A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

4
3
2
1
2 Vocabulary/phrases
4
3
2
1
3 Level of formality
4
3
2
1
4 Pragmatic tone
4
3
2
1
Teacher’s comments:
Kevin sounds very apologetic – he uses
multiple strategies of apologies well to
express his sincerity. Because Kevin and
John are good friends, Kevin’s language
could be less formal. For example, instead
of “I will buy your lunch for compensation”
he could say, “I’ll make it up to you. How
about if I bought you lunch?” or just “I’ll
buy you lunch.”

---

A S S E S S M E N T O F P R A G M A T I C S I N T H E C L A S S R O O M
2 9 5
Another approach would be to assess learners’ pragmatics more holistically
and thus avoid distinguishing between what is a language and what is a 
cultural issue (as in most of the examples in this chapter). With this option
in mind, we now turn to cultural aspects of pragmatics as a primary focus of
assessment.
Focus on cultural aspects (assessing sociopragmatic
ability)
The following are some of the questions that could be asked in assessing 
cultural aspects of learners’ pragmatic awareness and use:
■
To what extent do learners understand the use of the L2 and its likely
consequence in the cultural and situational context?
■
How are their intentions interpreted by members of the L2 community,
given the dimensions of the culture listed below? What consequences
might result from learners’ L2 use in the L2 community?
■
To what extent is the learners’ pragmatic behavior effective in
conveying their intention in this particular cultural context?
The specific dimensions of the culture include:
■
the level of directness, formality, and/or politeness in the interaction:
the extent to which these are appropriate in the given context;
■
the choice and use of speech acts: whether the speakers’ choice of
speech acts is appropriate in the given context;
■
the handling of cultural norms in the target language: the extent to
which the speakers adhere to appropriate cultural norms (if in fact this
is their intent); and
■
the handling of the cultural reasoning or ideologies behind the L2
pragmatic norms: the extent to which learners adopt target culture
ideologies (if this is their intent).
In assessing pragmatic ability, it would be important to include not only