A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

1 3 4
T H E N U T S A N D B O L T S O F P R A G M A T I C S I N S T R U C T I O N
Objectives
In the requesting situation, the speaker/writer is asking the listener/reader to take some
action for the benefit of the speaker/writer. Because such an action does not usually profit
the listener/reader, the speaker/writer uses various strategies to minimize the imposition
involved in the request. These strategies soften the potentially face-threatening requests
and can help the speaker/writer get what is needed. Below are the objectives of instruc-
tion, which centers on spoken requests:
1
Learners will be able to identify different norms of behavior across different cultures
and contexts with regard to requests.
2
Learners will be able to assess the levels of politeness, directness, and formality of
various request expressions and pre- and post-request strategies.
3
Learners will be able to use a range of request expressions and pre- and post-request
strategies according to different contexts.
4
Learners will be able to analyze interactions in terms of speaker’s intention and
listener’s interpretation in the given context and identify potential consequences of
their own pragmatic language choice.
5
Learners will be able to approximate their intention through their pragmatic L2 use.
Suggested time
Approximately 750 minutes (e.g., 15 weeks for 50 minutes each).
Classroom instruction/assessment procedures
A Initial reactions to language use in context
As an introduction to socially and culturally appropriate language use, episodes about the
use of Hong Kong English
23
are enhanced with visual materials (e.g., maps and photos) and
shared with learners. By responding to the following discussion prompts, learners analyze
language of requests in American English, Hong Kong English, and Japanese.
1
What English requests did Rose hear from bank tellers, librarians, and sales clerks in
Hong Kong? How are these requests usually phrased in Japanese and in American
English?
2
Why do people in Hong Kong tend to make direct requests?
23
Rose (1999: 172–3).

---

C L A S S O B S E R V A T I O N A N D T E A C H I N G D E M O N S T R A T I O N S
1 3 5
3
What risks are involved in the communication between American English speakers and
Cantonese-English speakers?
As further visual support, the request expressions produced in Prompt 1 are placed in a
continuum of politeness/directness/formality.
24
The instruction at this stage serves as an
informal assessment of learners’ awareness of pragmatic variability.
B Production of written request discourse
Four written dialogues are elicited from learners through a situational approach, using
multi-turn discourse completion tasks (DCTs) (see the sample material below). Writing is
used due to learners’ weakness in oral skills. Also, because written materials can be ana-
lyzed later with relative ease, written dialogues can be used as a projection of their speech.
However, alternatively and ideally, learners’ online pragmatic competence can be assessed
orally and in natural discourse if possible. At this point, learner language is not graded or
commented on, but used only for teachers’ diagnosis of their pragmatic production.
Learners are then given varied sample responses collected from pragmatically compe-
tent speakers of English (see the sample material below), and the request expressions from
these data are sequenced on the continuum of formality/directness/formality used at
stage A.
C Learners’ data collection in authentic L1/L2 discourse
Learners are assigned to collect naturally occurring request dialogues in L1 Japanese or in
L2 English. Using a format similar to that for giving and responding to compliments above,
learners receive instruction in how to notice and analyze the language of requests in rela-
tion to contextual factors (i.e., relative social status, distance, and the level of imposition
of the request).
D Learners’ reflections on language use in context
Request softeners (mitigators) are introduced to learners using material on Australian
English.
25
In this activity, learners match examples of short, softened requests with the
descriptions of the authentic contexts in which those requests occurred. The linguistic fea-
tures and the context of the requests that make the match possible are then discussed.
Learners’ attention is also directed at both the speaker’s intention and the listener’s inter-
pretation, considering the language form and the context.
24
At this stage, learners may be shocked to see how low on the continuum the
expression, Please X is situated. Many Japanese learners seem to believe it is a highly
polite expression: Ishihara (2009); Matsuura (1998).
25
The instructions and materials can be found in Yates (2003). Accessible at: http://
exchanges.state.gov/media/oelp/teaching-pragmatics/short.pdf (accessed December 10,
2009).

---