Examining Greek EFL teachers’ pragmatic competence, beliefs and challenges in integrating L2 pragmatics instruction

Pragmatic competence is a fundamental aspect of communicative ability and key to successful interaction between two or more interlocutors within a given socio-cultural context. It is widely accepted that its absence entails misunderstandings or communication breakdowns (Alsuhaibani, 2022; Tulgar, 2016). Therefore, teaching pragmatics in EFL classrooms is a crucial issue since it prepares second language learners to communicate effectively within an intercultural and multicultural context, which is, in fact, the ultimate goal of second language learning. Yet, in Greek EFL classes, pragmatics instruction is often absent. Admittedly, Greek EFL teachers are not native speakers of the language and have been taught English and its pragmatics as second-language learners themselves. Consequently, their limited exposure to the target L2 socio-cultural context may imply teachers’ low level of pragmatic knowledge, which influences their teaching of pragmatics. Besides, there are other issues...Show morePragmatic competence is a fundamental aspect of communicative ability and key to successful interaction between two or more interlocutors within a given socio-cultural context. It is widely accepted that its absence entails misunderstandings or communication breakdowns (Alsuhaibani, 2022; Tulgar, 2016). Therefore, teaching pragmatics in EFL classrooms is a crucial issue since it prepares second language learners to communicate effectively within an intercultural and multicultural context, which is, in fact, the ultimate goal of second language learning. Yet, in Greek EFL classes, pragmatics instruction is often absent. Admittedly, Greek EFL teachers are not native speakers of the language and have been taught English and its pragmatics as second-language learners themselves. Consequently, their limited exposure to the target L2 socio-cultural context may imply teachers’ low level of pragmatic knowledge, which influences their teaching of pragmatics. Besides, there are other issues that EFL instructors should deal with that hinder the incorporation of pragmatics in their lesson plans. This thesis aimed to investigate Greek EFL teachers’ pragmatic competence, their beliefs on L2 pragmatics instruction, and the challenges they face in integrating it into their EFL classroom. To achieve the thesis objectives, a mixed-methods research design was employed, using questionnaires (pragmatic comprehension scenarios, DCT, Likert-scale self-reports) and semi-structured interviews to collect data, which were then analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The present thesis showed that the 72 Greek EFL teachers who participated in the questionnaire have a relatively high level of pragmatic competence. This thesis also identified no correlation between teachers’ pragmatic competence and their years of teaching experience or their residing/studying/working abroad using the target language. Moreover, it is found that although most teachers do not include structured pragmatic instruction in their lesson plans, they do value L2 pragmatics teaching. Finally, teacher and learner factors, as well as the Greek EFL context itself, pose significant challenges in incorporating L2 pragmatic instructions in Greek EFL classrooms.Show less

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Examining Greek EFL teachers’ pragmatic competence, beliefs and challenges in integrating L2 pragmatics instruction