Connecting Theory and Practice in English Language Instruction Module 3: Part 3 The competent language user

Transition What are some important influences on adults’ language learning? What are the processes of adult language learning? What does it mean to be a competent language user?

Part III: The competent language user

Linguistic Competence Model Bachman (1990) Linguistic Competence Organizational Competence Pragmatic Competence Grammatical Comp. Textual Comp Illocutionary Comp Sociolinguistic Comp

Organizational Competence: Grammatical /Textual competence Morphology Syntax Phonetics/ Phonology Textual

Pragmatic Competence: Illocutionary Competence It’s late at the speech act level, could be a suggestion for somebody to leave a party or it could refer to a plane arriving late.

Section II – The acquisition of pragmatic (communicative) competence Section I – The acquisition of organizational competence

Morphology-words and word parts Definition Morphology is part of grammar and it is thus rule-governed -New words are created following grammatical rules: ex: download-past tense-downloaded

Open versus closed class words Open: house, clearly, run, beautiful Closed: of, the, my EXAMPLE: The book is on the table: on, a preposition, and the, a determiner, both function words, linking the content words book and table.

Syntax (structure of sentences) Definition of syntax Prescriptive/descriptive grammar Linguistic varieties: Standard English

Phonetics and Phonology—Sounds Pronunciation and accent – predictability Pit Pelota

How does the linguistic description developed above connect with language teaching and learning? To answer this question, let’s look at the concepts of interlanguage, transfer and multicompetence

Transfer

Interlanguage I no like cheese I don’t like cheese

Multicompetence

Feedback and correction

Assessment- organizational competence section Please go to the assessment for The competent language user

Section II– Acquiring pragmatic competence

Introduction to pragmatics L2 Pragmatics: methodological issues

What is pragmatic competence?  Bachman (1990: 90) understands the notion of pragmatic competence, as: “…illocutionary competence, or the knowledge of the pragmatic conventions for performing acceptable language functions, and sociolinguistic competence, or knowledge of the sociolinguistic conventions for performing language functions appropriately in a given context”.

Apology  illocutionary sorry, it was my fault, I will not let it happen again, I truly apologize, could you find it in your heart to forgive me?  Sociolinguistic in which contexts would be appropriate to use which linguistic strategy.

EXAMPLE: ORGANIZATIONAL VERSUS PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE 1A:Good morning. 2B:Good morning. 3A:I love Tina Turner. 4B:Tina Turner? 5A:Tina Turner is a famous singer. 6B:Singer? 7A:Yes. (4 sec pause) 8B:What’s her nationality? 9A:She’s American. 10B:Where was she performing? 11A:At the … Canecao. 12B:How long was she performing there? 13A:Only … only three days. 14B:How’s the weather? 15A:It was cloudy. 16B:Oh, what time is it? 17A:It’s twelve o’clock. 18B:How are you? 19A:Not bad. 20B:Uh, Elian … 21A:And you? 22B: Fine thanks. 23A:How, oh what do you live? (…) Hoey (1991)

Definition of pragmatics-part of linguistics that deals with pragmatic/communicative competence What makes human communication possible, however, is the fact that pragmatic competence relies very heavily on conventional, culturally appropriate, and socially acceptable ways of interacting. These rules of appropriacy result in regular and expected behaviors in language use…within a given social and cultural group, people usually know what is expected and what is considered appropriate behavior, and this knowledge enables them to interpret the language uses they encounter. Celce-Murcia and Olshtain (2000: 20)

TESL and the teaching of pragmatic competence Just as the elements of organizational competence (phonetics, morphology, syntax and semantics) vary from language to language, both the illocutionary linguistic resources used to perform given language functions and the sociolinguistic values/knowledge underlying the choice of a given illocutionary device in a specific context vary among languages and cultures. Therefore, as TESL teachers faced with making our SSs linguistically competent, we must devise methodologies which tackle the development of both the grammatical and the pragmatic linguistic abilities

The acquisition of organizational versus pragmatic competence …learners’ grammatical competence and pragmatic competence do not necessarily increase hand in hand. (cf. Kasper 2000 for an overview) For example, learners may produce grammatically complex and correct but pragmatically inappropriate sentences …Conversely, learners may produce pragmatically appropriate utterances with grammatical errors…. these studies indicate that grammatical and pragmatic competence are separate and independent components of communicative competence. Niezgoda & Rover (2001: 64)

So can we teach pragmatic competence? The simple answer to the question is “no”. Competence, whether linguistic or pragmatic, is not teachable. Competence is a type of knowledge that learners possess, develop, acquire, use or lose. The challenge for foreign or second language teaching is whether we can arrange learning opportunities in such a way that they benefit the development of pragmatic competence in L2 … … so the good news is that there is a lot of pragmatic information that adult learners possess, and the bad news is that they don’t know always use what they know. There is thus a clear role for pedagogic intervention here, …. to make them aware of what they know already and encourage them to use their universal or transferable L1 pragmatic knowledge in L2 contexts. Kasper (1997: 1-3)

What is pragmatic transfer? The carry over of pragmatic knowledge in situations of intercultural communication Zegarac & Pennington (2001)

Negative transfer at the production level: Pragmatic-linguistic transfer Socio-pragmatic transfer lead to pragmatic failure (Thomas 1983) and may lead to miscommunication.

