A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

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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
Indicate your intention as a speaker.
X I want to make a refusal the way most people do in the community to
avoid taking that course.
___ I would want my refusal to sound (a little) more (formal/informal),
(polite/ impolite), or ________ than most other people, and avoid taking
the course.
___ I do not wish to make a refusal, regardless of whether I end up having to
take the course (reason: ______________________
_________________________________________________________)
___ Other (Specify: ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________ )
Teachers’ comments:
Possible assessment/feedback
Sample 1
Because you and Kate are friends, your level of formality is appropriate. Your
response carries a humorous tone because your word choice, keep liking, is uncom-
mon in American English (even though keep -ing is grammatical). However, Kate
will most likely understand your message fine. Most people would say, “Thanks,”
“(I’m) glad you like it”.
Sample 2
Because you and Steve are friends, your level of formality is appropriate. Steve may
understand your modesty and politeness if he knows you well. Other people may
feel rejected if you have a sharp or flat tone of voice; direct refusal of compliments
is very strong and can be impolite. Most English speakers phrase their modesty this
way: “Do you really think so?” “Well, I didn’t think so myself, but thanks,” or 
“I think it could have been better.”

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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
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As discussed earlier in this chapter, the practice of using native-speaker baseline
data is appropriate as long as learners want to sound native-like on this task. However,
it could be perceived as cultural imposition if the learners are actually attempting 
to express themselves in a way that distinguishes them from typical community
members.
Sample 3
Your level of formality is appropriate in this dialogue, but your overall tone seems too
direct and inappropriate. In American English, it’s customary to soften your refusal a
great deal, because you are speaking to your advisor (someone of higher social status).
For example, 
Yes, I’ve been thinking about Sentence Writing but it could in fact be a
little bit basic for me. You could also present your reasons for refusing her advice dif-
ferently (e.g., I’ve taken similar courses in Taiwan) or use another reason (e.g., that
class conflicts with what I have to take).
Activity 15.2 Adapting pragmatics assessment tools to
incorporate self-evaluation and learner goals/intentions
Objectives
1
You will be able to construct assessment tools that utilize learners’ self-evaluation.
2
You will be able to incorporate learners’ goals and intentions as a basis of
assessment.
Suggested time:
30 minutes.
Materials:
■
Information: “Sample assessment tools”;
■
overhead projector transparencies and transparency pens (or large construction
paper and felt pens).
Directions
1
Work in a small group of approximately three to adapt the sample rubrics
originally designed for teacher use. For Sample 1, provide more linguistic and
cultural scaffolding so that learners (high beginners) are able to assess their 
own pragmatics using your revised tool. For Sample 2, make some revision to 
the teacher’s assessment to explicitly address learners’ goals (what they want to
achieve through their use of language) and intentions (how they want to present
themselves). Using the assessment in its current form is likely to disregard the
learners’ actual intent for the given situation and assess learner language based 
on default community norms.
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As a result, this assessment fails to elicit learners’

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