The IUP Journal of English Studies
Incorporating Pragmatics in English Language Teaching

Article Details
Pub. Date : March, 2020
Product Name : The IUP Journal of English Studies
Product Type : Article
Product Code : IJES72003
Author Name : Mohammed Taher Jasim
Availability : YES
Subject/Domain : Arts & Humanities
Download Format : PDF Format
No. of Pages : 15

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Abstract

Investigating the presence and presentation of speech acts in course books may be significant in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) environment since in most cases, students rely on them for pragmatic input. Though a large body of research has dealt with speech acts, relatively little research has been conducted to examine the speech acts in English course books. To fill this gap, this study aimed to investigate how complaints, apologies, and suggestions were presented in EFL course books. To this end, a content analysis of fourteen course books of different language proficiency levels (i.e., from beginner to advanced) was conducted to find out (i) whether the course books included the aforementioned speech acts, (ii) the range and frequencies of linguistic strategies used to perform these speech acts, and (iii) whether their frequency showed variation across all proficiency levels. The findings have clear implications for course book writers, publishers, and language teachers. The findings and implications are presented.


Introduction

The period between the 1880s and the 1980s witnessed a remarkable change in language pedagogy. This endeavor to achieve better practices paved the way for a paradigm shift from a structural view of language to a functional and finally a communicative view of language. In parallel with these developments, the concept of "competent language user" has been redefined by Kramsch (1988, 27) as:


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