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🎯 What You'll Master:
- ✓ Understand British humor and jokes — decode sarcasm, irony, and understatement
- ✓ Recognize when speakers are being polite, sarcastic, or ironic — read between the lines
- ✓ Use appropriate language in social and professional contexts — avoid awkward mistakes
- ✓ Avoid embarrassing cultural misunderstandings — communicate with confidence
⏱️ Time to complete: 6 modules × 20 minutes = ~2 hours total (self-paced)
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Answer 15 questions to find your current pragmatic competence level. This personalizes your learning path.
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📚 Learning Modules
Progress through 6 modules to master pragmatic competence with humor
Your Learning Path
Click any module to begin or continue learning
First Steps in Pragmatics
Beginner
Building Pragmatic Skills
Intermediate
Sharpening Your Pragmatic Edge
Upper-Intermediate
Pragmatic Mastery
Advanced
Bridging Cultures
Cross-Cultural
Analysing Humour: GTVH
Specialized
Take the placement test to discover your recommended starting point
😂 Humor Collection
🔍 Pragmatic Analysis:
Loading analysis...
💡 Key Learning Points:
📝 My Notes:
📖 Comprehensive Pragmatic Competence Theory
💡 Learning Tip: Don't rush through theory! Each concept builds on the previous one. Take time to understand before moving forward.
The Complete Pragmatic Competence Framework
Linguistic Forms
Social Context
Appropriate Communication
Humor requires mastery of BOTH components - that's why it's perfect for teaching pragmatics!
Definition: Pragmatic competence is the ability to use language appropriately in different social contexts, understanding not just WHAT words mean, but HOW and WHEN to use them.
Why Grammar Alone Isn't Enough:
Example 1:
? "Give me water." (Grammatically correct, pragmatically rude in most contexts)
? "Could I have some water, please?" (Grammatically correct AND pragmatically appropriate)
Example 2:
Student to teacher: "Hey, you got a pen?"
Problem: Too informal for the power relationship (student-teacher)
Better: "Excuse me, do you have a pen I could borrow?"
The Three Pillars of Pragmatic Competence:
- Understanding context: Who, where, when, why
- Choosing appropriate forms: Formal vs. informal, direct vs. indirect
- Recognizing implied meaning: What's said vs. what's meant
🔑 Key Concept: Context is Everything
The same words can be polite or rude depending on WHO says them, WHERE, and WHEN.
✓ Genuine gratitude: Said with a smile when someone helps you
✗ Sarcasm: Said with an eye-roll when someone makes things worse
This is WHAT linguistic forms you can use to express meanings.
1. Speech Acts (Austin & Searle)
Concept: When we speak, we perform actions - we don't just say things, we DO things with words.
Major Speech Acts:
- Requests: Getting someone to do something
- Direct: "Close the door."
- Indirect: "It's cold in here." (implies: please close the door)
- Very indirect: "I wonder if the door is open..." (requires inference)
- Apologies: "I'm sorry" + acknowledgment + remedy
- Compliments: Must be sincere, culturally appropriate
- Refusals: Often require softening (reason, alternative, apology)
- Complaints: Direct vs. indirect strategies
😂 Humor Example:
"Doctor, I think I'm a dog." / "How long have you felt this way?" / "Ever since I was a puppy."
Analysis: The patient's response violates the speech act expectation. The doctor expects a TIME reference ("for three weeks"), but gets a response that treats the false premise as true - creating humor through pragmatic violation.
2. Conversational Implicature (Grice's Maxims)
Concept: We communicate more than we say. We follow unspoken rules (maxims) that allow listeners to infer meaning.
Grice's Four Maxims:
- Quantity: Say enough, but not too much
- Violation example: "How was the movie?" / "It had seats." (too little info)
- Quality: Be truthful
- Violation example: Sarcasm - "Oh great, more rain." (says opposite of what's meant)
- Relation: Be relevant
- Example: "Are you coming to the party?" / "I have an exam tomorrow." (implies: no, I can't come)
- Manner: Be clear, brief, orderly
- Violation example: Being intentionally vague to avoid directness
😂 Humor Example:
"Are you coming to the party?" / "I have an exam tomorrow."
