Pragmatics and Speech Acts
An important area of the field of second/foreign language teaching and learning is pragmatics -- the appropriate use of language in conductingspeech actssuch as apologizing, requesting, complimenting, refusing, thanking. This website offers information about speech acts and how they can be learned and taught, and outlines a research project focused on this important topic.
Background Information: Why Teach Speech Acts?
Learners of all languages tend to have difficulty understanding the intended meaning communicated by a speech act, or producing a speech act using appropriate language and manner in the language being learned. Research has found that classroom instruction on speech acts can help learners to improve their performance of speech acts and thus their interactions with native speakers.Descriptions of Speech Acts
A collection of research-based descriptions of speech acts which includes practical information for language teachers, advanced learners, and developers of language learning materials.Pragmatics and Speech Acts Bibliography
This extensive annotated bibliography is focused primarily on the research literature and is organized into two main sections: general topics within pragmatics and specific speech acts. The bibliography includes studies with native and non-native speakers along with research on teaching and learning pragmatics in a second language.
Second and Foreign Language Pragmatics Wiki
This new resource is designed to be a repository for pragmatics teaching materials in a variety of target languages. Language teachers and researchers who have taught pragmatics are invited to contribute their successful teaching materials directly to the wiki.