Abstract
It is imperative that ESL instructors understand the field of pragmatics, which is the knowledge of using the target language in social and cultural contexts through everyday social interactions, 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 consisted of 15 community college ESL instructors from the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States. The primary method of data collection was semi-structured interviews, with supplementary methods including observations and document review. Utilizing inductive analysis, the results were analyzed and interpreted and grouped into three themes based on the study’s conceptual framework, the Interaction Hypothesis. 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. Also, ESL teachers, regardless of their level of pragmatics awareness and knowledge, face a variety of challenges, such as the lack of language materials that cover pragmatics and having an overloaded curriculum. The findings of this case study support previous research by highlighting a strong need in the area of practice and recommended more emphasis in integrating pragmatic learning and teaching in ESLprograms. It also highlights a number of opportunities for future research.
Author Information
Meral Muyesser, Rowan College at Burlington County, United States
Paper Information
Conference: ECLL2024
Stream: Applied linguistics research
This paper is part of the ECLL2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Muyesser M. (2024) English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers’ Experiences in Incorporating Pragmatics in ESL Classrooms: A Case Study ISSN: 2188-112X The European Conference on Language Learning 2024: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 123-135) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-112X.2024.11
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-112X.2024.11
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