Reconceptualizing language teaching: an in-service teacher education course in uzbekistan

Figure Four. Picture Description Task.
Think about the following:
1) What is the relationship between language use and social context 
(i.e. intended meaning)?
2) What classroom activities could be introduced to organize classes 
from the vantage point of pragmatic competence?
UZBEK VIGNETTE
While observing an in-service teacher training class, the director of 
the Innovation Center under the Uzbekistan State University of World 
Languages, witnessed how a male teacher trainer was talking to a female 
teacher about an inappropriate behavior. The female was talking on the 
phone during the class. She believed she remained unnoticed. However, 

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CHAPTER ONE: COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
the male trainer saw the teacher and then started communicating with her 
in the following way:
Trainer: Hello
Teacher: Sorry
Trainer: How are you?
Teacher: Excuse me!
Trainer: I think, you published a book last year on the topic that we are 
talking today, didn’t you?
Teacher: I am sorry, because my child is ill and thus I am worrying, and 
thus I am trying to know about how he is now.
REFLECTION
Think about the problem indicated in the vignette. Why did the 
teacher not answer any of the trainer’s questions during their commu-
nication? Was the trainer satisfied by the teacher’s justification about her 
talking on the phone during the class session? 
KEY CONCEPTS
There are six key concepts in this section: pragmatic competence, the 
Cooperative Principle, maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of rele-
vance, and maxim of manner. We will briefly explain each one below.
Pragmatic competence – an ability to interpret and convey meaning 
in (social) context. The intended meaning is more than what is said. A dia-
logue can be wrong in terms of form/structure and meanings/semantics, 
but it can be correct from the viewpoint of pragmatic meaning. Once inter-
locutors understand each other’s intended meanings, even with grammati-
cally incorrect sentences, the communication is still successful.