A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

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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
F I G U R E 3 . 4 Example of data collected
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Adapted from Ishihara (2003a, 2004).

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C O L L E C T I N G D A T A R E F L E C T I N G T H E P R A G M A T I C U S E O F L A N G U A G E
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Although learner-collected data (as seen above) may not accurately reflect
the details of language use, the collected samples can still serve certain pur-
poses in pragmatics instruction. In the example above, for instance, learner
data may not always be grammatically correct, but can be useful for the
analysis of appropriate topics of compliments, the syntactic structures of
compliments, and the compliment response strategies in each context.
Discussion
Every data collection procedure has its advantages and disadvantages. This
chapter has stressed the value of using authentic data in the teaching of
pragmatics as much as possible instead of relying solely on introspection or
intuition. Teachers can weigh the advantages and disadvantages of different
data collection procedures and select the most appropriate one(s) for their
own purposes. Examining various procedures and sample data can help us
determine how we might collect pragmatic language samples for our stu-
dents. Or teachers might wish to have students collect pragmatic data them-
selves for the purpose of awareness-raising, even though the collected data
Contextual
factors
Social status (S) Relative 
status (e.g., age, gender, 
role in conversation)
Distance (D)
Level of 
distance
Intensity (I)
Compliment topic
Dialogue 1
Equals (same age group, 
females, classmates)
Close
T-shirt (appearance/
possession)
Jenny: Nice T-shirt!
Steph: Well, Jenny, I bought it at a thrift store.
Jenny: But it looks new!
Steph: Oh, no, it’s used, I bought it for $1.
Jenny: That’s really cheap.
Steph: Thanks you.
Dialogue 2
Equals (same age group, males,
roommates)
Close
Cooked meal
Jeff: You really did a nice work. You made a delicious food.
Ricardo: Do you really think so?
Dialogue 3
Equals (same age group, 
male to female, classmates)
Somewhat 
close
Watch (appearance/
possession)
John: I like your watch.
Aisha: Thanks, my fatehr [father] give to me in my birthday.
John: I think is really cool.

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