Reconceptualizing the goals for forerign language learning: The role of pragmatics instruction

Abstract

The the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (2006) and the 2007 MLA report, Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World, have put forth recommendations for language education in the United States. Both documents lament the dearth of competent speakers of languages other than English and both advocate for a change to the current system. However, in this chapter I argue that neither model is sufficient. After a thorough analysis of the Standards and the MLA report, I present a review of the literature on interlanguage pragmatics and argue that the inclusion of pragmatics instruction can aid in the personal transformation necessary for true competence in the second language. Pragmatics study provides a starting point for the deconstruction of the original self by presenting often conflicting patterns of a paradigm that to learners appears to be self-evident as well as uniform across cultures, namely what constitutes politeness—the building block of interaction that serves as a frame for all discourse. When politeness is found to be distinct across cultures, the sense of a foundation of communication gives way and the native culture, and with it the self, are challenged. The inclusion of pragmatics can result in a different self than before, an amplified self with varying sets of workable frames for interaction. It is in this way that meaningful entrance into and interaction with the target culture can take place. The Standards and the MLA report come up short precisely because they do not adequately address this important component of language.