Pragmatics and language teaching

Abstract

The main goal of language teaching is that at the end of the period of learning, the learners should be able to communicate in that language effectively. The main source of language is language use. The students must therefore be given plenty of opportunity to use the language. This is where the principles of pragmatics come into language teaching. Pragmatics provides ample opportunities for the students to learn English language communicatively and practically. In this study, I shall focus particularly on the application of pragmatics to language teaching with emphasis on Gricean pragmatics and Searle’s speech acts. The question of why pragmatics should be assigned a more prominent place in language teaching syllabus is also sufficiently and adequately addressed.