The Pragmatics of English as a Lingua Franca: Research and Pedagogy in the Era of Globalization

Abstract

In step with advancing globalization, applied linguists are compelled to reconsider established assumptions about language use and learning (Kramsch, 2014). Focusing on English as a lingua franca (ELF), this article illustrates how realities of globalization have challenged our conventional ways of researching and teaching second language (L2) pragmatics. In the context of ELF where English is used as a medium of communication among nonnative speakers as well as between native and nonnative speakers, researchers need to examine pragmatic competence based on how L2 learners can navigate communicative demands by using communication strategies skillfully while negotiating their identities. At the same time, it is tenable for teachers to move away from the sole dependence on idealized native-speaker models of appropriateness, politeness, and formality in their pedagogical practice and instead incorporate a nonessentialist viewpoint into formal instruction. This article discusses these recent trends in researching and teaching pragmatics under the lingua franca framework.

The Interlanguage Pragmatics of Greetings

“…In contrast, they may deliberately choose to distance themselves from L2 pragmatic behaviors and sustain their NNSs' or multicultural identities through language use (Ishihara, 2010). Second, and even more importantly, today, most of communication in English is between NNSs of English (Crystal, 2012).Thus, achieving and demonstrating native-like proficiency in language skills, including pragmatic skills, is not the goal of instruction; rather the instruction is oriented on successful interaction when interlocutors constantly negotiate and adjust their language resources to reach a desired communicative goal (House, 2010;Taguchi & Ishihara, 2018). Consequently, in teaching pragmatics, we need to consider this dynamics of pragmatic conventions and their instant negotiation (Kasper, 2006), and the modern reality of English as a lingua franca (ELF) with its "diversity, fluidity, and variability" (Jenkins, 2015, p. 50).Pragmatic instruction should consider "the users' cultural content and their sense of appropriate use of English" (McKey, 2003, p. 13) and aim at developing an "inbetween style of interaction" (House, 2003, p. 150) or "hybrid pragmatics" (Murray, 2012, p. 4).…”

The Art of Saying “No” to University Students: A Pragmatic Analysis of the Speech Act of Refusal in Teacher-Student Role-Plays

“…After all, the number of competent ELF users has surpassed the number of native English speakers in today's world (Statista, 2020). In terms of pragmatic research, empirical descriptions of ELF pragmatics are underrepresented (Seidlhofer, 2011;Taguchi and Ishihara, 2018). Therefore, it is important to conduct more studies on the pragmatic choices and preferences of ELF users.…”

Pragmatic failure revisited: Jaworski’s (1994) study in a new light

“…In such a context of ELF, the new definition of pragmatic competence is applied. Pragmatic competence is viewed as a dynamic phenomenon which includes negotiations of meaning, rapport building, problem-solving, and conversation management (Taguchi & Ishihara, 2018), negotiating learners' identity and agency, and further collaboration in dialogues (Canagarajah, 2014). Analyzing the responses to the 'How are you?'…”

“…Additionally, the replication was motivated by the necessity to explore the notion of pragmatic failure in ELF as well as to revisit the question of pragmatic competence evaluations and the role of NSs in such evaluations. Such discussions are still underrepresented in research (Taguchi & Ishihara, 2018) and are needed to advance our understanding of the pragmatics of ELF.…”

“…Todaytwenty-five years later -with the expansion of English as a foreign language (EFL) use, the development and practice of ELF in intercultural communication, increased superdiversity (Arnaut et al, 2015), and departure from the NS model orientation in teaching in general and in pragmatics in particular, it is important to replicate Jaworski's study and revisit and reconceptualize the notion of pragmatic failure (McGee, 2019). Such reconceptualization can help us understand pragmatic competence in intercultural communications and contribute to the investigation of pragmatics in ELF -the area which is yet insufficiently researched (Seidlhofer, 2011;Taguchi & Ishihara, 2018).…”