Analysis: This demonstrates the Maxim of Relation - the response seems unrelated but is actually RELEVANT. The speaker implicates "No, I can't come" by providing a related reason instead of answering directly.
✋ Before we continue, let's check your understanding...
3. Politeness Strategies (Brown & Levinson)
Concept: We protect each other's "face" (public self-image) through politeness.
Two Types of Face:
- Positive Face: The desire to be liked, approved of, appreciated
- Threat: Criticism, disagreement, interruption
- Protection: Compliments, agreement, showing interest
- Negative Face: The desire to be unimpeded, to have freedom
- Threat: Requests, suggestions, advice, orders
- Protection: Indirectness, apologies, hedges ("maybe," "possibly")
Five Politeness Strategies (from most direct to most indirect):
- Bald on-record: "Give me that." (used in emergencies or with intimates)
- Positive politeness: "Hey friend, could you pass that?" (emphasizes solidarity)
- Negative politeness: "I'm sorry to bother you, but could you possibly..." (most common)
- Off-record indirect: "I can't find the salt..." (implies: please pass it)
- Don't do the FTA: Say nothing (avoid the face-threatening act entirely)
😂 Humor Example:
"You're early again!" / "Yes, only thirty minutes late this time."
Analysis: Friend 1 uses IRONY (positive politeness through teasing) to criticize face-threateningly. Friend 2 uses SELF-DEPRECATING humor (accepting the criticism) to maintain social harmony.
🌍 Use This In Real Life:
- At work: When asking your boss for time off, use negative politeness: "I'm sorry to ask, but would it be possible to take Friday off?" (protects their negative face)
- With friends: You can use positive politeness or even bald on-record: "Hey, pass the remote!" (intimacy allows directness)
- British communication: Notice how Brits often use off-record hints: "The door's still open..." means "Please close it" (indirect = polite)
- In emails: "Would you possibly be able to..." is more polite than "Can you..." especially with people you don't know well
4. Deixis and Reference
Concept: Words whose meaning depends on context: who's speaking, when, where.
- Person deixis: I, you, we, they
- Time deixis: now, then, yesterday, tomorrow
- Place deixis: here, there, this, that
- Social deixis: formal vs. informal "you" (in many languages). English lacks grammatical social deixis (no formal 'you'), so speakers must use other strategies like titles, hedging, and indirect forms.
Pragmatic joke: A sign says "Free tomorrow." Tomorrow never comes - the deixis keeps shifting!
For advanced learners: Brown & Levinson's politeness theory has been critiqued for being too Western-centric. Not all cultures value negative face (autonomy) as highly as positive face (belonging).
Cross-cultural variation:
- Collectivist cultures (e.g., Japan, Korea) may prioritize group harmony over individual freedom
- Direct communication styles (e.g., German, Dutch) may not use as much hedging
- Some cultures have unique politeness systems not captured by the framework (e.g., Korean honorifics)
Already familiar with cross-cultural pragmatics? Skip to Sociopragmatic Knowledge →
This is WHEN and HOW to use those linguistic forms appropriately in social situations.
1. Social Distance (Close vs. Distant)
Close relationships: Friends, family, intimate partners
- more direct language
- Teasing and sarcasm acceptable
- Can make bigger requests
- Informal vocabulary
Distant relationships: Strangers, acquaintances, service interactions
- more indirect, polite forms
- Careful with humor
- Smaller requests only
- Formal vocabulary
🌍 Cultural Example:
Uzbek Context: In Uzbekistan, even distant acquaintances may use warmer, more personal language than in individualistic Western cultures. Understanding YOUR cultural norms is crucial!
2. Power Relations (Equal vs. Unequal)
Higher power: Boss, teacher, parent, older person (in hierarchical cultures)
- Can use more direct language
- Can give orders
- Can interrupt more freely
Lower power: Employee, student, child
- Must use polite, indirect forms
- Should make requests, not demands
- Should wait for turn to speak
⚠️ Pragmatic Failure Example:
Student to professor: "Hey, what's the homework?"
