Pragmatic Competence and English Classroom Teaching

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Abstract： The development of foreign language learners' pragmatic competence is an important objective of foreign language teaching and learning， which is greatly influenced by classroom teaching. This paper first discusses the definition of pragmatic competence， and then analyses the features of english classroom teaching and the relationship between pragmatic competence and classroom teaching. Finally， some suggestions about pragmatic competence development are also provided， that is， how to cultivate pragmatic competence in English classroom teaching.

Key words： pragmatic competence； English classroom teaching； relationship； cultivate

I. Introduction

How to inculcate pragmatic knowledge in the process of foreign language teaching and learning？ This issue， for a very long time， has not been drawn enough attention in language teaching and learning. Many national language tests mainly concentrate on grammar and seldom take language use into account. As a result， language learners will tend to learn grammar and linguistic forms. Unfortunately， at last they will be good at writing and reading but poor at speaking or using language flexibly in certain context.

Pragmatic is a branch of linguistics concerned with the use of a language in social contexts and the ways in which people produce and comprehend meanings through language. Pragmatic competence is the ability to use language in a contextually appropriate way and the ability to develop a conversation. It is a fundamental aspect of a more general communicative competence. In recent years， the researches on pragmatics and pragmatic competence mainly focus on the classification and reasons of pragmatic failure， as well as the relationship between linguistic competence and pragmatic competence， both of which have made great achievements. Those achievements， on one hand， stimulate the development of pragmatic theories which make the appearance of some pragmatic branches， such as socio-pragmatics， and on the other hand， they play an important role in the reformation and improvement of foreign language teaching. Nowadays， consensus on the significance of pragmatic competence in English teaching and learning has been reached， so how to instill pragmatic knowledge into English classroom teaching and how to cultivate students'pragmatic competence is of very important， and this paper will discuss these related questions.

II. Definition of Pragmatic Competence

Pragmatic competence can be understood by different people. From the perspective of linguistic anthropology， Hymes first puts forward the notion of "communicative competence". Bachman deems that pragmatic competence is "a part of linguistic competence and includes illocutionary competence and sociolinguistic competence". Leech classifies pragmatic competence into two types： "Prag-linguistic competence and social-pragmatic competence". The former is about linguistic employment rules based on grammatical ability while the latter is about communication abilities in certain social context.

He Ziran interprets pragmatic competence as "the dynamic skill to use language for proper communication" and simply， it can be divided into two aspects： expression and understanding. One should try to understand communicative context， consider social and cultural elements and flexibly use language on the basis of some formula and models of verbal talk.

According to Bialystok（1993）， pragmatic competence refers to three aspects：（1）the speaker's ability to use language for various purposes； （2）the listener's ability to capture the language and get the real meaning of the speaker's （e.g. indirect speech acts， irony and sarcasm）； （3）the command of the rules by which utterances function together to produce discourse.

The notion of pragmatic competence was defined by Chomsky（1980） as the "knowledge of conditions and manner of appropriate use （of the language）， in conformity with various purposes".

Here， some examples will be given to explain pragmatic competence.

Example 1：

A： My mother is seriously ill.

B： Don't worry.

In this context， the exact response is "I am sorry to hear that." not the Chinese way "Don't worry." Speaker B will be regarded as a cold-blooded person.

Example 2：

A： Can you tell me what time it is？

B： Yes.

Here， speaker B should tell speaker A the time or just say "Sorry， I don't know." Speaker B must realize that speaker A is not asking him his ability of knowing the time but to express his intention. Obviously， B's answer disobeys the quantity maxim in cooperative principle.

From the examples above， we can see that pragmatic competence， an organic part of the learners'communicative competence， is of great importance in exchanging ideas between two different cultures. It is directly related to a person's ability of understanding another language. Speakers who do not use pragmatically appropriate language will confront the risk of communicating uncooperatively.

III. Features of English Classroom Teaching

In China， classroom teaching is the main way that students learn English. So the teachers'utterances are very important. It is not only the source of 1earning English for students， but also the too1s for teachers to explain the knowledge.

The activities in the classroom are mainly teaching activities， while it also has the characteristics of communication. The classroom itself is the p1ace to communicate. So we could say that communication is the basic activity in the classroom teaching. The teacher should consider how to communicate with students smooth1y in the class and how to keep the students in a harmonious environment.

Classroom teaching is the central element of language teaching， so the effect of it will directly affect the success of language teaching. However， at present， English classroom teaching in China still belongs to kind of teaching language knowledge， that is， the teaching is about teaching grammar and vocabulary. In English classroom teaching， teachers pay special attention to the rules of grammar and the practice of key words and phrases， rather than the teaching of pragmatic rules. As a result of this kind of teaching， students remember many grammar rules and vocabularies， but when they face the real communication， they often suffer some pragmatic failure， and successful communication could not be reached. For example， due to the lack of some cultural background， some students may ask some questions insult foreigners like"how old are you" "what's your salary" "are you married or single" and "what’s your religion" etc. We can see that linguistic competence is not equal to pragmatic competence.

IV. Relationship between Pragmatic Competence and English Classroom Teaching

Traditionally， language classrooms have been considered as poor input environments for developing pragmatic ability in a TL； compared to real interaction outside the classroom， classroom discourse is functionally and formally limited for the achievement of this goal. This statement is associated not with the instructed character of these learning contexts， but with the ways in which SL and FL classrooms are organized to enable or prevent the acquisition of the TL pragmatics. It is an undeniable fact that teacher fronted initiation response follow-up （IRF） is an unproductive format for the development of pragmatic and discoursal abilities in the classroom. As Cook （2001） states， FL instructional settings are characterized by restricted input and practice due to two facts： first， that the TL tends to be treated as an object of study instead of as a means of socialization and a communication tool； and second， that classroom organization is teacher-fronted. In consequence， one function of pragmatic instruction is to compensate for incomplete or misleading input offered to learners by academic talk， instruction， and L2 learning materials. Bardovi-Harlig & Hartford （1996） have characterized traditional teacher-student talk as an unequal status encounter， where the teacher's speech does not serve as a good model for the speech of the learners. Similarly， Mir （1992） found that instruction sometimes emphasizes one semantic formula over others， encouraging the inappropriate overuse of some formulas. Likewise， the vast majority of L2 learning materials frequently does not present realistic input， or sometimes neglect particular speech acts or language functions. The role of explicit pragmatic instruction becomes even more important in FL classrooms where opportunities for the full range of human interactions are limited， and in consequence learners have more difficulties in acquiring appropriate language use patterns （Kasper & Schmidt， 1996）. These ideas constitute a rationale for pedagogical intervention， with the two-fold goal of first， making learners aware of their previous knowledge and the ways to take advantage of it by using their existing pragmatic foundations in appropriate socio-pragmatic contexts， and second， helping learners to attend to both the linguistic forms of utterances and the relevant social and contextual features with which they are associated （Schmidt， 2001）.

V. Strategies for the Cultivation of Pragmatic Competence in English Classroom Teaching

As we know that the ultimate goal of English teaching is to cultivate and develop students’ability to correctly and properly use English in actual communicative situation； that is to cultivate their pragmatic competence. However， how to cultivate pragmatic competence is not easy. Based on the present English classroom teaching， pragmatic competence can be improved from the following aspects：

1. Improving teachers'pragmatic awareness

The cultivation of teaching thoughts for teachers is inclined to be confined by traditional measures which are mainly based on grammar-translation， audiolingual and idea-function principle. These principles determine that the teaching of language focus on the content and result. Therefore， virtually learners' concentrations are transferred to linguistic knowledge rather than pragmatic competence. Hence， Ran Yong-ping thinks that "what a teacher should think about first is that how many opportunities students can get to contribute to training and development for their pragmatic competence". That is to say， the fostering of teachers'pragmatic awareness is very significant.

2. Instilling pragmatic knowledge in classroom teaching

Teachers should timely and initiatively introduce relevant pragmatic knowledge to students in class in consideration of actual needs， for instance， culture environment， context， cooperative principle， politeness principle and so on， to make students be involved in linguistic practicality. Meanwhile， teachers should teach by personal experience as well as verbal instruction and go to any lengths to verbalize teaching.

3. Adopting pragmatics-oriented teaching

Pragmatic-oriented teaching means contextual and cultural teaching. First of all， any communications rely on context to filter information rather than separated sentence， so "verbal communication depends on context to realize". Teachers should introduce relative cultural background to students in classroom teaching so that students will be familiar with foreign customs， life-style， thinking model， social rules and politeness， because those cultural differences will directly lead to communicative differences. Given the related knowledge and background information， students can avoid pragmatic failure.

VI. Conclusion

In China， English learners have got much linguistic knowledge. They know how to recite English words and use correct grammar to make sentences. But they find they have little progress in English after several years and they often have difficulty in communicating with native speakers. Pragmatic competence can guarantee students use appropriate words and expressions in view of different contexts.

In the past， English teaching only emphasizes the cultivation of students'linguistic competence. Students can pass many important exams but they couldn't use English to express their ideas. Sometimes， they even misunderstand speakers'real intention and use offensive words. Pragmatic competence can help avoid pragmatic failure. Therefore， pragmatic competence is of great significance and should be drawn more attention in English classroom teaching. The purpose of cultivating students'pragmatic competence is to help students use English appropriately and tactfully.

Reference：

[1]Kasper G.&Rose，K.R.Pragmatic Development in a Second Language[M].Michigan：Blackwell，2002.

[2]戴炜栋.影响二语语用能力发展的因素[J].外语与外语教学，2005（9）.

[3]何自然.语用学与英语学习[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1997.

[4]叶邵宁，藤巧云.英语教学与语用能力的培养.外语界，2002（6）.

作者简介：

吕小玲（1989- ），女，汉族，湖北荆州人，长江大学外国语学院硕士研究生，长江大学与江汉大学联合培养研究生，现在江汉大学交流学习，其研究方向为英语语言学与外语教学。

饶凡（1990- ），女，汉族，湖北鄂州人，长江大学外国语学院硕士研究生，其研究方向为翻译研究。

王斌（1989- ），男，土家族，湖北恩施人，长江大学外国语学院硕士研究生，其研究方向为语用学及跨文化交际。

（责编 张亚欣）