Research on Students’ Pragmatic Competence Promotion through English Films

【Abstract】This essay studies the promotion of high school students pragmatic competence by watching English films in class. The purpose of the study is to find out the advantages of English film-teaching in cultivating students pragmatic competence. Questionnaire was used in 150 freshmen of Haikou High School. The result indicates that watching English films has a good effect on students pragmatic competence promotion.

【Key words】Pragmatic competence； English film； teaching

【作者簡介】唐琪，三亚理工职业学院。

1. Introduction

Pragmatic competence is becoming one of the most essential abilities in English learning. According to Chomsky， pragmatic competence is a kind of ability to put language in the institutional setting of its use， connecting intentions and purposes with the linguistic meanings. However， in China， most English teaching practices pay lots of attention to linguistic competence and neglect the cultivation of pragmatic competence. Therefore， a great number of pragmatic failures have been made by English learners， especially high school students.

Film is a representative art which reflects the real situation of society and life in a specific culture （Hu Zhen， 2011， p.140）. Using English films as an important method of English teaching， teachers can create a semi-real English cultural atmosphere. Within it， students can pick up English pragmatic usages easily （Dong Songtao， 2007， p.181）. In other words， by watching English films， students are put in the relevant context and cultural background. Its helpful for students to learn both linguistic forms and pragmatic usages. Whats more， watching English films can also arouse students interests in English learning. For those reasons， English film teaching is an effective way to promote English learners pragmatic competence.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Pragmatic Competence

Grammar is important for learners to make grammatically correct sentences， but the production and interpretation of sentences mostly depend on pragmatic competence. He Ziran （1997） gives us a definition of pragmatic competence from the perspective of communication process. He says that pragmatic competence is the ability to use language appropriately in practical communication， which focuses on two aspects： the ability to produce appropriate language and at the same time to interpret correctly what the speaker says according to the speech context.

2.2 Competence Failure

2.2.1 Definition of Pragmatic failure

Jenny Thomas （1983） defines pragmatic failure as the inability to understand what is meant by what is said. Comparing with native speakers， pragmatic failure is more likely to occur in communication between native speakers and non-native speakers. Thomas also argued that interference in communication is generally considered as pragmatic failure， which is not from grammatical mistakes but from different perceptions of what is referred to as appropriate linguistic behavior. And he noted that pragmatic failure had occurred on any occasion “on which the hearer perceives the force of the speakers utterance as other than speaker intended she or he should perceive it”. Speaking English fluent doesnt mean that the speaker owns both linguistic and pragmatic competence.

For example：

A： How old are you？

B： Its a secret.

The mistake in this example is the expression “How old are you？” which belongs to a privacy question in Western culture. People will not ask such kind of questions because they are rude and impolite.

2.2.2 Classification of Pragmatic failure

Pragmatic failures can be divided into four kinds： pragmatic-linguistic failure， socio-linguistic failure， pragmatic-behavioral failure， and psycho-pragmatic failure.

Pragmatic-linguistic failure occurs when learners do not express themselves in a linguistically appropriate manner. It arises when the pragmatic force mapped by students onto a given utterance is systematically different from the force most frequently assigned to it by native speakers of the target language， or when speech act strategies are inappropriately transferred from L1 to L2.

For example：

A： Is it a good restaurant？

B： Of course.

The expression of “Of course” in English implies something self-evident and clears enough， and makes people feel insulting.

Socio-pragmatic failure refers to that kind of miscommunication resulting from ignorance or negligence of social or cultural differences of the speaker or the listener in intercultural communication.

For example：

A： You did a good job！

B： No， I am just lucky.

The diversity in culture， social norms and values cause misunderstanding in mutual communication， hence， cause pragmatic failure.

Pragmatic-behavioral failure refers to any inappropriate non-verbal communication， which usually caused by different customs， cultures， etc.

Due to different interpretation of the behavior in certain psychological or mental state in different cultures， communicative breakdown may often occur if language users cannot locate themselves properly in the mental world. Thats when psycho-pragmatic failure happens.

For example：

A： Excuse me， I wonder if you mind taking me to the airport？

If a taxi driver heard it， he or she may feel confused. Actually， in this example， the real appropriate expression for A is just “Airport， please”.

2.3 Advantages of English Film-teaching

Films can offer more dramatic， more intense and more dynamic representations of cultural practice and behavior than texts or books. It is the miniatures of society， including language， pictures， music， people， atmosphere or environment， and etc. With its attractive plots， films can easily get the attention and interest of the students and make them completely be involved in the films， finally subconsciously and consciously influence them to study the language used in reality. Furthermore， films dont only provide target language cultural background， also offer students nonverbal information. Films supply us with every possible means to satisfy the EFL learners need in improving their cultural awareness and create a real world before EFL learners， which make them have the chance to see， feel， but not only to read the cultural differences.

3. The Hypothesis

As it mentioned above， English film teaching has a positive influence on pragmatic competence promotion. Therefore， the hypothesis will be made that if English learns， especially high school students watch English films in class with a certain frequency， their pragmatic competence may be improved.

4. The Method

The participants of this research are freshmen of Hai Nan Senior School. There are 105 students from two classes. 55 Students from class A have watched English films for almost two semesters in their English class. Every class， theyve had about 20 minutes to watch the films. So far， theyve watched 3 films and 1 American TV opera， about 10 episodes. 50 Students in class B have watched no English films in class. The research was carried out in method of questionnaire which included 20 questions related to pragmatic competence. The 20 questions were designed in terms of rejection， thanking， telephone usages， care， compliment， apology， asking， greeting， order， and advice. There are 2 questions of each aspect and they are designed in random. The purpose of the questionnaire had been informed before they were distributed. The anonymity and importance of independently working were emphasized. Questionnaires were collected in 30 minutes. During this time， each student was doing their own piece and no one cheated.

5. The Results and Discussion

The results of the scores are shown in the chart below. There are 20 questions and each one scores 5 points. The scores are divided into the following four parts.

From this chart， its clear that although both class A and class B did not do a very good job， scores of class A are still higher than class B. There is one student in class A having 90 points and none in class B. Students whose scores are between 75-80 in class A are more than class B. Students whose scores are between 60-75 in class A are much more than class B. And students who fail in class A are less than class B.

It shows that both two class students dont have a great pragmatic competence. On one hand， teaching material， method and teachers in Haikous high school did not pay much attention on pragmatic competence learning. On the other hand， students were not aware of the importance of pragmatic competence. The chart above also shows that students from class A have a better pragmatic competence than students in class B. It reflects that after one-year English films watching， students from class A do make a promotion in pragmatic competence. Watching English films can help improve students pragmatic competence.

There are some limitations in this research. First， students in class A did not have a systematic English film-teaching， but just watched films 10 to 20 minutes in class. Second， the questionnaire may not include all the respects in pragmatic field. Third， there may be other reasons that can influence students pragmatic competence.

6. Conclusion

Although having some limitations， this research reflects that watching English films have a good effect on pragmatic competence. By watching English films systematically and with clear plans and purposes， students pragmatic competence can be improved.

References：

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