Problem: Too informal for power asymmetry
Better: "Excuse me, Professor, could you remind me what the assignment is?"
3. Imposition (Small vs. Large Requests)
Low imposition: "Could you pass the salt?" (small, easy, quick)
High imposition: "Could you help me move apartments this weekend?" (big, effortful, time-consuming)
Rule: Higher imposition = more politeness needed
- Provide reasons
- Offer compensation
- Accept refusal gracefully
- Use very indirect language
4. Cultural Context Variables
Directness: Some cultures value directness (Dutch, German), others value indirectness (Japanese, Uzbek in certain contexts)
Example of Cultural Difference:
- American: "I disagree" (direct, individual-focused)
- Japanese: "That's an interesting perspective..." (indirect, harmony-focused)
- Uzbek: Often depends on context - direct with close relationships, indirect with distant or hierarchical ones
🌍 Cross-Cultural Humor Failure:
An American jokes with a new Uzbek colleague: "Your presentation was terrible!" (said with a smile, intending teasing compliment)
Problem: The Uzbek colleague doesn't know the speaker well enough to interpret this as teasing. Result: offense or confusion.
The Humor-Pragmatics Connection
Humor REQUIRES pragmatic competence to understand:
- You must understand BOTH literal meaning AND intended meaning
- You must recognize when expectations are violated
- You must have cultural/contextual knowledge
- You must infer implied meanings
Three Major Theories of Humor (All Pragmatic!):
1. Incongruity Theory
Humor arises from violated expectations - something unexpected in the context.
Example: "I used to be a banker, but I lost interest."
Pragmatic element: "Lost interest" has two meanings - context makes you expect one, but you get the other.
2. Superiority Theory
Humor comes from feeling superior to someone else's misfortune or mistake.
Example: Someone slipping on a banana peel (slapstick)
Pragmatic element: Only funny if the situation is LOW-STAKES and the person isn't seriously hurt - requires social judgment.
3. Relief Theory
Humor releases tension about taboo or serious topics.
Example: Jokes about difficult experiences (illness, stress, aging)
Pragmatic element: Must judge WHEN and WITH WHOM such jokes are appropriate - timing and audience matter immensely.
Types of Pragmatic Humor
- Wordplay (Puns): Multiple meanings, homophones
- "Why did the bicycle fall over? It was two-tired."
- Sarcasm/Irony: Saying opposite of what you mean
- "Oh perfect, it's raining again." (when you hate rain)
- Pragmatic Failure Jokes: Someone misses implied meaning
- "How did you find the steak?" / "I looked next to the potatoes."
- Cultural References: Require shared background knowledge
- Jokes about local celebrities, events, idioms
- Absurdist Humor: Violates logical expectations
- "I used to play piano by ear, but now I use my hands."
Pedagogical Benefits of Using Humor
Research-backed benefits:
- Motivation: Humor makes learning enjoyable, increasing engagement
- Memory: Emotional content (like humor) is remembered better
- Anxiety Reduction: Laughing lowers affective filter
- Authentic Input: Jokes are real language use, not textbook examples
- Cultural Insight: Humor reveals cultural values and norms
- Metalinguistic Awareness: Analyzing why something is funny develops deeper language understanding
- Safe Practice: Mistakes with humor are low-stakes
Understanding Pragmatic Failure
Definition: When communication fails NOT because of grammar errors, but because of inappropriate language use for the social context.
Two Types (Thomas, 1983):
1. Pragmalinguistic Failure
Using the WRONG LINGUISTIC FORM for your intended meaning.
Example: Non-native speaker says "I want water" to a waiter.
- Intention: Polite request
- Reception: Rude demand
- Problem: Should use modal + politeness: "Could I have some water, please?"
2. Sociopragmatic Failure
Misjudging the SOCIAL CONTEXT - wrong level of formality, directness, or imposition.
Example: Student emails professor: "Hey Prof, I need an extension lol"
- Problems:
- Too informal ("Hey," "lol")
- Too direct ("I need")
- No reason given
- Doesn't acknowledge imposition
- Better: "Dear Professor [Name], I'm writing to respectfully request an extension on the assignment due Friday. [Reason]. I understand this is an imposition. Would it be possible to submit it by Monday? Thank you for considering my request."
