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
Sample 7
I’m not going to wish you luck, because you’re not going to need it.
Sample 8
Have a good trip and summer and everything.
Sample 9
If I don’t talk to you before Monday, have a wonderful trip.
Sample 10
Have a good day. I may see you at noon and I may not.
Task sheet: Pros and cons associated with different types 
of data
Pros
Cons
Intuition and 
introspection
DCT
Role-play
Recording of 
natural 
conversation
Field observation 
of natural 
conversation

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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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Activity 3.2 Collecting data for pragmatics-focused
instruction
Objectives
1
You will be able to construct instructions and scenarios required for collecting
language data that are feasible and appropriate for your instructional contexts,
and collect language samples for your future teaching of pragmatics.
2
You will be able to evaluate your collected data and identify ways to minimize 
the potential drawbacks associated with the type of data.
Suggested time:
30 minutes.
Materials:
■
blank sheets of paper;
■
tape/digital-recording device or a camcorder (optional).
Directions
1
Choose one or two data collection procedure(s) that are most useful and feasible
in your instructional setting.
2
Write out instructions and/or a scenario for your data collection, if appropriate.
Get in a group of about three, ideally with those who speak the language you
teach. Have the other participants provide language data, and revise your
instructions and/or scenarios if necessary.
3
If you have a recording device, such as a tape recorder, a digital voice recorder, or
a camcorder, have your teammates role-play orally and transcribe the dialogue.
4
As an assignment, collect your data outside of the classroom and transcribe them
if necessary.
5
Share your (transcribed) data along with the audio/video with the rest of the group.
Discussion/ Wrap up
Analyze the pros and cons of your collected data as you did in Activity 3.1. Would your
data serve your purpose in your teaching of pragmatics? If there are any drawbacks
associated with the type of data, think of how you would compensate for them while
teaching pragmatics. For example, if your data were elicited and somewhat unnatural,
would you consider making them more authentic? If so, how? If your data were col-
lected naturally and have various features that you think may distract your learners,
what would you do? (See also Chapters 7, 8, and 9 for ways to incorporate naturally
occurring data into pragmatics instruction.)

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