Pragmatics and Communicative Competences

N

8

Speech Acts; Research Methodology; Cultural Differences; Communicative Competence (Languages); Pragmatics; Dialogs (Language); Global Approach; Misconceptions; Culture; Sociolinguistics; Language of Instruction; Language Patterns; Language Usage; Intercultural Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); Folk Culture; Case Studies; Verbal Communication

Pragmatics is included in one of four communicative competences (Canale, 1980). It is necessary and important to teach pragmatics at school in our globalized world in order to avoid as much as misunderstanding, which is likely to stem from cultural difference. As a result, greater importance should be attached to diverse customs and pragmatics. This conceptual paper aims to deal with the basic theoretical foundations of pragmatics. Moreover, a type of speech act, "traditional dialogues of giving and accepting presents" will be compared and contrasted through the author's previous empirical studies. The significance of this study is that the readers will be able to distinguish various types of communicative competences that Canale (1980) has identified and defined. After reading this paper, the readers will also establish basic concepts about pragmatics and research methodologies of doing empirical studies on pragmatics. [This paper was published in the proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on TESOL & Translation, Department of Applied English, JinWen University of Science & Technology. p54-60.]

As Provided

15

2011

ED514939