A Comparative Study of the L2 Pragmatic Competence of University Students in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland:The Contributions of Sociocultural Context and Linguistic Proficiency

This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students.Participants included 19 native speakers of English,115 Chinese mainland students,divided into those who had spent time abroad in an English-speaking country(CM A)and those who had not(CM NA),and 97 Hong Kong students,divided into those from an English-medium secondary school(Hong Kong EMI)and those from a Chinese-medium school(Hong Kong CMI).Linguistic proficiency was measured by a C-test,and pragmatic competence by a Metapragmatic Knowledge Test,an Irony Test and a Monologic Role Play.Group scores were compared using ANCOVAs to control for differences in proficiency.The results point to a continuum of pragmatic competence—EMI>CMI>CM A>CM NA—reflecting the groups’access to English in real-life contexts.The differences between the Hong Kong groups and the Chinese mainland groups were clearest in those tests measuring processing capacity(i.e.,Irony Response Time and the Monologic Role Play).CM A,but not CM NA,performed as well as the Hong Kong groups on measures of metapragmatic awareness.The results are discussed in terms of Bialystok’s(1993)distinction between analyzed representation and control of processing.

Taking Stock of Grammar-Translation Teaching Method in Developing Intercultural Pragmatic Competence

Grammar-translation teaching method(GTTM as a shorthand below) has long been a buzzword when it is adopted in the class of English as a foreign language.It has been universally acknowledged that such teaching method contradicts the development of communicative language competence advocated in recent decades.However,I positively argue that GTTM in English class,as a comparative and intercultural model,should be given a due reconsideration to improve L2 learners' pragmatic competence.

Investigating L2 Request Strategies: A Case Study of Chinese English teachers' L2 Pragmatic Competence

Empirical descriptions of how the teacher performs requests in English can make them realize the importance of improving pragmatic competence, so that they could help students develop more native-like pragmatic behaviors and enhance cultural competence. This case study is to explore the pragmatic competence of a Chinese EFL teacher by investigating the patterns of realization strategies and the ways of reacting to the different social and contextual variables in her requests. It was found out that the teacher investigated in the study had good pragmatic awareness and pragmatic competence to produce the speech act of requests and develop students' pragmatic competence, but more explicit instructions should be provided to help students develop more native-like speech acts by providing more explicit instructions.

Developing Pragmatic Competence in EFL Speaking Classes： From Theory to Practice

Fostering students＇ pragmatic competence in ESL/EFL classrooms has been the subject of a large number of studies over the last several decades. This paper will examine the importance of pragmatic competence in L2 spoken communication and investigate factors leading to pragmatic failures. It will also discuss possible ways to help foster students＇ pragmatic competence in EFL speaking classes.

A Study on Pragmatic Competence in Using Apologies by Medical College Students

Apology becomes the focus in the field of pragmatics.As future caregivers,learning how to use English apologetic expressions is essential for the medical college students,especially in the present day of globalization.This thesis is an effort to analyze a full and accurate data on a test about the use of“I’m sorry”and“Excuse me”and a questionnaire survey about learning of“I’m sorry”and“Excuse me”,aiming at investigating the similarities and differences in using“I’m sorry”and“Excuse me”among Chinese medical college students.

Study of Relation between EFL Students'Cognitive Style and Pragmatic Competence

Individual difference is one of the important factors affecting the success of learning English as foreign language（EFL）. However, very little research has dabbled in the correlation between pragmatic competence and cognitive styles among college students. Two questionnaires（the embedded figure test and the pragmatic competence test） were designed and used to conduct our study among seniors with non-English majors from key universities. The data was analyzed with SPSS 21.0 and results showed that pragmatic competence of the subjects was much lower than expected. Besides, there was a significant and positive correlation between field dependent（FD）cognitive style and inter-language pragmatic competence while no significant correlation was found with field independent（FI）. A regression model was also formulated to obtain more specific information. Lastly,some practical advice is offered for teachers to boost students＇ pragmatic competence in the future with FD/FI cognitive styles into proper consideration.

Pragmatic Competence in Language Teaching

Pragmatic competence is generally considered to involve two kinds of ability. In part it means knowing how to use languag1 in order to achieve certain communicative goals or intentions.

A Literature Review of the Research Method in the Study of L2 Pragmatic Competence of Chinese Tertiary-Level Students

This study combs through the frequently cited papers on L2 pragmatic competence of Chinese tertiary-level students from CNKI,and analyzes the research methods used in these studies.The findings are:Metapragmatic judgement item,discourse completion task,role play,and verbal reports are the most widely used instruments in the study of L2 pragmatic competence of Chinese tertiary-level students.Besides,other methods like natural comprehension and elicited conversation have received more attention in recent years.

