“Language learning strategies: students’ perceptions and teachers’ perceptions” by Carol Griffiths.- Note (2015)

In language teaching, to know students’ learning strategies is key to understanding how teachers can facilitate and guide their sudents’ language learning experiences in an effective way.  Knowing that sometimes teachers` perceptions of their students’ learning strategies usage differ from actual students’ strategy usage, Griffiths (2007) conducted a study whose purpose was to know how teachers’ perceptions reported corresponded with the frequency in which the students used certain typified strategies such as using a dictionary or watching TV in English to learn English.

From a list of 32 strategies among which the ones before mentioned are included, the results of the research show that the students use three strategies which irrespective of their English proficiency level are employed very frequently. These are using a dictionary, learning from the teacher and doing homework.

This research demonstrates that the students’ consider the dictionary as a highly important tool to learn a language. It is so important that it keeps the same rate of use in all the levels of proficiency according to the table shown. It goes without saying the fact that naturalistic theories of SLA take less or no importance in the use of the dictionary such as Krashen’s who claims no need of it since it is stated that under ideal conditions exposure to the L1 and comprehensible input is enough for SLA.

In second place, learning from the teacher continues to be considered a highly important strategy used by the students to learn a second language. In fact, the teachers have a similar perception of their students’ learning strategies whose statistic variation differs in only one point. Both teachers and students claim language instruction is useful.  Even though this result does not demonstrate the usefulness of language instruction in SLA, it can contain information for researchers in the field of motivation to study students’ strategies preference which may play a role in the development of their teachers’ and own motivation..

In third place, another activity highly used by the students is doing homework. Some students expect to receive assignments from their teachers as a part of a teacher- guided learning process, however; their teachers assert that the students privilege other type of activities that are more students’ oriented such as writing a diary or listening to the radio (Interactional and communicative activities).

The results of this research allow researchers of the SLA field to discover the gap that still exist between teachers and students regarding the way in which the latter learn. It would be necessary, when designing syllabi, to state the importance of these strategies, the roles and responsibilities they both have, and what is expected from the course depending on its orientation, that is, tasked- based, grammar- based, communicative among other. 

SOURCE

Griffiths, C. (2007). Language learning strategies: students' and teachers' perceptions. ElT Journal, 61(2), 91-99.

Main perspectives of interaction in second language acquisition - Literature review (2015)

       I) THE INTERACTION HYPOTHESIS.  

 In second language acquisition, the abovementioned reciprocal understanding is affected during interaction because some people are still in the process of acquiring a second language which makes difficult for them to express their ideas, so they resort to a set of linguistic strategies to communicate with their interlocutors. These strategies are part of a linguistic phenomenon known as negotiation of meaning. Gass & Selinker (2001:318) define this concept as “those instances in conversation when participants need to interrupt the flow of the conversation in order for both parties to understand what the conversation is about”

a) Corrective feedback

Every language learner has received some sort of correction when communicating with a native speaker or a more advanced language user. This type of correction is known as corrective feedback which according to Gass & Selinker (2001:330) provides “information about the success…of their utterances and gives additional opportunities to focus on production and comprehension..    In teaching, the Longman’s linguistics dictionary defines it as “comments or other information that learners receive concerning their success on learning tasks or tests, either from the teacher or other person (p. 217)

In second language teaching, there are two main type of corrective feedback: implicit and explicit.

i)              Implicit feedback: It is a type of correction in which the learner is expected to modify their output inductively.  Some types of implicit feedback involve prompts, elicitation, clarification requests, repetitions and recast. Rassei, E; Moinzadeh, A; Youhannaee, M (2012:101) in their study of Iranian EFL learners pay special attention to recasts since they claim they are the most popular type of corrective feedback. The authors discovered that recasts are likely to be more effective when learners modify their output immediately after correction. They also suggests than any type of recast can be potentially useful if there is immediate response or not. Long (1996) as cited in Rassei, E; Mozaffari, F (2011:22) had already claimed its effectiveness in SLA and mentioned that it usually occurs in meaning focused activities. .

ii)            Explicit feedback: It is a type of correction in which the problem of communication is stated directly so the learner can know what part of his output must modify.  Carrol and Swain (1993) and Carrol (2001) as cited in Rassei, E; Moinzadeh, A (2011:98) in their researches discovered that the learners who received explicit feedback outperformed those who only received implicit correction. It is arguable then that spotting errors directly can result in higher levels of learners’ uptake.

In interactive task-based activities, the students working collaboratively must use different communicative strategies in order to discover information, solve a problem or make a decision. The nature of the interaction during the communicative act is mostly based on meaning, calling upon correction when the learners estimate it is necessary to do it or when it severally affects the understanding of the utterances produced. Theoretically speaking, the modified output resulting from successful uptake promotes second language acquisition.  Below there is a summary list of the most important assumptions that Gass and Selinker (2001) mention according to studies of input, interaction and output. This studies claim that:

·         Negotiation of meaning can facilitate L2 language acquisition.

·         Interaction can have a significant effect in the development of L2 syntax and morphology.

·         Conversation has positive effects on motivation because it stimulates later learning.

·         Adults tend to receive more correction than children.

II) THE SOCIO-CULTURAL THEORY.  

This theory finds its origins in the works of the Behaviorist Russian psychologist Vygotsky who believed that human beings were able to learn thanks to the interactional relationship that exists between the mind and the social context. In second language acquisition, SCT claims that humans beings are able to learn a second language through interaction given that humans unlike any other species can mediate the relationship they have with the objects available in the social context such as typical local expressions or concrete vocabulary which allow them to modify and enhance their own behavior with respect to themselves, to others and to the environment.

A) Mediation: Regulation, other regulation and self-regulation.

The following text is based on the example given by Lantolf, J & Thorne, S (2006:199-200) on how people learn according to the sociocultural theory which has been adapted to how the students learn a foreign language in the interactive classroom.  

Let’s imagine an adult EFL beginner student who takes his first English lesson. He does not know much about the target language, so he uses his limited pre-existing knowledge of it to interact with his peers. As it is normal, in this stage known as object regulation, he cannot express all the ideas he would like to communicate using words, so he uses body language as a tool to get the meaning across. Constant exposure to this type of interaction will eventually help the learner create the necessary connections to communicate more efficiently.  In the stage known as other regulation, the teachers can enhance the quality of these peers’ interaction by providing the students with scaffolding, so they help the students make the connections more easily through the use of pictorial vocabulary or body gestures.  The third stage arrives when the learner no longer requires scaffolding and can communicate in the target language using his own linguistic artifacts.  

