A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

foreign- rather than a second-language context. Such factors might include
among other things:
1
the degree of imposition in a request or the severity of the infraction in
an apology situation;
2
the level of acquaintance between the speaker and listener; and
3
their relative social status.
Measuring comprehension of speech acts
Assessment of pragmatics looks both at comprehension and production.
Measuring comprehension of the pragmatics in language behavior often takes
an indirect, metapragmatic approach. Learners are asked to assess how well
they think someone else has performed pragmatically. So, for example,
assessment could entail looking at learners’ reactions to videotaped role-
play, screen plays (from a TV series), or written descriptions of speech acts
situations. The learners indicate their reactions by completing rating scales
or multiple-choice items. Returning to the issue of marital relations, let us
suppose that the students viewed a video clip which had the following
exchange between a husband and wife:
Wife: Darling, I don’t like it when you criticize our children in front
of other people. I was really annoyed last evening when you made
cracks about them at the dinner party. I realize it was your effort to be
amusing, but people can take it the wrong way, and . . .
Husband: Really? I don’t think so. In fact, I think you’re overreacting
– it’s not such a big deal. But if you insist, I’m willing to watch what 
I say. . . .

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F U R T H E R I S S U E S I N L E A R N I N G , T E A C H I N G , A N D A S S E S S M E N T
A sample item could include the following:
Indicate with an X how you would rate the level of the husband’s
apology:
1
High ____