Synchronous (Onsite) Applied Linguistics / Second Language Acquisition Research Report/Paper (25 mins Onsite)
What Students Really Need to Learn: Integration of Pragmatics and Grammar Pedagogy
Despite its importance in developing communicative competence, pragmatic awareness is less likely to be addressed in EFL classrooms, possibly leading to misunderstandings and breakdowns when learners are engaged in practical communication in various sociocultural contexts. Unfortunately, this lack of pedagogical emphasis appears to be mainly due to low pragmatic awareness among teachers. The purpose of this study is to explore ways to raise such awareness and promote pragmatic pedagogy by qualitatively analyzing data from interviews with Japanese teachers of English. The results suggest that integrating pragmatics and grammar pedagogy can be an effective and feasible approach. In addition, this integration may become even more compelling when combined with classroom efforts to prepare students for various examinations which can have a major impact in many Asian EFL contexts. It is time to start focusing on what students really need to learn both inside and outside the school framework.
-
Sanae Oda-Sheehan (PhD) is a lecturer at Ochanomizu University, Tokyo. She also works as a communication consultant utilizing her business background. Her research interests include teacher identity, L2 pragmatics, and communicative task effectiveness.