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G R O U N D I N G I N T H E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G O F L 2 P R A G M A T I C S
His colleague’s terse response made it sound as if he had received much
more feedback than he had bargained for and that he was even perhaps a 
bit annoyed. It is all because of the word “certainly.” His intention was to
simply let Cohen know that he had received the reviewer’s feedback and
appreciated it. He was using “certainly” as an intensifier. The translation
equivalent of “certainly” in Japanese, tashikani, works as an intensifier in
formal contexts. The implication is that since he received it for sure, if there
is any glitch afterwards, it is his fault and not Cohen’s. Given the use of 
“certainly” in the first sentence, the demonstration of gratitude “Thanks a
lot” could be construed as facetious. Although initially taken aback by the
message, Cohen ultimately interpreted the message as intended to acknow-
ledge receipt of the chapter and as a vehicle for sending his thanks for the
feedback he received, so in this case pragmatic failure was averted.
Discussion
This chapter started by defining pragmatic ability in terms of listeners, speakers,
readers, and writers of a language. We pointed out that having pragmatic
ability means being able to go beyond the literal meaning of what is said or
written, in order to interpret the intended meanings, assumptions, purposes
or goals, and the kinds of actions that are being performed. We noted reasons
why speakers of a language in a given speech community may purposely be
indirect in their communication and in their behavior in general, and that
consequently learners may need to find out how to be effective pragmati-
cally in those given situations. We then considered what speech acts consist
of, using the example of the apology speech act set and the strategies that
tend to characterize it – namely, expression of an apology, acknowledgment
of responsibility, explanation or account, offer of repair, and promise of
non-recurrence.
The chapter then looked at social, cultural, and pragmatic norms, paying