Pragmatic Activities for the Speaking Classroom

12 ENG L I S H T E AC H ING FO R UM 2 0 1 6 americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum
JOSEPH SIEGEL
Japan

Pragmatic Activities for the
Speaking Classroom
Being able to speak naturally and appropriately with others in a variety
of situations is an important goal for many English as a foreign
language (EFL) learners. Because the skill of speaking invariably
involves interaction with people and using language to reach objectives
(e.g., ordering food, making friends, asking for favors), it is crucial for
teachers to explore activities that help students learn the typical ways to
express these and other language functions.
To interact successfully in myriad contexts and
with many different speakers, learners need
to develop a repertoire of practical situationdependent
communicative choices. The
study of how language is used in interactions
is called pragmatics, and while appropriate
interactions come naturally to native speakers
of a language, EFL learners need to be aware
of the many linguistic and strategic options
available to them in certain situations. Though
pragmatics is an extensive field within
linguistics, much pragmatic research has
focused on speech acts performed by learners
and the linguistic and strategic choices they
employ (Mitchell, Myles, and Marsden 2013).
To use pragmatically appropriate speech, EFL
users must account for not only the form
and function of a second language, but the
context as well (Taguchi 2015). In doing so,
they will be more comfortable speaking to
interlocutors who may vary in age, gender,
social class, and status (Kinginger and Farrell
2004; Ishihara and Cohen 2010). Special
conversational choices are also required based
on the relationship between speakers—
whether they know each other and for how
long. In addition, conversational expectations
and desired objectives can influence linguistic
and strategic choices of what to say. The
ability to account for and adjust to these
variables when speaking English defines one’s
pragmatic competence.
Despite its importance in EFL communication,
the teaching of pragmatics is often overlooked
in the classroom and underrepresented in
teaching materials and teacher education
courses. Reasons include insufficient class time,
lack of interest, or inadequate recognition of its
importance in interpersonal communication.
There may also be a shortage of practical and
achievable activities for the classroom that
introduce and promote the development of
such nuanced language use. While teachers may
recognize the importance of pragmatics and
want to use it in their lessons, many are unsure
how to select and incorporate pragmatic
teaching activities in EFL classes. This seems
to be the case in Japan, where I teach, and
I suspect the situation is similar in other
EFL contexts.
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate
how to identify pragmatic teaching points, to
introduce related activities, and to generally