Common Sources of Pragmatic Failure
- L1 Transfer: Using your native culture's norms in the target language
- Example: Very direct refusals in cultures where indirectness is expected
- Overgeneralization: Applying one rule too broadly
- Example: Using "please" makes everything polite (not always true!)
- Teaching Materials: Textbooks don't always show authentic pragmatic use
- Example: Learning "How do you do?" as a greeting (outdated/formal)
- Lack of Input: Not enough exposure to real language use in context
- Fossilization: Incorrect pragmatic patterns become habitual
😂 Humor Examples of Pragmatic Failure
Example 1: Literal interpretation
"Does this bus go to Tashkent?" / "No, it goes by itself."
Analysis: Speaker B misses that this is an INDIRECT SPEECH ACT (request for information, not a question about the bus's autonomy).
Example 2: Missing implicature
"How did you find the steak?" / "I just looked next to the potatoes."
Analysis: "Find" is used idiomatically to mean "What did you think of it?" The customer responds to literal meaning only.
Example 3: Power violation
Employee to CEO: "Yo boss, that meeting was boring."
Analysis: Too informal for the power asymmetry + face-threatening to superior.
You've Completed the Core Theory!
Now it's time to see these concepts in action. Move to the Joke Collection or Activities to apply what you've learned!
Learning Activities by Level
Study Tip: 1) Pick your level and difficulty, 2) Read the pragmatic focus, 3) Write your response/notes, 4) Mark complete before moving up.
Interactive Quizzes
Quiz Strategy: Read the stem twice, pick the best pragmatic fit, then review the feedback before moving on.
Tip: Advanced learners—try Intermediate first to warm up, then retake at Advanced to check mastery.
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Congratulations!
You've completed all modules and mastered pragmatic competence through humor!
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has successfully completed all six modules of
Teaching Pragmatic Competence Through Humor
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🏆 Your Achievement Summary
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Keep Learning
Explore additional resources, jokes, and activities to continue developing your pragmatic skills.
📖 Learning Resources
Everything you need to master pragmatic competence through humor
🎭 Joke Library
Explore curated jokes organized by pragmatic concepts. Each joke includes detailed analysis of the linguistic and social features that make it funny.
What You'll Find:
- Jokes organized by pragmatic concept (implicature, politeness, speech acts)
- British humor examples with cultural context
- Detailed breakdowns of why each joke works
- Level-appropriate content (A1 to C1)
📚 Learning Theories
Comprehensive guide to the linguistic theories behind pragmatic competence.
Core Theories Covered:
- Grice's Maxims: Cooperative principle and conversational implicature
- Speech Act Theory: Austin & Searle's framework for understanding language as action
- Politeness Theory: Brown & Levinson's face-saving strategies
- Relevance Theory: Sperber & Wilson's cognitive approach
- GTVH: General Theory of Verbal Humor for analyzing jokes
🎭 Humor Analysis Framework
Learn to analyze humor systematically using the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH).
GTVH Six Knowledge Resources:
- Script Opposition: Overlapping but incompatible interpretations
- Logical Mechanism: How the punchline resolves ambiguity
- Situation: Context and participants
- Target: Who or what is being made fun of
- Narrative Strategy: How the joke is told
- Language: Wordplay, ambiguity, register
This framework is covered in Module 6: Analyzing Humour
🎯 Practice Activities
Interactive exercises to apply your pragmatic knowledge in realistic scenarios.
Activity Types:
- Scenario Response: Choose the most appropriate response in social situations
- Joke Creation: Write your own jokes using pragmatic principles
- Cultural Analysis: Compare humor across different cultures
- Implicature Detection: Identify implied meanings in conversations
✅ Assessment Quizzes
Test your understanding with quizzes designed to assess your pragmatic competence across different levels.
