Teaching pragmatic competence through literary texts at secondary level

Abstract

This dissertation takes on a text-based, materials development methodology in order to explore the manner in which pragmatic competence can be taught to local second language (L2) learners of English through fictional texts of a literary nature. For this to materialise, this study chooses to utilise the characters’ direct speech (DS) in John Boyne’s (2006) The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a text selected from the 2025 Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) Syllabus for English Literature (Matriculation and Secondary Education Certificate Examinations Board [MATSEC], 2022), as the basis for materials that would be relevant and useful to secondary school learners in Year 9 to Year 11. The reason for exploiting a literary text is due to the presence of representative interaction that operates within a linear and highly contextualised environment, and that can serve as a practical foundation for tasks facilitating the teaching and learning of pragmatic competence. This intends to provide opportunities for L2 learners to make the most of the language-fiction interface where making connections between utterance and context will result in an enriching learning experience. Both the language and literature classrooms can derive benefits from this, rendering the notion of flexibility a key underpinning aspect of the project. The topics in English pragmatics that are of particular relevance to this study are speech acts (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969), cooperation and implicature (Grice, 1975), and politeness (Brown and Levinson, 1987) and impoliteness (Culpeper, 1996). Of equal relevance are the principles outlined by The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe [CoE], 2020) that deems pragmatic competence a fundamental aspect of language proficiency.