Teaching and testing second language pragmatics and interaction: a practical guide, Carsten Roever. Routledge, New York (2022)

Abstract

Written by Carsten Roever, Teaching and Testing Second Language Pragmatics and Interaction: A Practical Guide is primarily targeted at second language (L2) teachers, curriculum designers, and test makers who aim to teach and test pragmatic and interactional competence in L2 classrooms. Pragmatic competence is about how the contextual and situational variables affect the interaction. This study examines linguistic appropriacy in communicative contexts. Neglecting this may lead to communicative breakdowns, wherein interlocutors risk being perceived as socially inappropriate or pragmatically incompetent. However, pragmatic and interactional competence have been underemphasized in L2 teaching and testing. The dearth of pragmatics in L2 textbooks and curricula makes this pedagogical guide both urgent and significant. This volume intends to remedy the situation by systemically offering empirically-grounded practical tools and research-based effective techniques for L2 educators and assessment specialists. There are altogether seven chapters in this monograph. They are, in sequence: (1) introduction; (2) pragmatic competence and interactional competence; (3) how to make teaching materials and tests for pragmatics; (4) pragmatics and curriculum; (5) teaching pragmatics; (6) testing pragmatics; and (7) outlook: the future of teaching and testing of L2 pragmatics.