler, E. (2013). Teachability and bilingual effects on third language knowledge of refusals. Intercultural Pragmatics, 9, 511–541.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. R., Bothell, D., Byrne, M. D., Douglass, S., Lebiere, C., & Qin, Y. (2004). An integrated theory of the mind. Psychological Review, 111, 1036–1060.Google Scholar
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to Do Things with Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1996). Language Testing in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2000). Pragmatics and second language acquisition. In Kaplan, R. B. (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 182–192.Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2010). Exploring the pragmatics of interlanguage pragmatics: Definition by design. In Trosborg, A. (ed.), Handbook of Pragmatics: Pragmatics across Languages and Cultures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 219–260.Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Mahan-Taylor, R. (2003). Teaching Pragmatics. Washington, DC: Office of English Programs, US Department of State.Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (1989). Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Bouton, L. (1994). Conversational implicature in the second language: Learned slowly when not deliberately taught. Journal of Pragmatics, 22, 157–167.Google Scholar
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. D. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical aspects of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1–47.Google Scholar
Cogo, A., & House, J. (2017). Intercultural pragmatics. In Barron, A., Gu, Y., & Steen, G. (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 168–183.Google Scholar
Cohen, A., & Ishihara, N. (2013). Pragmatics. In Tomlinson, B. (ed.), Applied Linguistics and Materials Development. Huntingdon: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 113–126.Google Scholar
Cook, H. (2008). Socializing Identities through Speech Style. New York and Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Cunningham, J. D. (2019). L2 pragmatics learning in computer-mediated communication. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 372–386.Google Scholar
Diao, W. (2016). Peer socialization into gendered Mandarin practices in a study abroad context: Talk in the dorm. Applied Linguistics, 37(5), 599–620.Google Scholar
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C., & Hasler-Barker, M. (2015). Complimenting in Spanish in a short-term study abroad context. In Alcón-Soler, E. & Yates, L. (eds.), Pragmatic Learning across Contexts. Special issue. System, 48, 75–85.Google Scholar
Gilmore, A. (2004). A comparison of textbooks and authentic interactions. ELT Journal, 58, 362–374.Google Scholar
González-Lloret, M. (2018). Pragmatics in technology-mediated contexts. In Sanchez-Hernández, A. & Herraiz-Martínez, A. (eds.) Learning Second Language Pragmatics beyond Traditional Contexts. Berlin: Peter Lang, pp. 17–48.Google Scholar
Hassall, T. (2006). Learning to take leave in social conversations: A diary study. In DuFon, M. & Churchill, E. (eds.), Language Learners in Study Abroad Contexts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 31–58.Google Scholar
Holden, C., & Sykes, J. M. (2013). Complex L2 pragmatic feedback via place-based mobile games. In Taguchi, N. & Sykes, J. M. (eds.), Technology in Interlanguage Pragmatics Research and Teaching (pp. 155–184). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Houck, N., & Tatsuki, D. (2011). Pragmatics from Research to Practice: New Directions. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.Google Scholar
Hudson, T., Detmer, E., & Brown, J. D. (1995). Developing Prototypic Measures of Cross-Cultural Pragmatics (Technical Report No. 7). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.Google Scholar
Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. (2010). Teaching and Learning Pragmatics: Where Language and Culture Meet. Harlow: Pearson Longman.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. (2015). Global Englishes (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jeon, E.-H., & Kaya, T. (2006). Effects of L2 instruction on interlanguage pragmatic development. In John, N. & Ortega, L. (eds.), Synthesizing Research on Language Learning and Teaching. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins, pp. 165–211.Google Scholar
Kanagy, R. (1999). Interactional routines as a mechanism for L2 acquisition and socialization in an immersion context. Journal of Pragmatics, 31, 1467–1492.Google Scholar
Kasper, G. (1997). Can pragmatic competence be taught? (Net Work #6) [HTML document]. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center. http://www.nflrc.hawaii.edu/networks/NW06/.Google Scholar
Kasper, G. (2006). Introduction. Multilingua, 25, 243–248.Google Scholar
Kasper, G., & Dahl, M. (1991). Research methods in interlanguage pragmatics. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13, 215–247.Google Scholar
Kasper, G., & Rose, K. (1999). Pragmatics and SLA. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 19, 81–104.Google Scholar
Kasper, G., & Rose, K. (2002). Pragmatic Development in a Second Language. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kasper, G., & Schmidt, R. (1996). Developmental issues in interlanguage pragmatics. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18, 149–169.Google Scholar
Kecskes, I. (2014). Intercultural Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Y., & Taguchi, N. (2015). Promoting task-based pragmatics instruction in EFL classroom context: The role of task complexity. Modern Language Journal, 99, 656–677.Google Scholar
Kim, Y., & Taguchi, N. (2016). Learner–learner interaction during collaborative pragmatic tasks: The role of cognitive and pragmatic task demands. Foreign Language Annals, 49, 42–57.Google Scholar
Kinginger, C. (2008). Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France. Modern Language Journal, 92, Supplement SI.Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of L2 Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Li, S. (2012). The effects of input-based practice on pragmatic development of requests in L2 Chinese. Language Learning, 62, 403–438.Google Scholar
Li, S., & Taguchi, N. (2014). The effect of practice modality on the development of pragmatic performance in L2 Chinese. Modern Language Journal, 98, 794–812.Google Scholar
LoCastro, V. (2003). An Introduction to Pragmatics: Social Action for Language Teachers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Nguyen, T. T. M. (2019). Data collection methods in L2 pragmatics research: An overview. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 195–211.Google Scholar
