A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

Sample answer:
Bill, you are logical and I can see you’re trying to be convincing.
However, even though you wish to communicate your strong prefer-
ence, in order to sound more tactful to your boss, it may be good 
to tone down your message. Note that this is a formal job situation
and you are speaking to your boss, who is higher in social status. In
this case, you should probably 1) accept your boss’s idea by stating
something positive, and 2) suggest your counter-proposal in a more
positive way. How about, for example: “OK, that sounds fine, but 
I was hoping that perhaps I would give the first presentation since I
have come up with what I think are some strong arguments”? With
this response, you are acknowledging the boss’s authority by saying
that her ideas are good, but still offering a counter-proposal without
being negative about a co-worker or about your boss’s idea.
Now we turn to the assessment of learners’ productive skills with regard
to language and culture. Below is an example of an analytic scoring instru-
ment, learner language, and teacher feedback. Here again, if teachers have
actual language samples from pragmatically competent target language
speakers, they would be a useful yardstick in evaluation.
Example 5
This is adapted from an example in Chapter 14; learners can determine the
boss’s gender.
Situation: Michelle completely forgets a crucial meeting at the office
with the boss at her new job. An hour later she shows up at her boss’s
office to apologize. The problem is that this is the second time she’s
forgotten such a meeting in the short time she has been working at
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2 9 8
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
this job. Her boss is clearly annoyed, “What happened to you this
time?”
Focus on analytic aspects (assessing 
metapragmatic ability)
Besides evaluating linguistic and cultural aspects of learners’ pragmatics, it is
also possible to assess learners’ ability to analyze the pragmatics of the L2. If
one of the primary goals of pragmatics-focused instruction is to equip learners
with the skills required for independent learning of pragmatics beyond the
immediate classroom, it would be important to assess the development of
these skills.
Learner 1
Learner 2
Michelle: So sorry, Mr Peterson. I have
sleeping problems and then I missed the
bus. I can make it up to you.”
Michelle: Ms Peterson, I’m terribly sorry. 
It completely slipped out of my mind. 
I know this is my second time, but believe
me, this never happened to me before. I’m
really sorry, I’ll be very careful and this
won’t happen again.
Evaluation
4 – Very appropriate; 3 – Somewhat
appropriate; 2 – Less appropriate; 
1 – Inappropriate
1 Level of formality, 
directness, and politeness 4 3 2 1
2 Strategies of apologies
4 3 2 1
3 Cultural norms
4 3 2 1
Teacher’s comments:
Michelle uses 3 apology strategies –
expressing an apology, giving an
explanation, and offering repair. The
choice of these strategies is good in 
this situation. However, because the
excuse provided is lacking detail, the
apology may not sound very sincere. 
Her boss may appreciate more honesty
here if Michelle is not being truthful.
Evaluation
4 – Very appropriate; 3 – Somewhat
appropriate; 2 – Less appropriate; 
1 – Inappropriate
1 Level of formality, 
directness, and politeness