Pragmatics & Culture in CALL

1. LING 592
Dongmei Cheng

2. 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

3. 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….)

4. 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.

5. Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) developed by Michael Byram(1997)
Strong version: learning a new language= aspiringto the native model of the target cultureacculturation
Weak version: learning a new language= appropriatingthe languages and cultures without losing/disguising one’s own identity
Reference: Guth& Helm (2012) Teaching culture through CALL

6. 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)

7. 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 orallow learners to explore?

8. 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)

9. 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.

10. 1. Identifysitcoms 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. Searchfor clips from the sitcoms you identified on Youtubeand analyze for pragmatic failure and/or model speech acts
3. Designactivities that use the clips as a springboard for learning speech acts Pusey, K. (2013). Using sitcoms to teach speech acts. TESOL Graduate Student Forum.

11. 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?

12. 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).

13. Speech Acts Database Compiled by CARLA Institute: http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/index. html
Apologies | Complaints | Compliments | Refusals | Requests | Thanking

14. 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

15. 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 Doriyuyanlee815@gmail.comto be included in our class wiki page on Teaching Culture & Pragmatics.

16. 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 oremailed)
b) Turning in an important assignment late (spoken oremailed)
3. Refusals
a) Saying “No” to an invitation (spoken oremailed)
b) Saying “No” to a request (spoken oremailed)
4. Complaints
a) Complaining about a bad service in writing
b) Complaining about a bad service on the phone

17. Individualism & daring to be oneself
Separation of personal & professional
Respect for children’s voices
Too many choices
Wastefulness
Obsession with big
Disrespect for teachers