B) Internalization:

Once the learners do not need any type of internal or external assistance, they have internalized that knowledge. Winegar (1997:31) as cited in  Lantolf, J & Thorne, S (2006: 200) expresses that internalization is a negotiated process that reorganizes the relationship of the individual to her or his social environment and generally carries it into future performance.

C) Zone of proximal development:

As building blocks, the knowledge that learners have internalized becomes additional information that has modified the pre-existing knowledge, turning it into a more developed version of it.   Before teaching, teachers must consider this aspect in order to know how much their students know and what they need to learn. Lantolf, J & Thorne, S (2006: 207) state that “when used proactively, teachers using the ZPD as a diagnostic have the potential to create conditions for learning that may rise to specific forms of development in the future.

III) THE INPUT PROCESSING THEORY.

a) Language acquisition. 

This theoretical perspective based on the works of Professor Van Patten conceives language acquisition as a phenomenon that occurs in the mind. For acquisition to be possible and provided that the human brain cannot process all the input received at once due to memory constrains, the input to which the learners are exposed is selected by following the principles of attention and input processing.  Fernandez, M (1999:200) summarizes these principles as follows:

·         Learners process meaning before form.

·         Learners process content words before any other type of words.

·         Learners prefer to process lexical elements to grammar elements so as to find semantic information.

·         If learners want to process morphology, they will stand for the type of morphology that offers them a higher amount of meaning.

·         Meaningless forms can be process once the meaningful ones have already been processed.

In conclusion, learners are always looking to make meaning-connections which can explain why a person can achieve communicative competence in a second language and still ignore some syntactic or morphological aspects of it. Eventually, less or not meaningful forms might be processed too.  

The order in which input is processed according to Professor Van Patten & Fernandez would first go from input to intake (which is the information selected by attention), then it would pass through a process of new data accommodation until it incorporates into the L2 developing system.

b) Structured input in the language classroom.

In the second language classroom, teachers can facilitate the process of their students’ acquisition by providing structured input in their lesson. In other words, it is input that is carefully selected for its presentation so the students find it easier to understand and process.

According to Professor Van Patten (1993:438-439) some criteria to structure the input consider to: 

·         Teach one content at a time.

·         Keep the focus on meaning (according to the principles)

·         Move from sentences to connected discourse.

·         Have the learner do something with the input.

·         Keep the learners` processing strategies in mind.  

Pereira, I (1995:302) concludes that this type of teaching method is meant to “manipulate the students’ interpretation strategies instead of the production strategies. The student’s attention is then directed to a determined structure in a linguistic context which has been previously manipulated on purpose [by the teacher]” 

SOME ASPECTS OF THE INTERACTIVE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Before starting this chapter, it is necessary to ask: how do language teachers promote interaction in their language lessons?  If interaction is an activity that necessarily requires two participants, the answer is group work. This concept is defined by Brown (2007:224) as an activity which “two or more students are assigned a task that involves collaboration and self-initiated language. 

Recent research has discovered that group work seems beneficial to promote second language acquisition. According to Liang, X; Mohan, B; Early, M (1998:21) cooperative learning “…can maximize second language acquisition by offering opportunities for both input and output” Supporting this claim, Brown (2007:225) lists some of the benefits that group work offers in the language classroom. This list has been complemented with additional information from personal experiences and information from other authors.   

1.    It generates interactive language: Most research has demonstrated that group work is potentially effective for the students to develop their writing and oral skills. However, to have the students work in groups does not always guarantee success.  Nation, P (1989:20) states that many teachers generally use group work in “unprincipled ways” which makes teachers’ preparation essential for the success of the activity.

2.    It offers an embracing affective climate: Some students are shy and afraid of making mistakes when trying to communicate in a second language. In my experience as a teacher, this generally happens in teacher-fronted lessons in which interaction is barely reduced to teachers asking questions and students replying them. Nonetheless, group work offers a chance for learners to “play safer” because they work with peers with relatively equal skills, who work to achieve common objectives. Brown (2007:225) in his many observations of “countless lessons” has noticed that apparent “reticent students become vocal participants of the process” when it comes to work collaboratively. Lightbown & Spada (1993:85) claim that “learners take the initiative to express themselves, they are more spontaneous”

3.    It promotes learner responsibility and autonomy: In the teacher-centered approach to teaching, the educators are in charge of the lesson which encourages the students only to follow instructions and do work as expected. Consequently, when students encounter a difficulty to complete a task, their first reaction might be probably ask the teacher.  This lack of students’ autonomy represents a heavy load that teachers must carry which can be reduced by promoting group work. In the beginning it may be time-consuming and challenging because it requires to make clear a set of procedures that traditional students do not know, but as Gorgon, A (2008:1) expresses “in the long run group work develops learners’ independence” thus facilitating the teachers’ job in the classroom. With more leaders available per class, there are more opportunities for the students to interact with each other, ask questions and share opinions.

4.    It is a step forward toward individualizing instruction:  In countries where teachers are in charge of large group of students, it is very difficult for teachers to assist each of their students’ unique personalities and learning needs so working in groups become a valuable option to make the lesson more individualized.  Brown (2007:226) explains that “small groups can help students with varying abilities to accomplish separate goals. In addition he adds that “the teacher can capitalize upon their differences by careful selection of small groups…”

Principles of group work.

Professor Paul Nation identifies at least five principles that must be taken into account to promote collaborative group work. In the chart below, there is a summary of this information: 

In a simplistic overview, some teachers tend to think that group work is just letting students sitting together so they can help each other. Hopefully, if some conditions meet such motivation, they can have some quality interaction that allows them to develop their L2 skills. As you can see, working in groups is far beyond that and requires well-planned strategies to be successful. 

An example.

In a task-based interactive lesson, two students are given a picture where each of them has some information that the other student needs to complete the task. (A jigsaw activity)  According to the principles indicated above, the teacher determines that the activity requires a “combining” approach meaning that 1) students should work in pairs,2)  place the seats facing each other so none of them can read their interlocutor’s information, 3) pair students with similar or equal conditions of mutual dependence, 4) put an emphasis on meaning over form (the idea is to practice simultaneous unplanned interaction) 5) to discover the hidden information and complete the task as if it were a real life situation.

TASK BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING

What is a task?

From a pedagogical perspective, Richards (1986:289) as cited in Nunan, D (2004:2) defines task “as an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding the language” In this way, if some students need to color some pictures in a worksheet depending on what an interlocutor has said, they are doing a task.

What is an information gap task?

Among the varied type of task based activities, the information gap tasks have gained significant popularity in recent years since its introduction in the 80’s by Long. The reason for its endurance as Pica, T; Kang, H & Sauro, S (2006) express is proof of its potential as a source of motivation and opportunities for target language interaction.  The correct presentation and design of these opportunities may help learners to modify their output eventually and therefore contribute to develop their L2 systems.