Quiz Features:
- Level-appropriate questions (A1-A2, B1-B2, C1+)
- Immediate feedback with explanations
- Progress tracking and score history
- Retake quizzes to improve mastery
⚙️ Settings
Display Options
Show teacher-specific resources and pedagogy guides in the navigation menu.
About This Platform
Platforma Haqida
Welcome to Your Pragmatic Competence Learning Journey!
This is an interactive learning platform designed to help you master pragmatic competence - the ability to use language appropriately in different social contexts - through the engaging medium of humor.
What Can You Do Here?
- Learn through Jokes: Explore 50+ carefully selected jokes with detailed pragmatic analysis
- Practice with Activities: Complete interactive exercises at your level (A1 to C1)
- Test Your Understanding: Take placement tests and quizzes to track progress
- Explore Theory: Deep dive into pragmatic concepts with comprehensive guides
- Track Your Progress: Save your learning journey and export/import data
- Bridge Cultures: Compare Uzbek and British humor patterns (advanced module)
This platform offers a variety of activities designed to support the development of your pragmatic competence. It should be noted that these materials are intended to complement the learning process rather than serve as an exhaustive guide to total mastery. As this is a beta version currently undergoing refinement, we aim to evolve the content based on ongoing research. Your insights are welcome, and we invite you to share any suggestions through the feedback form below as we work to enhance the user experience.
📋 Community Guidelines
This platform is designed as a learning space focused on language, communication, and pragmatic competence. To keep it useful, respectful, and appropriate for academic contexts, we kindly ask all users to follow a few simple principles.
Focus on Learning
Please keep your contributions (including feedback and messages) focused on the educational purpose of the platform. Constructive suggestions, reflections, and learning-related comments are always welcome.
These guidelines are intended to support learning, not to restrict expression unnecessarily.
Respectful Communication
We ask users to communicate in a respectful and professional manner, suitable for a university or classroom environment. Language should be clear, polite, and free from expressions that could be considered offensive or inappropriate in an academic setting.
Appropriateness of Content
This platform is intended for public educational use. Please avoid submitting content that may be sensitive, controversial, or unrelated to learning.
In general, content should feel appropriate for an open classroom discussion involving students, teachers, and academic staff.
Cultural Awareness
Language and humor can vary across cultures. Users are encouraged to be mindful of cultural differences and to communicate in a way that respects local traditions and shared social norms.
Legal and Ethical Use
By using this platform, users agree to engage responsibly and in line with applicable laws and accepted standards of public educational practice.
Moderation & Feedback
To support a positive learning environment, the platform team may review submissions and, when needed, decide not to display or respond to content that does not align with these principles. Feedback is highly valued and helps improve the platform - please keep it constructive, relevant, and focused on learning and usability.
🚀 Quick Start Guide
Beginners (A1-A2)
Start with simple jokes about word meanings, complete A1 activities, and take beginner quizzes to build foundational understanding.
Intermediate (B1-B2)
Explore sarcasm and indirect speech, practice refusals and requests, and test your understanding with context-based scenarios.
Advanced (C1+)
Analyze pragmatic failures, compare cross-cultural differences, and master complex implicatures in various social contexts.
- Follow Your Path: Use the Learning Guide to choose a study approach that matches your learning style
- Build Foundations: Start with the Theory section to understand core concepts
- Analyze Examples: Don't just read jokes - think deeply about WHY they're funny and what pragmatic principles they illustrate
- Practice Actively: Complete activities at your level to apply concepts
- Test Understanding: Take quizzes to assess your pragmatic competence
- Reflect Regularly: Use the notes sections to capture insights and track growth
- Be Patient: Pragmatic competence develops gradually through repeated exposure and practice
- Daily Practice: 10-15 minutes per day is better than occasional long sessions
- Real-World Application: Try to notice pragmatic patterns in your daily conversations
- Cultural Awareness: Compare English pragmatic norms with your native language - what's different?
- Ask "Why?": Always ask "Why is this appropriate/inappropriate?" rather than just memorizing rules
- Embrace Mistakes: Pragmatic failures are learning opportunities, not disasters
Pragmatic competence is the ability to understand and use language appropriately in different social contexts. It goes beyond grammar and vocabulary to include:
- Understanding implied meanings and indirect speech
- Recognizing appropriate vs. inappropriate language for different situations
- Mastering politeness strategies and face-saving techniques
- Navigating cultural norms and expectations in communication
- Performing speech acts effectively (requests, apologies, refusals, etc.)