The Effects of Pragmatics Competence in EFL University Learners

As we know, Pragmatics is the way we convey meaning through communication, so the study aims at student’s opinions on the use of English language as a means of communication and to show the significance of language function, context, and authentic situations to develop pragmatic competence in Sudanese English Language university learners. To achieve the objectives, the study used a questionnaire to address the study questions and objectives. 150 employed students participated in the questionnaire. The study found that the students have positive views toward the using of the language as communicative means in various, functions, contexts, and authentic situations inside and outside the classroom to enhance the student’s fluency in using the target language as well as the take care about the language forms to avoid imperfect using of the language.

Towards Promotion of Pragmatic Competence:Discourse Analysis in College Writing Classes

Language acquisition is far more than targeting its surface systems including grammatical patterns, lexical meanings, set structures and the like. It is for it that a shift is naturally coming up, i.e. more and more people's increasing concern on language use in real situations. For adult learners in China, English is quite different from the mother tongue that can be acquired naturally and with ease. In the learning process, linguistic knowledge is usually taught first, and then for the purpose of grasping language skills learners' automaticization should be involved. On the ground of the fact that classroom teaching is the main channel for most college students' to have their language input, teachers' wise strategies and full use of classrooms are quite essential for their language intake and general level as a whole. To enhance students' pragmatic competence, i.e. the ability to apply language flexibly and appropriately, this paper tries to find a way out in view of this concept, namely, the promotion of pragmatic competence by discourse analysis in writing classes.

Reconsideration on the role of pragmatic transfer

This paper reconsiders the role of L 1 pragmatic transfer on English learning after a brief historical review of the pragmatic transfer research. As pragmatic transfer is a communicative strategy which the language learners tend to use to deal with the immediate problems and difficulties in communication and to develop their pragmatic competence of the target language, the paper comes to the conclusion that foreign language teachers should consciously introduce the pragmatic transfer as a communicative strategy into the classroom teaching, and try to find effective means to cultivate their students＇ abilities of pragmatic transfer in order to develop pragmatic competence.

A study on pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication

Through analyzing and comparing the anecdotes of pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication from the aspects of lexicon, syntax and discourse, some pragmatic strategies are suggested in intercultural communication. To improve learners＇ cultural awareness and communicative competence, a cultural-linguistic approach in foreign language teaching should be adopted.

Negative effect of instruction on L2 learners＇ pragmatic development

The present paper discusses three major sources of negative effect of classroom instruction on L2 learners＇ pragmatic development： inadequate or inappropriate metapragmatic input, non-authentic classroom discourse and grammar-oriented pedagogy, then proposes some pedagogical suggestions on developing pragmatic competence.

Survey of High School English Teachers＇ Pragmatic Failure

According to the principals of the Course Standard of English for Ordinary Senior Schools, published by China Education Ministry in 2001, the general goal of English curriculum on the basic education stage is to foster the students＇ cross-cultural awareness, which is to develop their cross-cultural communicative competence. To achieve this goal, most of all, teachers of English at high school must have a good command of cross-cultural pragmatic competence. By looking through papers in various periodicals and the Internet, the writer finds that most of the studies have coped with pragmatic failures of ESL students but few of ESL teachers＇. Therefore, this thesis studies the present situation --- how much do schoolteachers of English know about pragmatics？ What about their cross-cultural communicative competence？ Can they communicate with the native speakers fluently and appropriately？ What are the most serious problems among them in pragmatics？ What can be done to solve the problems？ With all the questions, this research has collected considerable firsthand data and information. Only after the basic situations are known overall, can actions be taken to solve the problems existing in everyday ESL teaching. So this research is necessary and urgent for the present basic English pedagogy. However, since the present writer＇s ability and research conditions are limited, it is not possible to make a wider investigation in many places. Therefore, the district --- Bameng League, Inner Mongolia, China, is selected as the basic range of the survey, the situation of which is believed to be able to represent the basic educational ones in the poor and remote districts in the north and the west of China where education is more backward. The questionnaire consists of two parts： a table of individual information and a test paper. The former investigates informants＇ basic information, including the items of name, age, sex, teaching age, title of the technical post, degree, academic career, college or university that they graduated from, working unit, grades for teaching and the others. The latter is the test paper cited from He Ziran and Yan Zhuang （1986）, that is, Chinese Students＇Pragmatic Failure in English Communication --- Survey of the Pragmatic Difference between Chinese and English. And it contains 48 items, with items of pragmalinguistic and socio-pragmatic competence mixedly arranged. 120 of the questionnaire copies were handed out and 86 are collected, but only 64 are collected. The survey covers over 10 high schools in all the 7 banners of Bameng League, including two autonomous region-class key schools and five other league-class key schools. After the investigation, the present writer carefully corrects, marks, arranges, summarizes and analyzes the questionnaire, and obtains plenty of firsthand data and information. Then some conclusions have been drawn based on the data analysis. The result of the survey shows that linguistic competence is not equal to pragmatic competence, that ESL high school English teachers may use English rather fluently, without many mistakes in vocabulary and grammar,but it does not necessarily mean that they can use the target language appropriately to communicate with native speakers without pragmatic failures, and that the informants＇ knowledge of pragmatics and their pragmatic competence are rather poor. As a result, improving their knowledge and competence in pragmatics becomes a very necessary and urgent task to develop the quality of ELT in basic educational stages. In order to solve the above problems, the writer makes some suggestions as follows： （1） Pragmatics should be required as an essential course for the English majors in colleges and universities, especially in normal colleges and universities; （2） In-service high school English teachers must study courses of pragmatics and cross-cultural communication; （3） In some poor and remote districts, if educational conditions don＇t permit, textbooks of pragmatics and cross-cultural communication must be handed out to the high school English teachers who can study by themselves, then tests are regularly held for them and certificates will be given to those who have passed the tests; （4） In some developed districts, if conditions permit, English teachers can be sent abroad to English-speaking countries for further education in order to have a good command of the English language in the authentic contexts; （5） Modern multiple medias, such as VCD or DVD videos, TV or radio programs, the Internet, should be widely and frequently applied to training teachers; （6） More native language teachers and experts from English-speaking countries must be invited to high schools to train teachers of English.

