Pragmatic competences in oral textbook tasks

Abstract

Pragmatic competences can be perceived as awareness of how meaning is context dependent and how to use language accordingly. These competences are a central part of communicative competence, enabling students to engage in successful communication. The present study is based on the Council of Europe’s description of pragmatic competences, presented in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment (2001). An important aim of the present thesis is to map potentials for developing pragmatic competences in oral textbook tasks. It also examines amount, type and placement of metapragmatic instruction related to oral tasks. The textbooks studied are designed for the compulsory subject of English in upper secondary school in Norway. These textbooks are Targets (Aschehoug), Access to English (Cappelen Damm) and New Experiences (Gyldendal). The study has benefited from mixed methods to carry out the textbook analysis. Research findings show that pragmatic competences have made their way into Norwegian textbooks for teaching English, and are also reflected in LK06. However, the present study identifies central aspects where there is room for improvement in relation to oral textbooks tasks.