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Article published In: Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 32:1 (2019) ► pp.248–276

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From research to the textbook

Assessing speech acts representation in course book series for students of English as an L2

 | University of La Rioja
Published online: 24 July 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.17024.per
Abstract
Studies on speech acts represent an extensive, multidisciplinary area of research, encompassing diverse theoretical approaches such as those stemming from pragmatic, conversational, discourse, cognitive, constructional, and functional perspectives. Altogether, these theories offer an eloquent picture of the type of knowledge that is necessary to perform and understand speech acts correctly. English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers need to be aware to what extent such contemporary research findings on speech acts have made their way into present-day textbooks, and this paper sets out to elucidate this issue.
First, we look at contemporary studies on speech acts in search of the key theoretical aspects of illocutionary performance that should ideally be included in ESL course book series. Second, we analyze a collection of seven such course series to assess to what extent they incorporate those theoretical findings. Finally, we consider the weaknesses of present-day textbooks in relation to the teaching of illocutionary acts, thus providing an informed ground for their elaboration and improvement.
Resumen
El estudio de los actos ilocutivos se ha llevado a cabo desde diferentes perspectivas teóricas (pragmáticas, cognitivas, construccionales, funcionales, etc.). En conjunto estos estudios ofrecen información relevante sobre el conocimiento necesario para la producción y comprensión de los actos de habla.
Los profesores de inglés como lengua extranjera necesitan saber qué avances en la investigación de la ilocución han llegado a plasmarse en los libros de texto actuales. Este artículo se propone arrojar luz sobre esta cuestión. Para ello, se exploran las teorías contemporáneas sobre actos de habla en búsqueda de los aspectos teóricos más relevantes de la producción ilocutiva que deberían incluirse en los libros de texto. Asimismo, se analizan siete colecciones de libros de texto de inglés como segunda lengua con el objetivo de valorar hasta qué punto incorporan los avances de la investigación en este campo. Por último, se reflexiona sobre las debilidades de los actuales libros de texto en relación a la enseñanza del componente ilocutivo del lenguaje, facilitando así el camino para su elaboración y mejora.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Contemporary theoretical advances on speech acts
    • 2.1Advances stemming from pragmatic and conversational theories of speech acts
    • 2.2Advances stemming from functional theories of speech acts
    • 2.3Advances stemming from cognitive and constructional theories of speech acts
  • 3.Representation of speech acts in ESL textbooks: Literature review
  • 4.Corpus
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1ESL textbooks representation of Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts
    • 5.2Representation of pragmatic/conversational analysis categories
      • AC1
      • AC2
      • AC3
      • AC4
    • 5.3ESL textbook representation of functional analysis categories
    • 5.4ESL textbooks representation of constructional/cognitive analysis categories
  • 6.Conclusions
  • References
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