Bilash, B (2011) explains that an information gap task is a type of student-student activity in which the participants do know their interlocutor answers which are essential for the successful completion of the task.  According to Neu, H; Reeser, T (1997) as cited in Raptou, V (2001) for an activity to be an information gap task it needs that “one person has certain information that must be shared with others in order to solve a problem, gather information or make decisions”   The idea is to generate genuine desire for communication as it is usually brought in a real life conversation. Brown (2007:233) expresses that the primary focus of this activities is based on meaning rather than form and the necessity to reach an objective, that is, the language presents itself as a bridge not as an end.  

Some evidence of information gap task contribution to SLA.

But do information gap tasks really facilitate language acquisition? In a study carried out by Doughty, C & Pica, T. (1986) the researchers discovered that it is possible for non-native speaking students to modify their interaction in the L2 by working collaboratively to do information gap tasks.  This study also reveals that information gap tasks can be potentially effective in bringing up attention to meaning, function and form as long as the teacher can adapt its content to the intended goal, that is, mere pair or group work might lead to non-modifying interaction if the conditions set for the activities do not meet.  Watami, K & Gholami, J (2012:279) supporting this claim, explain that “If these tasks are presented appropriately and carefully in the classroom, the students will acquire a good command of communicating in English” This gives language teachers a great deal of the responsibility to set the most adequate conditions for the development of the tasks. Brown (2007:214-15) states that the interactive teacher must act as a controller, director, manager, facilitator and a resource of grammaticality.

Raptou, V (2001) researcher and teacher of French as a foreign language explains that this technique had a great potential in increasing the students’ motivation towards language learning.  Since its goals seem to go beyond the mere production of target language, students appear to engage and participate in the activities because they feel entertained and seek to complete an objective because it is intrinsically motivating.  In her observations, the author registered a 15-20 minute of uninterrupted students’ interaction in the target language which represents a great deal of language in use. 

Watamni, K; Gholami, J (2012) assert that “the atmosphere of the classroom in which students work in groups to complete a task is much more desirable than those which do not have this characteristic”  One of the aspects of this atmosphere is motivation.  As these tasks are mainly focused on meaning, students who participate collaboratively with their peers seem to reduce the stress of producing accurate utterances, focusing on reaching the goal which is usually interesting for them.  This is a big challenge for the language teacher who must find activities that are appealing and attractive for the students.  

Regarding the social implication of these tasks in the development of oral skills, Foster, P; Snyder, A (2005) in an interesting research noticed that the learners appeared to help each other in order to solve the communicative problem in which they did not only support linguistically, but also emotionally when dealing with frustrations caused during the interaction.  They registered some interaction modification which was mainly directed to form; apparently the learners did not want to let a mistake go without an attempt to correct it first so it did not fossilize.

An aspect to take into account when talking about the effectiveness of this type of tasks is the orientation of some research that considers immediate learners’ uptake a concrete example of learners’ interaction modification which can be short or long lasting as well as relevant or irrelevant for the development of the L2 system.

Type of information gap tasks

Brown, D (2007) identifies at least three types of information gap tasks. These are usually employed to teach adults but they can be adapted to target a younger audience too. These tasks are:

a)    Jigsaw activities:  These tasks need that each person a in a pair or group has some information that their interlocutors do not know and need to finish the task. Since none of them can show their information, they have to work collaboratively to reach a common understanding. As an example, imagine a pair of students with a map, each of them contains the name of the places their interlocutor needs to know to get there.  They have to ask each other questions to find out that missing information. 

b)   Problem-solving tasks:  It needs that all the students in a group work together in order to solve a problematic situation such a political or moral dilemma. The idea is to reach a collective consensus.

c)    Decision- making task: It requires that the students discuss about a topic in order to make a decision. For example, two students are given a brochure with information about several hotels in the city, according to certain criteria they have to decide which one is more convenient to stay in.

It goes without saying that Doughty, C & Pica, T. (1986) discovered that some type of information gap tasks such as the jigsaw activities can be more communication-encouraging than other type of tasks. The reason lies on the fact that one way gap tasks does not make an interlocutor’s contribution necessary whereas two or multi-way gap task makes each interlocutor’s contribution essential to solve the problem.

Pica, T; Kang, H & Sauro, S. (2006) in analyzing the multiple roles and contributions of information gap tasks to research methodology employed an activity that focused on form called “Grammar communicative task”  which required that students compare their utterances with a partner so as to choose the most precise or accurate one.  According to Pica, T (1996:242) the professionals of the field advocate for “best of both worlds” approach “which emphasizes the focus on communication but also on grammar.

 CONCLUSION

The rationale to encourage the implementation of task-based activities in the English language classroom is based on the assumption that interaction is key for developing English speaking skills in second language acquisition given that it allows learners to count on language evidence through “negotiation of meaning”, context and a set of interpretation strategies which cannot be obtained in its total dimension by the input hypothesis-based approaches.  

In student-centered approaches to teaching, Information gap tasks have proven an effective type of interactive activity in which the students find genuine opportunities to communicate with their peers in a second language almost as if they were in a real world situation. This promotes motivation towards second language acquisition and a desire to work collaboratively to reach common goals.

REFERENCES.

Bilash, B. (2011) “Information gap tasks” University of Alberta.  Source obtained from: http://www.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/best%20of%20bilash/info%20gap%20activities.html Last modified January 2011.

Brown, D (2007)”Teaching by principles: An interactive Approach to Language   Pedagogy 3rd edition” Pearson Longman. White Plains, New York.

Doughty, C; Pica, T. (1986) “Information gap” Tasks: do they facilitate Second Language Acquisition? Tesol Quartely, vol 20, No 2, June.

Fernandez, M (1999) “Procesamiento del Input E Instrucción Gramatical. Apuntes sobre el trabajo del profesor Van Patten” Centro Granadí de Español. pp, 245-249.

Foster, P; Snyder, A (2005) “Negotiation for meaning and peer assistance in second language classrooms” Applied linguistics 26/ , pp. 402 – 430. 

Gass, S; Selinker, L (2001) “Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course” Third edition.  Routledge, New York and London.

Lightbown, P; Spada, N (1993) “How languages are learned” Oxford University Press.

Nation, P (1989) “Group Work and Language Learning” English teaching forum. Pp, 20-24. 

Nunan, D (2004) “Task-based language teaching” Cambridge University Press.

Pereira, I (1995) “El uso del input estructuras en actividad de clase” Centro virtual cervantes, pp-297-303.

Pica, T; Kang, H & Sauro, S. (2006) “Information gap tasks: their multiple Roles and Contributions to Interaction Research Methodology” Scholarly commons. University of Pennsylvania, graduate school of education. GSE publications, Cambridge university press. pp, 301-338.