Production Level… Positive transfer at the production level:  Can/could you pass the salt?  Puedes/podrias pasarme la sal? (same as English sentence above) Negative transfer at the production level:  Could I have a coffee please?  I’d like a coffee  Deme un café (Give me a coffee)

Negative transfer at the interpretation level : The interpretation of L2 input in the expected L1 context – leads to misunderstanding.

Interpretation Level… Mr. Sogo: Mr. Collins! Good to hear your voice again. What brings you to Osaka? Mr. Collins: Good to hear you too, Sogo-san. I’m here on business with my new company. I’d like to invite you and Ozawa-san to dinner on Wednesday. Mr. Sogo:Thank you very much. I’ll tell Ozawa-san. Did you hear the good news? Mr. Collins: No. Mr. Sogo: He’s been made president of the company. Mr. Collins:That’s wonderful. Please give him my congratulations. I look forward to seeing you both on Wednesday. Mr Sogo: I am sure Ozawa-san will be very pleased to see you again. Where shall I tell him to meet you?( Storti, 1994:19)

In order to be able to research and perhaps teach verbal understanding, we first need to understand what it involves “All users of a language must rely in being able to assume that 90+% of what might be stated, need not be stated, but will be assumed or can be inferred by listeners”. (Brown 1995: 68) Metarepresentational, inferential, predictive, anticipatory abilities are the basis of communication and thus interpretation. (Sperber 1995) These abilities rest, to a fundamental degree, on the sharing of common cultural schemata that help guide listeners’ interpretation processes. These abilities decrease when we are faced with communicating in a second culture, using a second language.

Rationale for teaching L2 pragmatics is underscored by: Schmidt’s (1993) noticing hypothesis 1. Schmidt argues that simple exposure to the target language is insufficient – pragmatic functions and relevant contextual factors are often not salient to learners and so not likely to be noticed, despite prolonged exposure.

Comprehensive revision of the effects of instruction in L2 pragmatics (Kasper and Rose 2002) Kasper and Rose review a number of studies that gauge whether pragmatics can be taught. The results of these studies strongly suggest that: (i) most aspects of L2 pragmatics are indeed teachable, (ii) instructional intervention is more beneficial than no instruction specifically targeted on pragmatics and (iii) explicit instruction combined with ample practice opportunities results in the greatest gains”

Activity

Awareness raising tasks: how to teach students to use (produce and interpret) language appropriately in formal and informal situations

Conclusion  Emphasize the equal status of grammatical and pragmatic competence.  Stress the need to include formal instruction in pragmatic theory and its applications to second language teaching and acquisition as part of AL and TESL programs  Provide an example of how, in conjunction with other approaches to AL, pragmatics will provide AL and TESL professionals with some of the key tools needed to analyze discourse in real communicative situations and to devise methodologies that will help their students develop their linguistic competence in L2.

Assessment-pragmatic competence section Please go to the assessment for

Module - Final assessment-1 True/False Final Assessment Interaction is primarily useful for language learning because it gives learners a chance to practice the language. FALSE. Interaction provides learners with an opportunity to get feedback on their language knowledge, for example, by discovering where others misunderstand them. Learners seek to be understood through “negotiation of meaning” with others, and thereby make adjustments to their developing language knowledge. Language is considered both the target of learning and the means for learning (i.e. as a mental tool) a language according to Sociocultural Theory. TRUE Someone motivated to learn a language with the goal of participating in and becoming a member of the target culture is more likely to be successful than someone who learns a language for a very specific goal, such as for getting a job. FALSE. Despite Gardner and Lambert’s early research, there is no strong evidence that shows that integrative motivation (becoming a member of the target culture) leads to more successful language learning than instrumental motivation (having a very specific goal for language learning). Older language learners tend to be more successful in learning the syntax of a language than mastering its phonology. TRUE 5. “Intake” refers to the process of noticing and processing language data while “input” refers more generally to language which a learner can overhear (or read). TRUE

Module - Final assessment-2 1. Organizational competence and pragmatic competence are equally fundamental parts of second language learning T F (True) 2. We need to teach students grammar, they will learn context appropriate production and interpretation as they are exposed to the cultureT F (False, most aspects of pragmatics are not learned if they are not explicitly taught and unless students’ awareness is raised) 3. Transfer can only occur at the linguistic levelT F (False – pragmatic transfer is the basis of pragmatic failure which is the equivalent of the grammatical mistake) 4. The more similar the L1 and L2 the more positive transfer will likely occur T F (True) 5. There is only transfer from L1 to L2T F (False, according to Cook and his multicompetence model, the L2 also has a disestablishing influence on the L2)