Pragmatics in EFL textbooks: an exploratory analysis of speech acts in the NGL life textbooks series used in the english linguistics and literature program at Universidad de Chile

Abstract

The present study aims to characterize the presentation of speech acts in the activities of the Life Student's book series. The approach adopted in this investigation was mixed-methods. All the data obtained was quantified and classified in different categories and subcategoriesfor a more systematic and accurate description for later qualitative analysis through pragmatic theoretical constructs of general pragmatics, second language pragmatics, and instructional pragmatics. Regarding this qualitative side of this investigation, we took an in-depth look into how the pragmatic information was present in the selected activity types and if there was any connection worth noting between form, function, and context. The results, in general, show that speech acts and relevant linguistic and social information regarding them are not presented in a systematic way if they are presented all. We can also see the way in which pragmalinguistic information is presented, corresponding to text boxes containing “Linguistic Chunks”, a fact that does not change throughout the series. Regarding the sociopragmatic information available for the student, only general information about context was constantly found. The results also showed that the most common type of skill practised within the activities is “Speaking”, and that the book prefers the productive activities over the interpretative ones. Another reading obtained from the results is that no specific variety of English is used as the pragmatic norm in the book series and that there is little difference on how speech acts are presented from the pre-intermediate to the advanced level. Such findings suggest that the Life student book series designers did not take into consideration how important the pragmatic component is for second language acquisition. These findings are in general similar to previous research in the area of pragmatics and ESL/EFL textbooks.