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L2 Pragmatics in Action: Teachers, learners and the teaching-learning interaction process
Edited by Alicia Martínez-Flor, Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández and Júlia Barón
[Language Learning & Language Teaching 58] 2023
► pp. 319–339

Chapter 13
A task-supported language approach to teaching L2 pragmatics

| Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
The aim of the present study is to explore the effects of a Task-Supported Language Teaching approach on second/foreign language (L2) pragmatic performance. The participants were 35 English as a Foreign Language learners with a C1 proficiency level, enrolled in a summer intensive language course. Three ‘podcast’ topic-related units were designed and incorporated into the classroom syllabus. First, students were introduced to the topic through input and metapragmatic explanations on ways of agreeing/disagreeing and showing interest that activated their schemata. Second, students were asked to work in pairs and create three podcasts. The findings show that the podcast tasks seemed to provide learners with a meaningful context so as to use the pragmatic strategies presented in the metapragmatic explanations, which were used consistently throughout the podcasts.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Teaching pragmatics through tasks
    • 2.2Technology, pragmatics and tasks
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Pedagogical intervention
      • 3.2.1Needs analysis
      • 3.2.2The podcast topic-related units
      • 3.2.3The target pragmatic expressions
      • 3.2.4The task: The podcast
    • 3.3Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Podcast 1: Have we become phone addicts?
    • 4.2Podcast 2: Family relations in TV series and movies
    • 4.3Podcast 3: What’s best on Netflix and HBO?
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Pedagogical implications
  • 7.Conclusion
    • 7.1Limitations and future directions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 April 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.58.13bar
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