Ohta, A. (2001). Second Language Acquisition Processes in the Classroom: Learning Japanese. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Pérez-Vidal, C., & Shively, R. (2019). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad settings. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 355–371.Google Scholar
Plonsky, L., & Zhuang, J. (2019). A meta-analysis of L2 pragmatics instruction. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 287–307.Google Scholar
Ren, W. (2012). Pragmatic development in Chinese speakers’ L2 English refusals. EUROSLA Yearbook, 12, 63–87.Google Scholar
Ren, W., & Han, Z. (2016). The representation of pragmatic knowledge in recent ELT textbooks. ELT Journal, 70, 424–434.Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (2011). Task-based language learning: A review of issues. Language Learning, 61, 1–36.Google Scholar
Roever, C. (2005). Testing ESL Pragmatics. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Roever, C. (2011). Tests of second language pragmatics: past and future. Language Testing, 28, 463–481.Google Scholar
Roever, C. (2021). Teaching and Testing Second Language Pragmatics. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. (1993). Consciousness, learning and interlanguage pragmatics. In Kasper, G. & Blum-Kulka, S. (eds.), Interlanguage Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 43–57.Google Scholar
Schieffelin, B., & Ochs, E. (1986). Language socialization. Annual Review of Anthropology, 15, 163–191.Google Scholar
Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shively, R. L. (2011). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad: A longitudinal study of Spanish service encounters. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(6), 1818–1835.Google Scholar
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal, 82, 320–337.Google Scholar
Sykes, J. M. (2009). Learner request in Spanish: Examining the potential of multiuser virtual environments for L2 pragmatics acquisition. In Lomika, L. & Lord, G. (eds.), The Second Generation: Online Collaboration and Social Networking in CALL. CALICO Monograph. San Marcos, TX: CALICO, 199–234.Google Scholar
Sykes, J. M. (2013). Multiuser virtual environments: Apologies in Spanish. In Taguchi, N. & Sykes, J. M. (eds.), Technology in Interlanguage Pragmatics Research and Teaching. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 71–100.Google Scholar
Sykes, J. M., & Dubreil, S. (2019). Pragmatics learning in digital games and virtual environments. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 387–399.Google Scholar
Sykes, J. M., & Reinhardt, J. (2012). Language at Play: Digital Games in Second and Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. New York: Pearson-Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2007). Development of speed and accuracy in pragmatic comprehension in English as a foreign language. TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 313–338.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2010). Longitudinal studies in interlanguage pragmatics. In Trosborg, A. (ed.), Handbook of Pragmatics, Vol. 7. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 333–361.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2015a). ‘Contextually’ speaking: A survey of pragmatics learning abroad, in class and online. In Alcón-Soler, E. & Yates, L. (eds.), Pragmatic Learning across Contexts. Special issue, System, 48, 3–20.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2015b). Instructed pragmatics at a glance: Where instructional studies were, are, and should be going. Language Teaching, 48, 1–50.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2019). The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2021a). Application of immersive virtual reality (VR) to pragmatics data collection methods: Insights from interviews. CALICO Journal, 38(2), 181–201.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2021b). Learning and teaching pragmatics in the globalized world. Modern Language Journal, 105(3) Special Issue.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (2022). Immersive virtual reality for pragmatics task development. TESOL Quarterly, 56(1), 308–335.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (in press). Dispreferred speech acts in virtual reality: Analysis of tone choices and hesitations. System.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N. (forthcoming). Game-based pragmatics learning: Learning request-making through perlocutionary effects. Language Learning & Technology.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., & Ishihara, N. (2018). The pragmatics of English as a lingua franca: Research and pedagogy in the era of globalization. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 38, 80–101.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., & Kim, Y. (2016). Collaborative dialogue in learning pragmatics: Pragmatics-related episodes as an opportunity for learning request-making. Applied Linguistics, 37, 416–437.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., & Roever, C. (2017). Second Language Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., & Sykes, J. M. (2013). Technology in Interlanguage Pragmatics Research and Teaching. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Takahashi, S. (2010). Assessing learnability in second language pragmatics. In Trosborg, A. (ed.), Handbook of Pragmatics, Vol. 7. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 391–421.Google Scholar
Tang, X. (2019). Digital Game-Based Learning for L2 Chinese Formulaic Expressions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University.Google Scholar
Tatsuki, D. (2019). Instructional material development in L2 pragmatics. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 322–337.Google Scholar
Thomas, J. (1983). Cross-cultural pragmatic failure. Applied Linguistics, 4, 91–111.Google Scholar
Van Compernolle, R. A. (2014). Sociocultural Theory and Instructed L2 Pragmatics. Bristol and New York: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Walkinshaw, I. (2022). Pragmatics in English as a Lingua Franca. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Xiao-Desai, Y. (2019). Heritage learner pragmatics. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 462–478.Google Scholar
Youn, S. J. (2015). Validity argument for assessing L2 pragmatics in interaction using mixed methods. Language Testing, 32(2), 199–225.Google Scholar
Young, S. J., & Bogorevich, V. (2019). Assessment in L2 pragmatics. In Taguchi, N. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. New York: Routledge, pp. 308–321.Google Scholar
Young, R. (2011). Interactional competence in language learning, teaching, and testing. In Hinkel, H. (ed.), Handbook of Research in Language Learning and Teaching. New York: Routledge, pp. 426–443.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×