Humor is the perfect vehicle for developing pragmatic competence because:
- Context-Rich: Jokes only work when you understand the social and linguistic context
- Authentic: Real examples of language in use, not artificial textbook sentences
- Engaging: Memorable and motivating - you'll actually enjoy learning
- Safe Practice: Mistakes with humor are low-stakes and educational
- Cultural Windows: Humor reveals underlying cultural values and norms
- Metacognitive: Analyzing why something is funny develops deeper language awareness
This platform was developed as part of a PhD research project to make pragmatic competence instruction accessible, engaging, and effective through research-based pedagogical approaches combined with the motivational power of humor.
Status: This version is released in test (beta) mode and continues to evolve through iterative refinement and user feedback.
This learning platform is designed on the basis of well-established research in pragmatics, humor theory, and second language acquisition.
Pragmatic Framework
The platform's pragmatic framework draws on:
- H. P. Grice's theory of conversational implicature
- J. L. Austin's and John Searle's Speech Act Theory
- Brown and Levinson's Politeness Theory
- Jenny Thomas's work on pragmatic failure
Humor Theory
The humor component is grounded in Attardo and Raskin's General Theory of Verbal Humor, as developed in their foundational work on script-based humor and later systematized by Attardo.
Pedagogical Research
The platform is informed by research on humor in language learning, particularly studies by Nancy Bell and Anne Pomerantz, and by Martínez-Flor Fernández and Fernández-Fontecha (2008) on using sitcoms to promote pragmatic competence development in second language learning.
👤 About the Developer
Aziz Kholmatov has received his BA in English Philology from Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages and MA in Language Technology and Teaching Foreign Languages (Sprachtechnologie und Fremdsprachendidaktik) from Giessen University in Germany. Currently, he is conducting PhD research at the Uzbekistan State World Languages University.
📝 Share Your Feedback
Fikr va mulohazalaringiz bilan bo'lishing
We value your input! Please share your thoughts, suggestions, or report any issues you encounter.
👩🏫 Teacher Resources & Pedagogy
📚 Teaching Pragmatic Competence Through Humor: Step-by-Step Guide
- EXPOSURE (Input Phase):
- Present the joke, meme, dialogue, or anecdote WITHOUT explanation
- Ask: "Do you understand this? What makes it funny?"
- Let learners struggle productively - don't rush to explain
- AWARENESS (Noticing Phase):
- Guide analysis: "Which words/phrases are key to the humor?"
- Identify pragmatic mechanism: "Which maxim is violated? What implicature exists?"
- Highlight form-meaning relationship: "How does the grammar create this effect?"
- SOCIAL FRAMING (Contextualization Phase):
- Discuss appropriateness: "Can you say this to your teacher? To a friend? To your boss?"
- Explore power/distance: "Why would this be appropriate/inappropriate in different contexts?"
- Compare cultures: "Would this joke work in your language/culture? Why or why not?"
- PRODUCTION (Practice Phase):
- Controlled practice: Students adapt the joke to new contexts
- Guided production: Create similar examples following the pattern
- Free production: Write original dialogues demonstrating the pragmatic feature
- REFLECTION (Metacognitive Phase):
- Students articulate what they learned: "What pragmatic rule did you discover?"
- Connect to L1: "How is this different in your language?"
- Plan application: "When might you need to use this in real life?"
Critical Point: The goal is NOT to make students laugh. The goal is to develop pragmatic awareness - recognizing how language functions in social contexts. Laughter is a bonus, not the objective!
🎯 Classroom Activities & Extensions
Level: B2-C1
Objective: Develop awareness of pragmatic differences across cultures
Instructions:
- Present a pragmatic scenario (e.g., refusing an invitation from a superior)
- Students discuss: How would you do this in English? In your L1? In another language you know?