Raptou, V. (2001) “Using information gap activities in the second language classroom” Canadian association of second language teachers.  Source obtained from: http://www.caslt.org/Print/gapp.htm

Rassaei, E & Moinzadeh, A (2011) “Investigating the effects of Three Types of Corrective Feedback on the Acquisition of English wh-questions forms by Iranian EFL Learners” English language teaching, Vol.4, No 2, pp. 97-106.

Rassei, E; Moinzadeh, A; Youhannaee, M (2012) hj “Recasts, Modified Output and L2 Development: A case of Persian EFL Learners” English language literature studies. Vol.2, No 1, March 2012.

Rezaei, S & Mozaffari, F ( 2011) “Corrective Feedback in SLA: Classroom Practice and Future Directions”  International Journal of English Linguistics. Vol.1, No 1, pp.21- 29. 

Richards, J; Schmidt, R (2010) “”Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics fourth edition” Longman. United Kingdom, London.

Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge.

Van Patten, B (2006) “Processing instruction: Theory, Research, and Commentary. TESL-EJ Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Vol, 9. No, 3.

Watamni, K; Gholami, J (2012) “The effect of implementing information gap tasks on EFL learners’s speaking ability” MJAL 4:4, pp. 267- 283.

Corrective feedback via instant Messenger Learning activities in NS-NNS and NNS-NNS dyads. (Summary)

Internet and specifically online chat services such as Yahoo instant messenger have gained remarkable attention from SLA researchers given that more and more people are using these tools to talk with one another and keep in touch everyday irrespective of either the place or the distance where they are located at the moment of the conversation. Interested in the fact that people can also learn to speak foreign languages if certain conditions meet, Susana Sotillo decides to investigate corrective feedback through a series of activities that NS and NNS have to perform in their computers during five forty-five minute collaborative sessions.  Organized between NS-NNS and NNS-NNS, the students and teachers have to write messages, solve technical problems, see each other and discuss the topics given by the researcher such as commenting on a movie or talk about their lives. 

As a summary, the research questions of this investigation pointed out to learn about: 

1) The existence of error correction in this type of interaction:  The researcher proves the existence of feedback during the development of the activities. 

2) The number of correction provided by NS and NNS teachers: In the table 2, it is possible to see in a statistic way that NNS-NNS tend to correct more than NS-NSS. The nature of their correction is explained below.

3) The type of error corrections (Implicit / explicit): NNS usually employ explicit corrective feedback whereas NS prefer using implicit corrective feedback.  

4) The type of language aspect targeted by the teachers: Grammar and vocabulary are the two most important aspects considered by the teachers to correct. Pronunciation is relegated to the least considered aspect of correction.

5) The existence of successful uptake during the ECEs:  The table 3 shows that there are 24 occurrences of successful uptake.  

6) The complexity of the moves in the correction: In the table 3, the data shows that the length of error corrections tends to be simple in both groups.  

Some things that I learned from this article were:

• It’s possible to provide corrective feedback to language learning students using this tool.  In fact there is clear evidence of effective use of recast and successful uptake.  If one decided to teach a student this way, it would help to implement the same conditions to guarantee learning.

• NNS teachers use more explicit correction than NS teachers.

• NS teachers tend to avoid being explicit at the time of correcting.  Most of the corrective feedback they provide is implicit. They use recast, ask for repetition or ignore the error to privilege communication.

• Yahoo instant messenger (and probably other online chat services) requires a broad-band internet connection to work properly.  Features such as the video streaming or the voice recording fail if these conditions do not meet. 
• The sample shows that grammar errors are the most important aspect of correction and almost no attention is given to pronunciation. 

SOURCE

Sotillo, S. (2013). Corrective feedback via instant messenger learning activities in NS-NNS and NNS-NNS dyads. CALICO journal, 22(3), 467-496.

Pedagogical proposal for the teaching of pragmatics in the second language classroom

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this assignment is to provide a brief definition of pragmatics, its relevance in language teaching, its main characteristics and how it can be taught through a pedagogical proposal. 

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Some years ago in 2011, thanks to an international exchange program for future English language teachers, I had a chance to travel abroad for the first time in my life. As an advanced English student, I was excited and confident about my language skills, so I did not give much importance to the linguistics difficulties I would find during my stay in the United States. I have a pocket dictionary- I said – “That is all I need to practice my conversation skills” Let’s focus on what I have to study at school instead!  This misconception about my expertise in the L2 was fed by the fact that I learned English from books mostly and I considered myself good at memorizing contents.

In the first days of my stay, during one of my long walks to the campus, I met an American student who went to the same place, too. So, as I like to make friends, I said “Hi” and then started talking to her.  I introduced myself as I usually do, and so she did. Then, I asked her some questions about her life which she considered too personal for a first meeting, so she tried to ignore them by changing the topic and making body gestures of clearly noticeable discomfort.  My looking into her eyes did not help her feel more relaxed either, so I decided to tell jokes and share some anecdotes to make her laugh, but any effort I made seemed not to work at all. She had a different cultural background, I did not understand and I ignored that people have other ways of doing things there. At first I thought was shy, so I grabbed her shoulders with my hand to look friendly, but she moved away and told me to back off “Your mom did not teach you manners? Are you a perv? - She asked annoyed. Of course, I felt utterly confused and offended by her words.  Although I did not comprehend what was happening, I explained I was not a pervert which she believed to the degree she could stay close to me for the rest of a very strange silent walk. When we finally got to school, we said “goodbye” and I made a gesture , so we could kiss each other’s chicks. She frowned at me and said “That’s weird, dude” and went in.

After a long process of thinking, I looked for the reason why our first meeting encounter was a disaster, my grammar, and my accent in the L2 seemed not to be an impediment in communication, but my gestures, my behavior and my lack of knowledge in many other aspects of the interaction certainly were. I lacked pragmatic competence, but I did not know it. I was completely unaware of an area of the language that went beyond any linguistic feature I had learned before. On my quest for answers I made a rough comparison of the ways in which the American student and I behaved during the interaction and I realized that I had violated several pragmatics norms. Some of them are listed below:

·         I took the initiative and said “hello” to greet her. She replies “Hi” but does not show herself so enthusiastic. It seemed she did not expect to meet a person on her way to school.  

·         I asked questions related to her relationship status and living area, but she ignored them and preferred talking about trivial things such as the weather or sports.  She looked uncomfortable.

·         I looked into her eyes all the time to show I was sincere and confident while she avoided that. In her culture, doing that means to have romantic feelings for someone.

