One of the critical and complicated segments of learning a new language is pragmatics, which is the use of language in social and cultural contexts through everyday social interaction. To increase English as a Second Language (ESL) students’ pragmatic awareness and enhance their pragmatic competence, it is imperative that ESL instructors understand the field of pragmatics and learn how to incorporate pragmatics into lesson plans. The research on the incorporation of pragmatics is still limited; it is not sufficiently understood to what extent ESL teachers incorporate pragmatics. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore if and how ESL teachers address pragmatics when it is not part of their program curriculum. The purposefully selected sample was composed of 15 ESL instructors from a community college in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the USA. Semistructured interviews were used as the primary instrument for data collection, and observations and document review were utilized as a supportive data collection method. The research revealed that ESL teachers do not teach pragmatics explicitly; they only address errors caused by cultural differences as they arise and only if they are recognized by the instructors. This research also revealed that ESL teachers’ limited knowledge of incorporating pragmatics into ESL classrooms are linked to multiple factors. The study elevates a number of opportunities for future research, highlights a strong need in the area of practice, and emphasizes the importance of integrating pragmatic learning and teaching in both ESL teachers’ preparation programs and ESL programs.

Authors:
Meral Muyesser, Rowan College at Burlington County, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Meral Muyesser is an Associate Professor of ESL and the ESL Program Chair at Rowan College at Burlington County, USA. Her research interests include Teaching and Learning Pragmatics, Culture and Languages, and Multicultural Classrooms.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meral-muyesser-7134b1153/

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