- Identify differences in directness, formality, explanation strategies
- Students write sample dialogues for each cultural context
- Class discusses which elements are transferable and which cause pragmatic failure
Assessment: Students demonstrate understanding by explaining why certain strategies work in some cultures but not others.
Level: B1-C1
Objective: Practice appropriate language use in different power/distance contexts
Instructions:
- Assign roles with different power/distance relationships (boss-employee, friends, student-teacher)
- Give speech act to perform (request, complaint, refusal, apology)
- Students perform WITHOUT scripts - must navigate appropriately in real-time
- Class observes and notes: Was it appropriate? Too direct? Too indirect?
- Discuss alternative strategies that would also work
Variations: Change one variable (power, distance, imposition) and replay - students notice how language must adapt.
Level: B2-C1
Objective: Recognize and diagnose pragmatic failures
Instructions:
- Present examples of pragmatic failures (from jokes, real learner errors, or constructed examples)
- Students identify: What went wrong? Was it pragmalinguistic or sociopragmatic failure?
- Students propose corrections with justification
- Discuss: How would a native speaker interpret this? What impression does it create?
Extension: Students collect pragmatic failures from their own experience or media and share with class.
Level: B1-C1
Objective: Demonstrate deep understanding by creating original pragmatic humor
Instructions:
- Review a specific pragmatic concept (e.g., conversational implicature, speech act misunderstanding)
- Students create original jokes, dialogues, or scenarios that illustrate this concept
- Share with class - others must identify the pragmatic mechanism
- Discuss what makes some attempts work better than others
Note: This is ADVANCED - requires full understanding of the pragmatic principle. Success demonstrates mastery.
📝 Assessment Rubrics & Answer Guidance
Pragmatic Competence Rubric
| Level | Understanding | Production | Cultural Awareness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | Understands implied meaning in complex humor; explains pragmatic mechanisms clearly | Produces contextually appropriate language consistently; adapts register effectively | Recognizes cultural differences; avoids pragmatic transfer errors |
| Good | Understands most implied meanings with occasional support; identifies key pragmatic features | Usually appropriate; may be overly formal/informal but corrects when pointed out | Aware of some cultural differences; occasionally transfers L1 norms inappropriately |
| Developing | Grasps literal meaning but struggles with implicature; needs guidance to see pragmatic play | Attempts appropriate language but makes frequent pragmalinguistic errors | Limited awareness of cultural differences in pragmatics |
| Needs Support | Takes everything literally; doesn't recognize implied meanings or violations | Uses inappropriate directness/formality regardless of context | Assumes L1 pragmatic norms apply universally |
Activity Answer Keys & Teaching Notes
📚 Additional Teaching Resources
Recommended Reading for Teachers:
- Bardovi-Harlig, K. & Mahan-Taylor, R. (2003). Teaching Pragmatics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State.
- Cohen, A. D. (2008). Teaching and Assessing L2 Pragmatics: What Can We Expect From Learners? Language Teaching, 41(2), 213-235.
- Martínez-Flor, A. & Usó-Juan, E. (2010). Speech Act Performance: Theoretical, Empirical and Methodological Issues. John Benjamins.
- Bell, N. D. (2009). Learning About and Through Humor in the Second Language Classroom. Language Teaching Research, 13(3), 241-258.
Online Resources:
- CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition): Extensive pragmatics teaching materials
- Speech Acts Sets: Videos and activities for teaching pragmatics
- Pragmatics Online Resources: Corpora of authentic pragmatic language use
💭 Teaching Philosophy
Effective pragmatic instruction requires:
- Explicitness: Don't assume students will "pick it up" - teach pragmatic rules directly
- Authenticity: Use real examples from actual communication, not constructed textbook dialogues
- Consciousness-Raising: Help students notice pragmatic features before requiring production
- Practice Opportunities: Provide low-stakes environments to experiment with pragmatic variation
- Feedback: Explain WHY something is inappropriate, not just that it is
- Cultural Respect: Present target language pragmatic norms without devaluing students' L1 norms
Remember: Pragmatic competence develops slowly. Be patient, provide extensive input, and create safe spaces for experimentation!