Study On Pragmatic Competence in ELT

【Abstract】Our current problem is that we focus on the cultivation of the former competence while at the same time neglect learners pragmatic competence. This can be regarded as the best reason for the learners inability in the communication by using English with English native speakers. We should try to cultivate learners pragmatic competence and try to make them avoid pragmatic failures.

【Key words】pragmatic competence

Our new teaching syllabus points out the goal of ELT is to make students obtain communicative competence， including linguistic competence and pragmatic competence. Our current problem is that we focus too much on linguistic competence， neglecting cultivation of learners pragmatic competence. As a result， pragmatic failure appears. This is the best reason for the learners inability in the communication with English native speakers. We should try to cultivate learners pragmatic competence and try to make them avoid pragmatic failure. In this paper the author first shows the theory of pragmatic competence， then points out the significance of the cultivation of pragmatic competence， and at last gives suggestions on how to cultivate students pragmatic competence.

I. Pragmatic Failure

Many factors can affect the use of a language. If these factors are not paid enough attention to， faulty utterances will occur. In pragmatics， this phenomenon is called pragmatic failure. It is the failure resulted from faulty interpretation of the speakers utterances and the inappropriate utterances， intact manners or the expressions which do not agree with the specific environment. In cross-cultural communication people from different cultures speak the same language， but their communication may break down due to pragmatic differences in ways of thinking， rules of speaking， social values， lexical connotations and other factors. Hu Wenzhong uses the term cultural mistakes to refer to language and behavior that is inappropriate or unacceptable to most native speakers， and he considers that cultural mistakes are often worse than linguistic ones and tend to create ill feeling between native speakers and Chinese speakers of English. Wolfson points out， “In interacting with foreigners， native speakers tend to be rather tolerant of errors in pronunciation or syntax. In contrast， violations of rules of speaking are often interpreted as bad manners since the native speaker is unlikely to be aware of sociolinguistic relativity”. So as a result of pragmatic failure， effect of communication can not be as satisfactory as expected， or even worse， it will cause the communication to end in failure or misunderstanding. As Thomas points out， “speaker who is not operating according to the standard grammatical code is at worst condemned as speaking‘badly， the person who operates according to different formulated pragmatic principles may well be censured as behaving badly；as being an untruthful， deceitful， or insincere person”， so pragmatic failure can do great harm to communication. Misunderstanding caused by cross-cultural pragmatic failure is an important source of cross-cultural communication breakdown and thus much attention should be paid to them in ELT.endprint

II. Necessity of the Cultivation of Pragmatic Competence

In china， compared with the energy and effort we put in English teaching and learning， our achievement is not very profitable. After ten years of laboriously learning English， the students are still rather weak in using the language. This can be attributed to the traditional teaching method， which has several features：

（1） use of memorization and rote learning as a basic acquisition technique

（2） use of translation as both a teaching and a learning strategy

（3） teachers authority and a students passive role.

Nowadays， people gradually realize how important pragmatic competence is in communication. However it is not an innate ability and it is obtained through the use of language in language learning. Therefore it is necessary to cultivate students pragmatic competence. “Learning a language is a process of cultivating pragmatic competence of the target language。”

III. Suggestions on Cultivation of Students Pragmatic Competence

As we have discussed above， pragmatic competence as one important component of communicative competence， plays a vital role in the achieving of the successful communication. Accordingly we should first make the students aware the significance of the pragmatic competence. Then we should try to help them obtain this competence. However， it is a rough task for us to try different means to cultivate students competence， although several suggestions have been put forward here. As English teachers， we should try to find the most suitable approach to our own students.

References：

[1]He Ziran.1997.Pragmatics and English Learning.Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

作者簡介：贾敏，山东工艺美术学院公共课教学部，副教授。endprint