Teacher talk reflecting pragmatic awareness: A look at EFL and content-based classroom settings

Tarja Nikula

This paper approaches classroom interaction from a pragmatic perspective. More specifically, it concentrates on how pragmatic awareness is reflected in the use of modifying elements of talk by two teachers (both non-native speakers of English), and how their use of modifiers affects the ongoing interaction. The data come from two different classroom settings where English is either the object or the medium of study. The findings reveal an overall tendency towards directness in the teachers’ performance that is affected in complex ways both by the institutional context and the teachers’ status as nonnative speakers. The findings also suggest a need for future research to analyse classrooms as social contexts in their own right and with their own pragmatic constraints which may not correspond to those of everyday discourse in other settings.

Quick links
A browser-friendly version of this article is not yet available. View PDF
Allwright, D
(1999) Discourse in the language classroom. In B. Spolsky (ed.), Concise encyclopedia of educational linguistics. Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 319-323.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Auer, P
(1988) On deixis and displacement. Folia Linguistica 22/3-4: 263-292. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K
(2001) Evaluating the empirical evidence: Grounds for instruction in pragmatics? In K. Rose & G. Kasper (eds.), Pragmatics in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 13-32. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K., and B.S. Hartford
(1990) Congruence in native and nonnative conversations: Status balance in the academic advising session. Language Learning 40: 467-501.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K., B.S. Hartford, R. Mahan-Taylor, M. Morgan, and D. Reynolds
(1991) Developing pragmatic awareness: Closing the conversation. ELT Journal 45: 4-15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bergman, M.L., and G. Kasper
(1993) Perception and performance in native and nonnative apology. In G. Kasper & S. Blum-Kulka (eds.), Interlanguage pragmatics. New York: Longman, pp. 82-107.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., and E. Finegan
(1989) Styles of stance in English: Lexical and grammatical marking of evidentiality and affect. Text9.1: 93-124.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S
(1991) Interlanguage pragmatics: The case of requests. In R. Phillipson, E. Kellerman, M. Sharwood-Smith & M. Swain (eds.), Foreign/second language pedagogy research. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 255-272.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, P., and S.C. Levinson
(1987) Politeness. Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Caffi, C., and R. Janney
(1994) Toward a pragmatics of emotive communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 22.3/4: 325-373.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christoph, J.N., and M. Nystrand
(2001)  Taking risks, negotiating relationships: One teacher's transition towards a dialogic classroom . CELA Research Report No. 14003. http://​cela​.albany​.edu​/christoph013​/main​.html
Clennell, C
(1999) Promoting pragmatic awareness and spoken discourse skills with EAP classes. ELT Journal 53.2: 83-91. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coates, J
(1987) Epistemic modality and spoken discourse. Transactions of the Philological Society 1987: 110-131. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, A., and E. Ohlstain
(1993) The production of speech acts by EFL learners. TESOL Quarterly 27: 33-56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flyvbjerg, B
(2001) Making social science matter. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Framework
(1996) Modern languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. A common European framework of reference. CC LANG (95) 5 Rev. IV, Strasbourg: Council of Europe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fruhauf, G., D. Coyle, and I. Christ
(eds.) (1996) Teaching content in a foreign language. Practice and perspectives in European bilingual education. Alkmaar: The European Platform for Dutch Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, C
(1992) Responses to a request by native and non-native English speakers: Deference vs. cameraderie. Multilingua 11.4: 387-406. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hakulinen, A
(1987) Avoiding personal reference in Finnish. In J. Verschueren & M. Bertucelli-Papi (eds.), The pragmatic perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 141-153.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hakulinen, A. et al.
forthcoming) Iso suomen kielioppi(‘A reference grammar of Finnish’).
Harder, P
(1980) Discourse as self-expression. On the reduced personality of the second-language learner. Applied Linguistics 1.3: 262-270. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, J
(1990) Hedges and boosters in women's and men's speech. Language and Communication 10.3: 185-205.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
House, J
(1996) Developing pragmatic fluency in English as a foreign language. Routines and metapragmatic awareness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 18.2: 225-252. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, K
(1996) Writing without conviction? Hedging in science research articles. Applied Linguistics 17.4: 433-454.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kasper, G
(1979) Communication strategies: Modality reduction. The Interlanguage Studies Bulletin - Utrecht 4.2: 266-283.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2001) Classroom research on interlanguage pragmatics. In K. Rose & G. Kasper (eds.), Pragmatics in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 33-60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kasper, G., and K. Rose
(2001) Pragmatics in language teaching. In K. Rose & G. Kasper (eds.), Pragmatics in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-9. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kramsch, C
(1986) From language proficiency to interactional competence. The Modern Language Journal 70.4: 366-372. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krueger, M., and F. Ryan
(eds.) (1993) Language and content. Discipline- and content-based approaches to language study. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lemke, J.L
(1990) Talking science. Language, learning, and values. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nikula, T
(1996) Pragmatic force modifiers. A study in interlanguage pragmatics. Studia Philologica Jyväskyläensia 39. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nikula, T., and D. Marsh
(1997) Vieraskielisen opetuksen tavoitteet ja toteuttaminen (‘Content and language integrated teaching: From aims to implementation’). Helsinki: National Board of Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nystrand, M., and A. Gamoran
(2001)  Questions in time: Investigating the structure and dynamics of unfolding classroom discourse . CELA Research Report No. 14005. http://​cela​.albany​.edu.​/nystrand015​/main​.html
Östman, J-O
(1981) You know: A discourse-functional approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1986) Pragmatics as implicitness: An analysis of question particles in Solf Swedish, with implications for the study of passive clauses and the language of persuasion. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley.
(1995) Pragmatic particles twenty years after. In B. Wårvik, S-K. Tanskanen & R. Hiltunen (eds.), Organization in discourse. Proceedings from the Turku conference. Anglicana Turkuensia 14: 95-108.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Overstreet, M., and G. Yule
(1999) Fostering pragmatic awareness. Applied Language Learning 10.1 & 2: 1-13.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schourup, L
(2002) Rethinking well . Journal of Pragmatics 33.7: 1025-1060. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silverstein, M
(1993) Metaparagmatic discourse and metapragmatic function. In J.A. Lucy (ed.), Reflexive language. Reported speech and metapragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 33-58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snow, M.A., and D.M. Brinton
(eds.) (1997) The content-based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content. White Plains, NY: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swain, M
(1996) Integrating language and content in immersion classrooms: Research perspectives. The Canadian Modern Language Review 52.4: 529-548. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Takala, S., D. Marsh, and T. Nikula
(1998) Vieraskielinen opetus Suomessa (‘Content and language integrated teaching in Finland’). In S. Takala & K. Sajavaara (eds.), Kielikoulutus Suomessa(‘Language education in Finland’). Jyväskylä: Centre for Applied Language Studies, pp. 139-170.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomlinson, B
(1994) Pragmatic awareness activities. Language Awareness 3.3 & 4: 119-129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trosborg, A
(1987) Apology strategies in natives/non-natives. Journal of Pragmatics 11.2: 147-167.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verschueren, J
(1995) Metapragmatics. In J. Verschueren, J-O. Östman & J. Blommaert (eds.), Handbook of pragmatics, manual. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 367-371.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1999) Understanding pragmatics. London: Arnold.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000) Notes on the role of metapragmatic awareness in language use. Pragmatics 10.4: 439-456.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zuengler, J., and D.M. Brinton
(1997) Linguistic form, pragmatic function: Relevant research from content-based instruction. In M.A. Snow & D.M. Brinton (eds.), The content-based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content. White Plains, NY: Longman, pp. 263-273.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
 
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue