Teaching pragmatics in English as a Foreign Language at a Vietnamese university: Teachers' perceptions, curricular content, and classroom practices

Abstract

Pragmatic competence is an essential component in communicative competence (Bachman & Palmer, 2010; Canale, 1983). Therefore, teaching pragmatic knowledge plays an important role in a foreign language curriculum, particularly in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL). However, there exists a lack of literature about the teaching of pragmatics with little empirical research on teachers’ perceptions and classroom practices at the tertiary level in Vietnam. Informed by key constructs of three theories of symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934), cross-cultural/intercultural pragmatics (Kecskes, 2004; 2011; 2012; Kecskes & Romero-Trillo, 2013; Wierzbicka, 2003), and critical approach to language teaching (Kachru, 1992a; 1992b; 1997; 2006; Kirkpatrick, 1995; 2006; 2011b; Pennycook, 1994; 1999), this case study of a Vietnamese university attempts to investigate teachers’ perceptions of pragmatics, their pragmatic teaching, and pragmatic content presented in textbooks and the curriculum. Methods of data collection included questionnaire survey, interviews, focus group, classroom observations, and documents. Major findings include: (a) teachers’ understanding of pragmatic knowledge and its teaching varied, although all of them recognised the vital importance of teaching pragmatic knowledge to enhance EFL students’ communicative competence; (b) the way teachers taught pragmatic knowledge was influenced by how they learned pragmatics and their perceptions of pragmatics; (c) there was a dearth of pragmatic knowledge presented in the analysed textbook; and (d) teachers relied mostly on textbooks to teach pragmatics and encountered difficulties in teaching pragmatics because of their lack of pragmatic competence as well as methods to teach it. The implications of the above are considered and recommendations are made regarding teachers’ perceptions of pragmatics and its teaching, approaches to teaching pragmatics in particular and teaching EFL in general in a Vietnamese university or a similar context, teacher training and development, and designing materials and tasks from the perspectives of symbolic interactionism, cross-cultural/intercultural pragmatics, and critical approach to language teaching.