The (Non-)Teaching of Pragmatics in an EFL Context

Abstract

Pragmatics is an area that may be underrepresented in ESL/EFL teaching. This study aims to investigate to what extent pragmatics is taught in an international EFL setting. For this purpose, 28 class sessions taught by 17 teachers from seven different cultural backgrounds were observed for their inclusion of pragmatic features in their classes. The results indicate, despite teaching in an international school setting, these teachers did not make pragmatics an important component of their teaching. Pragmatics accounted for only 8.5 percent of the total observation time and when dealt with, it was handled incidentally when there was a moment to emphasize a pragmatic feature or when the textbook included a section or task relevant to pragmatics. Teachers’ incidental treatment of pragmatics signals its importance in language teaching. Thus, suggestions are made to include pragmatics in materials in EFL programs and in teacher education programs.