FLOUTING MAXIMS IN “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST” MOVIE

Communication is one of important part in human life. This research related to the phenomenon of pragmatics. This research focused on analyzing the flouting of maxims in the Disney film entitled “Beauty and the Beast”. The purpose of this study is to determine the kinds of maxim flouting produced by the actor. For this research, the researchers used Grice's theory of flouting maxim. This research used descriptive qualitative as the research design which shapes how the report of the analysis would be descriptively. This research collected the data by applying observational and non-participatory technique by Sudaryanto (1993). As for analyzing data, the researchers used pragmatic identity method and pragmatic competence- in equalizing technique. From the analysis of the collected data, the researchers found that several conversations of the main characters in this film contained flouting of the maxims. Those were 4 data of maxim quantity, 4 data of maxim quality, 3 data of maxim of relevance, and 2 data of maxims manner.

Pragmatic Competence of Iranian EFL Learners in the Light of Refusal Speech Act

In order to communicate accurately and fluently, learners need to know how to produce different speech acts inside and outside the classroom context. Refusal speech act is complicated, and performing refusals successfully needs a higher level of pragmatic competence (Eslami, 2010). This study is done in order to analyze refusal speech act and its responses among Iranian EFL learners. The participants of this study are 120 advanced Iranian EFL learners. These learners are provided with scenarios so that they are exposed to situations where they should both refuse and respond to refusals. The first phase of this paper includes the analysis of refusal strategies. The second phase of the paper deals with refusal responses. It was revealed that female participants are more inclined to use indirect strategies as related to refusals and male participants are more inclined to use direct strategies. For refusal responses, male learners used reinforcing micro functions while female learners used accepting micro functions more frequently. The results of this study contribute to pragmatic instruction in a way to help learners interpret and realize this speech act successfully. I will also investigate possible cross-cultural miscommunication, which its occurrence is also acknowledged in previous research studies (Shishavan & Sharifian, 2016).

Teaching the pragmatics of English as an international language: A focus on pragmatic markers

The current era of globalization and emergence of English as an international language (EIL) has brought about new opportunities for L2 pragmatic learning and teaching. The common view of pragmatic learning as an approximation to native-likeness is changing towards conceiving pragmatic ability as a tool to interact with people of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the majority of whom are non-native speakers (NNSs) of English. While such reality is widely acknowledged, few attempts have been made to teach pragmatic competence in EIL. Addressing this concern, the present study investigates the effects that a pedagogical intervention on EIL pragmatics has on the oral use of pragmatic markers (PMs): a key tool for successful communication in the current increasingly multicultural and multilingual society. Seventy-three Spanish EFL students were divided into an instructional ( n = 34) and a control group ( n = 39). The instructional group received 4 interventional sessions that included (1) awareness of the legitimacy of EIL, (2) meta-pragmatic awareness of pragmatic behavior across the world, (3) task-supported instruction on PMs, and (4) strategy-based instruction. Pragmatic competence was assessed by students’ use of PMs in oral academic presentations. The results revealed that the instructional group had more significant changes in the frequency and variety of PMs used than the control one, as they widened the repertoire of PMs uttered in their academic presentations. These findings project the future of pragmatic instruction in EIL and provide directions for reorienting the EIL curriculum towards the integration of L2 pragmatics.

THE ESSENCE OF COMMON METHODS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Today, knowledge of foreign languages is required to avoid barriers to communication between people around the world. Thus, learning foreign languages is relevant at almost any age.The purpose of this article is to consider the generally accepted methods and determine the effectiveness of each of them during training. To achieve fluency in a foreign language, it is necessary to divide foreign language communicative competence into a number of components and develop them both individually and in combination. Each of the models is a separate and independent method that can be used to improve certain components of foreign language communicative competence. The main components include: the development of speech, writing, reading, and the study of vocabulary. There is no single approach in the scientific literature to determine the structure of foreign language communicative competence, as the general form of this competence can be presented in a set of components such as linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence. Therefore, it is not possible to dwell on a specific method as ideal for the formation of competence, as each of them has its disadvantages and advantages. The formation of foreign language communicative competence requires a long and careful study of the material offered by a teacher who uses a certain method.

Exploring Conversational Implicatures in the American Sitcom Seinfeld

Since learners must know how to use language in different contexts, sitcoms could help with pragmatic competence development because they display contextualized lifelike language. Could identifying conversational implicatures in a sitcom help develop metalinguistic awareness of implicatures? In addition, are there conversational implicatures in the sitcom Seinfeld that present the potential to help develop pragmatic competence? This article illustrates conversational implicatures through Seinfeld episodes and discusses how identifying implicatures could develop metapragmatic awareness. The method was a descriptive research of the qualitative type. Ten segments from the American sitcom Seinfeld were analyzed based on their conversational implicature occurrence. The implicatures present in the segments are discernible and may help develop pragmatic competence if explicitly taught to learners. Further studies could focus on quantitative research in EFL classrooms on the potential benefits of using sitcoms to develop metalinguistic awareness.

CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF REFUSAL STRATEGIES OF AMERICAN AND ARMENIAN ENGLISH SPEAKERS

Several studies have been carried out on refusal strategies that native and non-native English speakers employ to mitigate potential threat to listener’s face when forming refusals to various speech acts, such as requests, offers, invitations, etc. This study adds the perspective of Armenian English speakers in using such mitigation strategies. The objective of the study is to identify similarities and differences in the use of various politeness strategies used in refusal acts by native English speakers (NES) and Armenian non-native English speakers (ANNES) with the aim of establishing the extent of cultural impact on pragmatic competence of ANNES. Language data was collected among 24 Armenian English speakers of high level of English proficiency and 15 American English speakers. A modified version of the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) developed by Beebe, Takahashi, and Uliss-Weltz (Beebe et al., 1990) was used to collect data. Along with considerable similarities in the use of politeness strategies in refusals between the two groups which indicate the high degree of pragmatic competence of ANNES, the analysis of the data also revealed some differences which attest to certain impact of the Armenian culture on this competence. The differences are mainly observed in frequency of use and in the content of the same strategies used by the two groups.