Linking L2 pragmatics and intercultural understanding in the foreign language classroom

Talk by associate professor Troy McConachy (University of Warwick) and Natalia Morollón Martí (University of Copenhagen) in the Digital series of talks on plurilingualism and interculturality.

The purpose of this talk is to explore the role of metapragmatic reflection and the potential for developing intercultural understanding in the teaching and learning of L2 pragmatics. Taking the recognition of the close relationship between pragmatics and culture and the need to engage learners with this relationship as our starting point, we will then focus on interpretation and reflection as key learning processes for exploring this relationship. ​Data will be presented from language classrooms in Japan and Denmark that illustrate concrete ways that learners come to make sense of situated language use and personal experience from an intercultural perspective.

Natalia Morollón Martí and Troy McConachy have kindly given permission to share their PowerPoint presentation.

References

McConachy, T. (2013). Exploring the meta-pragmatic realm in English language teaching. Language Awareness, 22 (2), 100-110.

McConachy, T. (2019). L2 pragmatics as ‘intercultural pragmatics’: Probing sociopragmatic aspects of pragmatic awareness. Journal of Pragmatics, 151, 167-176.

McConachy, T. (2018). Developing Intercultural Perspectives on Language Use: Exploring Pragmatics and Culture in Foreign Language Learning. Multilingual Matters.

Morollón Mart., N. (2017). “El potencial pedagógico de la pragmática sociocultural como herramienta de mediación en la interpretación de experiencias interculturales” Sociocultural Pragmatics, 5 (1), 59-86.

Morollón Mart., N. & Fernández, S. (2016). “Telecollaboration and sociopragmatic awareness in the foreign language classroom”. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching - Online Intercultural Exchange,10 (1), 34-48.