Some problems with functions and speech acts
and some solutions through pragmatics to help
upper intermediate learners
by Greg Gobel
- 5
List of Appendices
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Appendix A: Cook vs. McCarthy
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Appendix B: Free functional language/pragmatics activities from Bardovi-Harlig
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Appendix C: This article’s assessment of four ‘Real Life’ sections from Cutting Edge Upper-Intermediate
Appendix A: Cook vs. McCarthy
In the readings, I found a curious disagreement. About the Cooperative Principle, McCarthy asserts that, ‘In a decade of English language teaching since they first came to my notice, I have never met an occasion where the maxims could be usefully applied…’ (McCarthy, 1991: 2). However, Cook seems to contradict this. He says that pragmatic theories, including the Cooperative Principle ‘provide essential insights both into the nature of coherence, and into the problems of communicating in a foreign language and culture. They are essential tools for discourse analysis and thus for the teacher and learner’ (Cook, 1989: 29).
It is not surprising to me that two writers that I find very helpful to my own teacher development disagree. I side more with Cook, who, it must be said, does criticize the pragmatics theories (1989: 43), because in my experience saying ‘never’ about any theory, method, or technique may consequently limit the teacher’s ability to help his or her learners make sense of English and their ability to communicate. I think it is more important ‘how’ we make use of these, rather than becoming dogmatic about always or never using them.
Appendix B: Free functional language/pragmatic activities from Bardovi-Harlig
In Teaching Pragmatics, Bardovi-Harlig provides a series of activities focusing on functional language with more pragmatic integration than typical coursebooks tend to present. These activities are free for any busy teacher at http://exchanges.state.gov/education/engteaching/pragmatics/htm .
Although the activities do not exhaust areas covered in this paper or the extremely broad area of functional language, it is a start and gives busy teachers a chance to integrate some of these ideas into their courses.
The activities cover these five general areas:
Appendix C: This article’s assessment of four ‘Real Life’ sections in Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate
| Module, page |
Function focus |
Brief Assessment/Some possible Improvements |
| 1, 15 |
Starting, maintaining, ending conversations |
Assessment: The activity raises learners awareness of what could be considered rude, but there are no suggestions to help learners avoid being rude for these functions.
Improvements:
- T can ask learners what would be considered rude in their own language in these situations?
- T can elicit, or give, some useful language to avoid being rude. Learners could practice that.
- T could ask why learners think Fiona is being rude? This could help them realize that if they are in Sean’s situation, they may be met with dispreferred responses.
|
| 2, 27 |
Responding sympathetically |
Assessment: The book does quite a good job here with many useful phrases and focus on appropriateness for different situations.
Improvements:
- T could direct more focus to how the closeness of personal relationship influences phrase choice for this function.
- T could focus learners on ‘why’ these functional phrases are appropriate or not.
- T could draw attention to how the imperatives here are not really commands.
- Again, T could exploit learners L1 here to identify similarities/differences between English.
|
| 4, 47 |
Explaining how things work |
Assessment: Several useful phrases are supplied. But, learners are only asked to decide if they are used for explaining or asking how to use something.
Improvements:
- More awareness of specific functions of the language (e.g., saying you understand, asking for help, telling how, checking instructions, warning or correcting), enabling more appropriate usage.
- Awareness of physical closeness can be raised to help explain deictic references in the expressions (e.g.,’This thing here?’)
- Uses of imperatives ‘Look out!’ are not rude in this context, and could be focused on; upholding maxim of quantity.
- Idea of cooperation between participants to transfer knowledge can be focused on.
|
| 9, 105 |
Saying what’s wrong with things |
Assessment: Learners listen to and role play ‘complaint’ situations with no guidance for levels of politeness, appropriateness, nor focus on useful functional language.
Improvements:
- T could lift some useful language from the recordings and concept check politeness and usefulness.
- Learners could rank complainers on a continuum of rude-polite and express why. Then listen to a homemade recording of native speakers explaining how they did the rankings for comparison and insight.
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