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Article published In: Pedagogical Linguistics
Vol. 4:2 (2023) ► pp.228–263

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Role-play and dialogic meta-pragmatics in developing and assessing pragmatic competence

ORCiD logo with link | Simon Fraser University
 | Trinity Western University
Published online: 8 September 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pl.22004.van
Abstract
Role-play as a bridging and integrating practice in language teaching and development of pragmatic competence in learners is well-established. In an EAP classroom (Van Dyke, A. & Acton, W. R. (2021). Spontaneous classroom engagement facilitating development of L2 pragmatic competence: A naturalistic study. Pedagogical Linguistics, 2665(9581), 1–28.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) explored the impact of one fluency protocol, Cooperative Attending Skills Training, by which students were trained to listen attentively to shared personal stories, working toward more sophisticated strategies of conversational interaction. That system included dialogic, pragmatics-focused, spontaneous analysis and instructor-student discussion of interactional discourse features. With that experience, further modeling and conceptual input, participants in this study engaged in six role-plays, each involving a problem requiring pragmatic accommodation. The data from transcribed role-plays were analyzed in terms of pragmatic discourse functions and NVivo-based thematic threads. The generally successful application of the targeted skills and concepts by course end most likely resulted from the engaging meta-pragmatic interactions preceding the role-plays, and the formal and informal instructor feedback related to implicature, prosody, implicit understandings, direct conversation strategies, grammar, and vocabulary.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Interactional and pragmatic competence – from CAST to Role-play
    • 2.2Use of role-play in assessing pragmatic competence
    • 2.3Studies in prosody and pragmatic competence
    • 2.4Pragmatic development in study abroad contexts and individual differences
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Participants (Appendix A)
    • 4.2Role-play rubric ramp-up
    • 4.3Data collection
    • 4.4Data analysis
      • 4.4.1NVivo12
      • 4.4.2Functional and Conversational Analysis of Role-play Excerpts
      • 4.4.3Prosodic analysis excerpts and individual differences
      • 4.4.4Course-based role-play assessment
  • 5.Analysis and results
    • 5.1Categories of participant interactions
    • 5.2Categories of teacher feedback on role-plays
    • 5.3Student performance on pragmatic awareness, role-play test and course grades
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (67)
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