·         I joked around to make her laugh, but she did not. Eventually she would tell me that her humor is different from mine and what I found funny was childish for her.

·         I grabbed her shoulder to look friendly, but she did not respond positively to this, she thought I invaded her personal space, so she became annoyed and frustrated.  

·         I tried to kiss her in the chick to say goodbye, but she did not kiss me back. To top this off, she said “that’s weird, dude” and left.

With the information above, it is possible to state that we both did not achieve to understand each other, and countless were the others factors that had an impact on our misfortunate conversation attempt. This experience which turned out to be enriching tells us that language is not all about grammar, vocabulary and sounds, but also those features surrounding the language that have an effect and an impact on the relationship of the language users.  

WHAT IS PRAGMATICS?

Defining pragmatics is not an easy task, Levinson (1983) as cited by Reigle, L (2011:31) stated that “the field of pragmatics deals with the context-dependent aspects of language and the intent behind how a speaker frames or encodes a communicative message”  In simple words, in one of his many presentations, David Crystal (2014) defines  “Pragmatics” as the linguistic branch that attempts to answer “why” the people mean, and why they say it and do it in that way.  When we communicate with other people, especially when it is the first time, we use our socio-cultural background and knowledge of the world to establish a conversation. These aspects are so important that they allow us to set the appropriate conditions for successful communication. To know when to handshake or kiss a chick, or when to say goodbye after a previous preparation are codes we learn from observation, repetition and explanation. We usually call these codes “good manners”, but there is still a huge amount of knowledge we never know we knew until we talk with a foreigner.   May (1993) as cited by Cai, L; Wang, Y (2013:142) explains that pragmatics is “the science of knowledge seen in relation to its users” Any person who wants to learn a foreign/second language must also consider the people with whom they want to communicate given that it is not same to speak with a South African, an Australian or a Russian who has learned English as foreign language. In fact, they three seem to share a common language, but they have different cultures: contexts, realities, geographies, manners, history, customs, grammars, accents, way of doings and saying things. Washburn (2001:21) utters that learning a language means not only the vocabulary, grammar, and sounds of the language, but also how to use the language appropriately in different situations, depending on such factors as the relationship between the speakers, the setting, and the context of the situation”   It is clear that we cannot separate a language from its users and all that factors and implications that they take. A teacher who ignores this pragmatic principle may expose his students to the language corpus, but does not prepare them to act, react to different stimuli given during the interaction, and develop a conversation appropriately. 

In the SLA field, many researchers have noticed the importance of pragmatics and have paid attention to “interlanguage pragmatics” (ILP). Cai, L; Wang, Y (2013:142) claims that “L2 learners, even the high proficiency L2 learners usually make mistakes in their communication for their unawareness of pragmatic knowledge” In addition, Washburn (2001:21) states that native speakers do not tend to correct their interlocutor’s pragmatic violations which prevents the learners from opportunities to raise awareness of their own communication mistakes. The current situation marks a necessity for teaching pragmatics in EFL to deal with the lack awareness; however, is it possible to teach pragmatics?  Can language learners perform better in a second language if they receive instruction on pragmatics? A final question would be: How can we teach pragmatics? We will see this later.  Now, let’s focus on where pragmatics is present in the interaction.

                                         FEATURES OF PRAGMATICS

According to Moran (2001) as cited by Echeverría (2009) pragmatics can be divided into two main categories: linguistic and extra-linguistic pragmatics.

Linguistic pragmatics.

It has to do with all the written and oral language and paralanguage.  For example:

[written] Syntax: Van Valir Jr (2001) as cited by Echeverría (2009:11) defines it as “how sentences are constructed, and users of human languages employ a striking variety of possible arrangements of the elements in sentences". For example, the sentences: “you talk with her” or “you talk to her” are not the same. Even though they are used to refer to the same idea, they respond to a different vision of the world. “Talk to” means that the action of talking requires a listener to which the information should be directed whereas “talk with” expresses the action of talking requires a companion, someone with which the information should be shared.

The Cambridge advanced English learner’s dictionary mentions that the first sentence is usually preferred by American English speakers whereas the second one is usually used by the British.  

[Written] Morphology:  From a pragmatic viewpoint, this is the way in which the words are formed by determined groups of people. For example, the past tense of the verb “learn” is either “learned” or “learnt” There is no difference in meaning and its usage generally lies on where the interlocutor comes from.   In some online gaming communities, a noun such as “tank” has adopted the quality of a verb, so gamers tank, are tanked or go “tanking” to mean they try to lure the opposing players while others attack.  The use of this noun as a verb is generally used in strategy gaming contexts.

[written/oral] Vocabulary: It is the words a community uses depending how the see their world. It varies depending on the cultural background, context, register and knowledge of the interlocutor.  In some communities in USA for example, to call a person “black” may be offensive, so they prefer to call them “African-American” which does not describe his skin color but his cultural background and origin, however; this idea that “black” is offensive is not shared by some part of the population.

 [oral] Pronunciation: The way in which we pronounce what we say plays a major role in how an interlocutor can interpret an idea. To utter a word with a rising tone may mean a complete different thing with a falling tone: A raising tone “Ok?” means doubt, question or concern,  a falling tone “Ok” on the other hand can mean ratification, clarification, closure, etc.

[Oral] Register:  The social setting determines how the interlocutor wants to sound or look to others. The idiomatic expression “what’s up?” is less formal than the formulaic health related expression “how have you been?”  Both are suitable to greet a person depending on the context and the relationship of the interlocutors.  

[Paralanguage] Onomatopoeia:  They are words which are pronounced as they sound.  If a person describes an explosion as a loud “boom” adds more intensity to the meaning.

[Paralanguage] Interjection: In the website “yourdictionary.com” this part of speech is defined as a “word solely designed to convey emotion. It expresses meaning and feeling” Some interjections are: boo, yikes, ups, aha! which add intensity to the meaning of the sentences.

Extra-linguistic pragmatics.

According to Echeverria (2009:13) this category is composed by “kinesics, proxemics, oculesics, chronemics, haptics and context. However, the list is still incomplete for Dynel, M (2011:424) who also includes “Olfatics” and the “physical appearance” of the interlocutors. 

Kinesics: It is the facial expressions, body language, gestures and emblems such as nodding or shoulder movement that convey meaning.  In an EFL/ESL setting, a language teacher who has real beginners can use kinesics while speaking to help his students understand directly what he says in the L2. 

Proxemics: Echeverria (2009:13) defines it as “the use of space between objects and between people to convey meaning”  For example, a person who speaks too close to another person may express emotional interest and eagerness in some cultures.

