Teaching and Learning Second Language Pragmatics for Intercultural Unders1tanding, edited by Troy McConachy and Anthony J. Liddicoat

What is it about?

In their edited volume, Teaching and Learning Second Language Pragmatics for Intercultural Understanding, Troy McConachy and Anthony J. Liddicoat compiled nine empirical studies that explore the relationship between second language pragmatics and intercultural communication. Representing diverse languages, educational populations and contexts, and research methodologies, these studies delve into the role that pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic knowledge, as well as metapragmatic awareness, plays in intercultural (communicative) competence. The leitmotiv throughout the introduction and the subsequent chapters is the forward-looking framing that describes pragmatics as dynamic, and socially and collaboratively constructed by the participants in specific interactions. This is in contrast to viewing pragmatics based on static prescriptive norms that second language learners have to aspire to, master and adopt. The dynamic framing of second language pragmatics not only acknowledges language learners' multilingual and multicultural competences, but also releases them from bearing sole responsibility for the success or failure of intercultural interactions. This book should be of interest to both novice and expert scholars who wish to understand and/or study the role of pragmatics in intercultural communication themselves.

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