Download - Pragmatics & Culture in CALL
LING 592
Dongmei Cheng
Pragmatics?
appropriate language use in particular social and/or situational contexts
Speech acts?
ways of “doing things with words” (Austin, 1962)
Using language for functional purposes
Examples:
Requests, apologies, refusals, invitations, complaints, compliments, suggestions, giving advice, critiques, greetings, leave-takings
Culture (capital C): literature, art, music
culture (lower-case c) people’s attitudes, beliefs, values. Identifies groups. (groups are permeable –we belong to many groups….)
TEACH PRAGMATICS
Pragmatics are usually not directly taught in ESL/EFL classrooms;
Textbooks usually give a superficial, decontextualized information on speech acts (Washburn, 2001).
Speech acts are often not intuitive in a L2;
Mistakes in using pragmatics are often perceived as deficiencies in personality/morality, rather than simple language use problems.
Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) developed by Michael Byram (1997)
Strong version: learning a new language= aspiring to the native model of the target culture acculturation
Weak version: learning a new language= appropriating the languages and cultures without losing/disguising one’s own identity
Reference: Guth & Helm (2012) Teaching culture through CALL
Web 2.0 provides “a wealth of authentic cultural resources available in a multiplicity of media” in an accessible way (Guth & Helm, 2012).
Language learners nowadays can interact with people from a different country easily via CMC/SCMC tools.
Materials can be easily created by users of the internet, which largely enriches the cultural/pragmatic information that could be found online. (e.g., blogs & wikis)
Online communities are not the same as an in-person community or cultural group.
Learners may (or may not) feel comfortable using social tools (e.g., forums, CMC, etc.)
Teachers create artificial approximation of inter-cultural exchange or allow learners to explore?
Using feature films and situational comedies
Using audio/video materials
Using CMC tools (e.g., emails, blogs, discussion forums, written or voiced chat, video conferencing, gaming & virtual interaction)
Requests (indirectness)Newman from Seinfeld (00:00 –00:50)Elaine from Seinfeld (01:50 – 02:35)
Giving Advice (what not to do!)Phoebe from Friends (01:00 - 01:20)
Pusey, K. (2013). Using sitcoms to teach speech acts. TESOL Graduate Student Forum.
1. Identify sitcoms you are familiar with and the “quirky” characters from the show (i.e., the characters that are a little bit “off”)
Examples: Friends, Seinfeld, The Office
2. Search for clips from the sitcoms you identified on Youtubeand analyze for pragmatic failure and/or model speech acts
3. Design activities that use the clips as a springboard for learning speech acts
Pusey, K. (2013). Using sitcoms to teach speech acts. TESOL Graduate Student Forum.
Watch the following video and discuss what speech act is it trying to demonstrate?
Sample Video Clip
Why do you think this speech act is important to address in an ESL/EFL context?
A final project example in a bilingual Italian-American exchange (Padva-Dickenson, 2009, as cited in Guth & Helm, 2012, p. 236-237). Purpose: “to create a bilingual wiki page on the mafia (organized
crime) and related issues in the U.S. and Italy” (p. 236).
Italian students focused on mafia-like organizations in America
American students focused on mafias in Italy
Contact ways: Skype conversations
Collaboration between the Italian and American participants are required throughout the writing process (brainstorming—researching—drafting—revising—peer feedback).
Speech Acts Database Compiled by CARLA Institute: http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/index.html
Apologies | Complaints | Compliments | Refusals | Requests | Thanking
7 Billion Others (interviews with inhabitants of the Earth): http://www.7billionothers.org/
Corpus of American soaps (TV): http://corpus.byu.edu/soap/
Film Script Database (over 1,000 downloadable scripts): http://www.simplyscripts.com/
Global Voices (more than 300 bloggers & translators around the world): http://globalvoicesonline.org/
International News: http://www.abyznewslinks.com/
Pew Global Attitudes Project: http://www.pewglobal.org/
Seinfeld Scripts for 180 Episodes from Nine Seasons: http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/
Speech Acts Lesson Plans from American English: http://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/teaching-pragmatics#child-531
Together with your partner, design a cultural/pragmatic learning task using one or more of the following CALL tools: Feature films and situational comedies
Audio/video materials
CMC tools (e.g., emails, blogs, discussion forums, written or voiced chat, video conferencing, gaming & virtual interaction)
Send your finished product to [email protected] to be included in our class wiki page on Teaching Culture & Pragmatics.
1. Compliments & Expression of Gratitude
a) Being invited to a house party
b) Receiving a gift from a friend
2. Apologies & Requests
a) Missing an important academic appointment (spoken or emailed)
b) Turning in an important assignment late (spoken or emailed)
3. Refusals
a) Saying “No” to an invitation (spoken or emailed)
b) Saying “No” to a request (spoken or emailed)
4. Complaints
a) Complaining about a bad service in writing
b) Complaining about a bad service on the phone
Individualism & daring to be oneself
Separation of personal & professional
Respect for children’s voices
Too many choices
Wastefulness
Obsession with big
Disrespect for teachers