Oculesics:  It’s the eye-movement that conveys meaning such as winking, staring, rolling, opening and closing the eyes.  In some cultures, to wink the left eye while saying an utterance usually means that the speaker approves an opposite idea.  Another example of oculesics is rolling the eyes upwards when trying to say something. An interlocutor may interpret that the speaker is still thinking about what he wants to say or trying to remember some information.

Chronemics: According to Echeverria (2013:14) this aspect of non-verbal communication can be classified into two different “patterns of behavior” The first pattern is monochromic and the second is polychromic. A monochromic interlocutor values and respects his time and the others’ during the development of the interaction. There are usually no interruptions given that they prefer to do things one at a time. Polychromic interlocutors tend not to wait for the other interlocutors to finish their ideas, so they interrupt and do many things at a time.

EFL/ESL teachers can show these patterns of behavior by playing TV shows in class. Students can be asked to analyze how the characters talk and how they take and request their turns. Each pattern of behavior has a possible interpretation during the interaction.

Haptics: In linguistics, this concept can be defined as the action of touching that conveys meaning. A person can communicate the distance they have with their interlocutors when they greet which can be accompanied with a handshake, a hug, a kiss on the chick or nodding.  There are cultures where a greeting comes right before a kiss on the chick or when touching someone else’s hair in a delicate way can have a romantic connotation. 

Context: The professor of computer linguistics Detmer Meurers (2004) divides context into four categories:  Physical context (the environment that surrounds the hearer/speaker), linguistic context (what has being said before), social context (the relationship of the people involved in communication) and epistemic context (knowledge and beliefs of the hearer/speaker)

Olfatics: Dynel, M (2011:424) mentions this aspect as the smells of the environment and the interlocutors during the interaction. A person who has just cooked dinner might smell like the food he has just prepared, his interlocutor might begin a new topic In the conversation after he has perceived how great it smells.

 In some cultures like the Chilean one, people tend to take a shower once a day because people consider that any type of natural corporal odor is a lack of hygiene. In other cultures unlike the Chilean, people take showers less often which has caused reactions in the Chilean people when they are abroad. In some interactions, this corporal odor may stop them from speaking because the odor can be sensed too easily and therefore it is disgusting.  

Physical appearance: It’s any physical characteristic the person has when they interact. This includes body shape, size, eyes color, face, skin color, etc.

Our world is full of stereotypes and misconceptions about people based on their beliefs and knowledge of the world. For example, a person with a turban on the head is usually taken as a Muslim, a foreigner, a chauvinist, a potential terrorist among others. Chinese people are considered to be “yellow” skinned, laborious, intelligent and devoted.

MY CASE REVISITED.

1.    As an advanced English student, I was excited and confident about my language skills [….]  I have a pocket dictionary- I said – “That is all I need to practice my conversation skills”

By that time, my beliefs on learning a language were based on the acquisition of a linguistic corpus. I knew a considerable amount of vocabulary, I had mastered English syntactic structures in a written way (which I wrongly assumed I could use orally, too),  my pronunciation was fairly good for each word, but the pitch and the tone of the words being pronounced in connected speech could be easily recognized by Native English speakers who considered me a Spanish speaking foreigner speaking in English.

2.    In the first days of my stay, during one of my long walks to the campus, I met an American student who went to the same place, too.

I have the cultural belief that sharing interests with a strange is enough to approach and meet a potential friend. Also, I thought I had to give the first step since I was “the man” In the traditional Chilean culture,  the man should take the initiative to talk with a woman for the first time.   

3.    I introduced myself as I usually do, and so she did.

I usually greet strangers by saying “hello” (vocabulary) and smiling (kinesics). The context suggested I should keep a distance of at least one meter long (Proxemics) until we felt comfortable.  Cynthia did not expect to meet anybody, so she moved her head and body slightly backwards and winked her eyes in surprise (Kinesics, oculesics)

4.    “… I asked her some questions about her life which she considered too personal for a first meeting, so she tried to ignore them by changing the topic and making body gestures of clearly noticeable discomfort”

According to the context, Cynthia’s belief of a first meeting on a way to school did not include talking about her private life, that is, information of where she lived or her boyfriend in the case there was one.  She preferred talking about the weather and the reasons why she preferred to walk to school: more general things. For her, the conversation was casual and not necessarily had to end up with a friendship.  

She frowned (kinesics),avoided eye-contact (oculesics) and slightly increased the distance from me (Proxemics) to show discomfort. By ignoring my questions, she also interrupted my turns (chronemics) because she did not like the topic.

5.    “My looking into her eyes did not help her feel more relaxed either, so I decided to tell jokes and share some anecdotes to make her laugh, but any effort I made seemed not to work at all”

Looking straight into the eyes (oculesics) to show sincerity and friendliness was a belief Cynthia did not share with me, so she felt I was acting strange and rude according to her knowledge of the world. The telling of anecdotes to a strange and the type of humor were aspects she did not share with me either.   My limited background about her culture made difficult for me to understand the pragmatic violations I made.

6.    “At first I thought she was shy, so I grabbed one of her shoulders with my hand to look friendly, but she moved away and told me to back off “Your mom did not teach you manners? Are you a perv? - She asked annoyed”

A person who avoids eye-contact (oculesics), keeps walking while holding one of her backpack straps (haptics) with both hands and maintains a rather long distance from her interlocutor (proxemics) fell under my stereotype of shy personality.  By getting closer to her (proxemics) and touching one of her shoulders (haptics) with my hand, I tried to help her overcome her incipient shyness (Knowledge of the world), but in her culture this type of behavior does not exist in this context, so she did not reacted as I expected according to my previous experiences.

When she “moved away” (proxemics) and told me to “back off” (vocabulary /intonation) she communicated she was not happy about my way of acting. In both cultures, that type of behavior occurs when a person wants to stay safe from a potential offender.

Then she said “Your mom did not teach you manners” Are you a perv? (Syntax/vocabulary/intonation/indirect speech act) Why did she not include my father, too?  In the East west white American culture mothers do an important job in raising their children. This responsibility is stronger for the mother than the father since the last one should work and provide money for the family. In Chile, we shared this vision about the importance of the mother in raising the children and the duty of the father who tends to be absent or have less time to focus on his family.  Thomas (1983) as cited by Washburn (2001:21) claimed that “the violation of the norm or pragmatic failure is often seen as a reflection of the character or manners of the nonnative speaker, not the language speaker’s proficiency in the target language”

The last question:”Are you a perv…?” (syntax / vocabulary) appeals to my psychological state given that she considered this “unknown behaviors” fulfill the characteristics of a sex offender.  The shortened form of “perverted” is perv which is usually used by teenage white American people according to Cynthia.