Implications of Reportage Texts in EFL Teaching

In this paper, the author discusses implications of original reportage texts in EFL teaching and learning from the perspectives of socio-linguistics and pragmatic competence. The author also discusses a proper approach for teaching medical postgraduate students, which is centered on students and based on research. This approach for teaching and leaning has been proved effective and students have improved in their socio-linguistic and pragmatic competences. This approach should have implications to EFL teachers who teach students of other specialties.

Exposure to TL in class and IL refusal development

The present study aimed to account for the different degrees of IL refusal development in terms of the amount of exposure to TL in class. The refusing responses to various elicitations were collected by means of the written DCT, the oral DCT and the role-play and were processed by employing component analysis. The comparison of refusal components between Group A （with full exposure） and Group B （with partial exposure） presents that the exposure in class does facilitate the development of IL refusal competence. The findings in this study bring some pedagogical implications for L2 teachers and academic inspirations to the researchers in IL pragmatic acquisition.

Guest Editorial New and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Language and Cognition

This Special Section on Language and Cognition of Journal of Electronic Science and Technology（JEST） presents a collective of state-of-theart interdisciplinary research on language and cognition. It features empirical and theoretical studies on cognitive approaches to language, using a variety of methodological approaches, from behavioral measures to neuroimaging. The topics discussed are varied,ranging from language comprehension and acquisition to the language-emotion interactions, reflecting marked broadening of the research agenda in this field. We invite yet more integrated research to move the field forward.

What’ s the Context? Speech Acts Presentation in Oral English Textbooks

In this study,an evaluation of the presentation of speech acts in six oral English textbooks is conducted from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives to see how speech acts are presented and whether enough and explicit meta-pragmatic and contextual information are provided.Results show that 1)there is a paucity of speech acts and the average percentage of the six textbooks including speech acts is only 28.3%.And some speech acts like‘threatening’,‘warning’,‘declaring’,‘welcoming’are not presented at all.2)Meta-pragmatic and contextual information is too general and far from enough.Among all the six textbooks,from Book 1 to Book 5,contextual information is deduced by learners through reading conversations.Only in Book 6,a contextual description is provided before the conversation begins.Contextual information such as the age,gender and social status of Speaker and Hearer is never presented.Contextual information like the relationship between Speaker and Hearer and the place where the conversation happens is inferred from reading the conversations.Meta-pragmatic information like the degree of formality,politeness strategy,indirect speech act strategy,and social norms are not at all involved.Only in Book 1,a cultural tip is provided.Since oral English textbooks are one of the main sources for Chinese EFL learners to enhance their pragmatic competence,it is much expected that they should present a wide variety of popularly-used speech acts with rich contextual information as appropriate language input.

PROMOTING PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE OF HIGHER VOCATIONAL COLLEGE STUDENTS: AN EXPERIMENT

This paper is an attempt to promote pragmatic competence of Higher Vocational College Students in fulfilling the task of foreign language teaching. The author argues for the assumption that students' pragmatic competence varies consistently with their linguistic competence in most cases, but their high pragmatic competence seems to presuppose high linguistic competence. This paper also looks into how high-level learners differ from low-level learners in developing their pragmatic competence. The purpose of this study is to guide pedagogical attention to both pragmatic knowledge and linguistic knowledge in English teaching.

An Interlanguage Pragmatics Study of Request

Based on the analysis of letters written by some Chinese college English learners and American native speakers, this paper first verified that Chinese college English learners often commit pragmatic failures concerning request in letters. Then, after discussion of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic failures found in the letters of Chinese college English learners in detail, this paper further provided some implications for the EFL learning and teaching.