THE ROLE OF PRAGMATICS IN TEACHING LANGUAGE

Rangel Peruchi; Sweder Souza; Andréia Rutiquewiski

Rangel Peruchi Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará (UNIFESSPA) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4396-0733
Sweder Souza Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7237-9078
Andréia Rutiquewiski Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4840-830X

Keywords: English as a lingua franca. Language instruction. Pragmatics. Cross-cultural communication.

Abstract

Today, it is largely accepted that English has become a lingua franca in numerous contexts worldwide. In the last decades, the teaching of English has shifted from the teaching of the most prestigious varieties (British and American) to the teaching of English as a lingua franca (Jenkins, 2000). Such a shift requires an awareness of the role of pragmatics since the linguistic behavior of native speakers is not taken as a model to be followed. Yet, whether the pragmatic behavior of native speakers does not offer a reliable model to foreign speakers, in which model the teaching of English as a lingua franca has to lie? The first part of this article will present some of the main features of teaching English using the pragmatics of native speakers as a model. The second part will present teaching pragmatics by the use of pragmatic tools. Afterwards, the role of pragmatics in the teaching of English as a lingua franca will be discussed in order to understand how it works and in which ways the current view of teaching has changed. In the third part of this article, we will bring some light to the teaching of English. In summary, the shift in English language teaching towards English as a lingua franca underscores the importance of pragmatics in today's globalized world. The conventional approach of imitating native speakers' behaviors is no longer sufficient for effective communication in diverse contexts. While authentic models of speech remain valuable, they are just part of a broader toolkit.

Author Biographies

Rangel Peruchi, Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará (UNIFESSPA)

Doutor em Linguística e Professor dos Cursos de Letras da Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará (UNIFESSPA).

Sweder Souza, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR)

Doutor em Linguística pela Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR).

Andréia Rutiquewiski, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR)

Doutora em Linguística e Professora da Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR).

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