The aspects analyzed above serve as an example of the many factors that affect communication which people who are nonnative speakers of English are subjected to ignore.  Fraser (2010:15) asserts that “second language speakers who lack pragmatic competence may produce grammatically flawless speech that nonetheless fails to achieve its communicative aims” 

PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE IN THE L2

Kasper (1996) and Desalles (1998) as mentioned by Brock, M; Nagasaka, Y (2005:18) explain that pragmatic competence is an ability which “equips” second language learners to use the target language appropriately in particular communicative events and to interpret meaning in context.  Eslami- Rasekh, Zohreh (2005:200) mentions that “Pragmatic competence  consists of illocutionary competence, that is, knowledge of speech acts and speech functions, and sociolinguistic competence”  How can we develop pragmatic competence then? In order to answer this question, we need to focus on the foundation of this competence which according to Echeverría (2010:18) is about culture, communication and intercultural communication (In the case of 2^nd language learners).  Since languages are a representation of a culture, every aspect of it responds to the features of its users: origin, religion, opinion, beliefs, convictions, dreams, lifestyle, history, educational level, traditions among many others aspects which conform the way in which its users learn to behave and react to behaviors when they interact with other language users.

In my own case, Cynthia, and I shared English as a common language. She spoke it as native speaker and so did I as a nonnative. My English grammar was relatively flawless (in theory) and my pronunciation was intelligible enough to make myself understood, however; it was far from being equivalent to her English. Our “Englishes” as a term shaped by David Crystal, were heavily influenced by our own cultural backgrounds.

Some aspects of these cultural backgrounds are shown in the chart below.

Cutural aspects	Cynthia A.	Juan Jara
Place of origin	San Marcos, California	Quilpué, Chile.
Age	19 years old	23 years old.
Language	English and Spanish (not fluent)	Spanish and English (Bilingual)
Race	White	Latino.
Educational level	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
Religion	Protestant	Catholic Christian
Personality	Serious, talkative, calm, straight-forward.	Outgoing, talkative, humorous and indirect.
Income	$+2000 from a job.	$ +2000 from scholarship
Professional experience	Social security and fast food service, baby-sitting	Fruit collecting, cashier, accountant.
Social status	Middle class in American standards	Middle class in Chilean Standards.
Personal status	Single	Single
Children	None	None
Main interests	Science.	Humanities.
Entertainment	Talk shows, sports, parties.	Meeting people, parties, movies and books.

Intercultural communication

In the beginning of this assignment, I referred to the first interaction Cynthia and I have as a “total disaster”, a description that according to intercultural communication viewpoint was not that bad. Why? Because no matter how hard it was to understand some gestures and reactions, we achieved to negotiate meanings in interaction in spite of the cultural differences.      

In the chart above, it is possible to see some of the many aspects that create our own cultural background. These aspects are also subcultural items that make us participants simultaneously in several communities with its own “ways of doing and thinking” For example: Cynthia belongs to: the American nation, the protestant community, the young adult age community, the working population, the university student community, the middle class group, among others.

According to Allwood, J (1985:4):“when people of different cultural backgrounds meet, all differences between them can potentially lead to misunderstanding”   A competent intercultural communicator across cultures as for the world bank program “ComGAP” not only needs to know the language of the host culture which is highly valuable but not all, he/she also needs to understand “pragmatics”, be flexible, tolerant to high levels of uncertainty, reflexive, sensitive, open-minded, and able to adapt to divergent situations and contexts. These raise the following questions:  Can people develop pragmatic competence?  Is it possible to teach it?

THE TEACHING OF PRAGMATICS

As it has been said before, we cannot claim we know a language (at least in its full extent) if we only know its words, the sounds and the grammar of it. We also need context. It is the ability to understand context the one that makes us truly aware of what is going on around and how we should react to each given situation.

Can we teach pragmatics?

Rose, K (2005) claims that it is possible to develop pragmatic competence in the language classroom provided that there is long list of investigations [such as Brock, M; Nagasaka, Y (2005) and Eslami- Rasekh, Zohreh (2005)]  that have confirmed that the effect of instruction in second language pragmatics has a facilitative role. She also adds that those who receive instruction in these matters seem to perform better in the target language than those who lack instruction.  

Does language policy matter?

Eslami- Rasekh, Zohreh (2005) asserts that students should not see the L1 as a negative factor for EFL/ESL but as a tool that help them understand deeper about foreign cultures by analyzing and reflecting upon the peculiarities of each language. 

Do textbooks work?

There is a wide variety of textbooks which, depending on its methodology, can provide learners with language sample of speakers in “context”, nonetheless Washburn, G (2001) says they always omit language characteristics that are important because a real conversation has hesitations, stops, sudden changes of topic, overlaps, ungrammaticality and other characteristics of interaction that are not presented in this type of materials. That is the reason why,  many researchers suggest using materials as  television shows (sitcoms, dramas or soap operas) to teach pragmatics.  Eslami- Rasekh, Zohreh (2005) underlies the importance of the videos since the actors who participate in the shows use real language in real-like contexts.

Television shows

Unlike textbooks, television shows are a source of “real language use” whose purpose is not language teaching, but entertaining.  For example, sitcoms use frequent pragmatic violations and situational humor to entertain their audience.  We cannot expect students to learn everything from sitcoms, but we can make sure they have the tools to develop pragmatic awareness of the language they learn.   What are the benefits of using sitcoms? Washburn, G (2001) indicates that they:

·         Provide authentic materials: language in context.

·         Portray real life pragmatic violations.

·         Violations are always marked by laughter.

·         They provide nonverbal commentary on pragmatic language use.

 

PEDAGOGICAL PROPOSAL

Focus of instruction:

The objective of the following activities is to allow EFL students to reflect upon the differences and similarities that the act of meeting new people present in different cultures by having them watch two videos: a British TV commercial and a video clip of the famous American show: “How I met your mother”

Pedagogical implications and orientations:

In this lesson, the students have to watch two videos which have been carefully selected to show them how people talk and behave when meeting new people in different contexts.  The first video: a TV commercial is directed to British citizens of Indian cultural background which gives sample of how body language conveys different meanings. It also shows how technology influences on the way people meet.

The second video “How I met you mother: the meet” is a video clip compilation of several scenes where “Tracy Mosby” meets each of her friends in different situations breaking pragmatic rules which can be used a source of reflection for the students to analyze and study.

Sample lesson plan

Teacher: Juan Jara                                             Subject: EFL class.

Lesson name: “Meeting new people”                 Length: 90 minutes.

Grade: 1^st year of high-school.                            Level: Lower intermediate.

Lesson objective(s):

·         Students will compare the way in which culture influence on the way people meet new people and introduce themselves.  

·         Students will be able to recognize some pragmatic violations of the English language that take place when people meet new people.

·         Students will analyze the elements of the interaction that can help them grasp the meaning of the speech acts.

Materials required:

·         Computer, internet connection, over-head projector, speakers, whiteboard, marker, worksheets and notebooks.

Teaching procedures: 

Warm-up: The teacher asks two students to perform a jigsaw activity in which they have to pretend to meet each other for the first time in their country.   

Student two: You noticed someone look sad and want him/her to cheer up. What would you do in your country?

 

Student one: You are reading a book on a bench in the park.  You are sad and homesick. The book is about Valparaiso.

 

After the acting, the students must reflect about the actions and analyze the contextual elements of the interaction: such as language used, body language and context. Then the teacher asks the students how meeting new people can change according to context (age, gender, intention, culture, physical aspect, place, moment, etc) and register their answers on the whiteboard to discuss.  

Activity II: Becoming aware that context plays an important role in meeting someone new, the teacher presents a video where they should only focus on the non-verbal elements of the conversation. i.e (Haptics, oculesics, proxemics, etc)

Afterwards, the teacher hands out a worksheet for the students to fill in according to the video they have watched. (The table sections: body language and context must be blank)

Interaction	Language used during the interaction	Body language (What she does with her body)	Context (age, gender, culture, time, place…)
The woman at the restaurant	Men: 1.Hey, I recognize you from somewhere. 2.Hi, you o’right? 3. Wow, see you guitar then. Woman: I’m Thania. I’ve always missed you	1. Raise left arm, points out a finger and pulls it back. 2. Frowing, using arms to take an instrument away. 3. Frowing, moving part of the lower lip upwards while moving the head in another direction.	-She is sitting at a restaurant. - She has arranged a meeting using a software to meet a potential couple.

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEANyNBMuLg&spfreload=10

Students’ answers about body language used and context may vary from student to student. The teacher asks some students to explain the context of the interactions and the body language features. i.e

1.    What does frowning mean in this context?  

2.    What does the woman expects from the interactions?

Activity III: Once the students have become aware that body language is also an important part of understanding the context. The teacher makes a brief introduction of the sitcom “how I met your mother” showing pictures and data of the characters and then playing the YouTube video “How I met your mother: the meet”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcUVge2YJfQ

Once the video is watched, the students have to do the following exercises on a worksheet.

I)  How did Tracy meet her friends?  Match sentences parts. 

Lily                                          was trying to flirt                     on the road                     

Marshal                                 looks stressed                          in the store          

Barney                                   asked for a lift                         on the train          

II)  Choose any of the previous situations, how would you have reacted to that?

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

III)  What of these character’s actions do you consider inappropriate for a first meeting interaction?

____offering cookies                     ___ kidding                           ___offering a lift.    

____hugging                                 ___giving advice                 ____praising.      

____ Requesting information      ___ Giving comfort.                       

IV)  True or false.   

_____ Tracy is impressed that Lily accepts cookies from a complete stranger.

_____Marshal gets scared after Tracy seems to know everything about him.

_____Barney says he recruits people for an orphanage in order to impress.

_____ Tracy considers that a “seat” distance is enough to talk to someone.

_____ Barney is astonished at Tracy’s friendly hug at the store.

_____ For Barney “win the game” means to establish a serious relationship.

V) Each of the statements below may be considered inappropriate in some cultures. Could you explain why?

1. To offer food to someone you have just met.                       _____________________

2. To speak with a full mouth.                                          _____________________

2. To give life advice to people you have just met.       ____________________

3. To make fun of someone you have just met.                       ____________________

4. To lie to someone in order to flirt/ be nice.                ____________________

5. To hug a stranger because he looks nice.                ____________________

Activity IV) The students are asked to identify and make a list of 10 accepted and unaccepted norms to meet a person in their respective countries and answer the question: “Are the same in every culture?

Activity V) The teacher makes a brief description of the treated lesson contents and has the students comment on what they learned in the lesson,  their traditional views of meeting people according to textbooks and the way in which the videos showed “meeting someone new”  also depends factors that are usually skipped or ignored such as context.

                                                             CONCLUSION

The teaching of pragmatic is an area of linguistics that deserves more attention in formal language instruction since it prepares the language learners with tools to face contexts they are sometimes not prepared to get involved with (as it was my case)  This preparation is key to become a cross-cultural communicator.

With the spread of globalization and the quick development of technology, the language students have a chance to learn and practice languages like no previous times in history: current students can listen to music in foreign languages, chat with foreigners in real time, read the newspapers of the word using internet and watching television in the language of their choice. For teaching, television shows such as sitcoms have become popular in the EFL classroom provided that they do not only show language used in context, but also what it surrounds, influence and affect its users. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Brock, M; Nagasaka, Y (2005) “Teaching pragmatics in the EFL classroom? SURE you can!  TESL Reporter 38, 1 (2005), pp. 17-26 17

Cai, L; Wang, Y (2013) Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 142-147, January 2013.

California state university Northdrige (n.d) “1 Non –verbal communication [NVC]. Retrieved from: https://www.csun.edu/~ghagopian/Documents/Pragmatics.pdf Last accessed: 8/7/2015.

Crystal, D (2014) “English lang: pragmatics” Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xc0KUD1umw&spfreload=10 Last accessed: 8/7/2015.

Dynel, M (2011) “Turning speaker meaning on its head” Non-verbal communication and intended meanings” Pragmatics and cognition” (19:3)  University of Lodz  John Benjamin publishing company.

Echeverría, R (2009) “The Role of Pragmatics in Second Language Teaching. Anthropological Linguistics and sociolinguistics commons” SIT graduate institute/ SIT study abroad. 

English translation of: "Tvärkulturell kommunikation" (1985) in Allwood, J. (Ed.) Tvärkulturell kommunikation, Papers in Anthropological Linguistics 12, University of Göteborg, Dept of Linguistics.

Eslami- Rasekh, Zohreh (2005) “Raising the pragmatics awareness of language learners” ELT journal, volume, 59/3 July 2005. Oxford University Press.

Reigle, L (2011) “The Role of Pragmatic Competence in Second Language Acquisition” Digital  commons, Utah State University.

Rose, K (2005) “On the Effects of Instruction in Second language pragmatics” ELSEVIER. Science direct, system 33, p.p 385 – 399. 

The world bank (n.d) “Intercultural communication” Retrieved from: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGOVACC/Resources/InterculturalCommweb.pdf Last accessed on Monday 13rd, 2015. 

Washburn, G (2001) “Using Situation Comedies for Pragmatic Language Teaching and Learning” TESOL journal pp.21 – 26.

www.yourdictionary.com Retrieved from:   http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/interjections/what-is-an-interjection.html  Last accessed on Sunday 12^th, 2015.