This paper presents a review of Pragmatics in Language Teaching edited by Kenneth R. Rose & Gabriele Kasper and published
by Cambridge University Press, 2001.
The book is a symposium, including fourteen papers written by different authors. It points out the teachability,
learnability, and testability of pragmatic competence in L2 and
foreign language teaching. Meanwhile, it stresses the importance of pragmatic training in L2 acquisition and foreign language learning. The selected papers demonstrate the theoretical and empirical background of the research on pragmatics in language teaching, analyze some of the issues in classroom-based learning of pragmatics, reveal the effects of certain kinds of instructions in pragmatics, and discuss some tools and methods for the assessment of pragmatic ability. This book displays the main content and research approaches of pragmatics in L2 and foreign language teaching and offers theoretical and practical bases for the researchers.
As a symposium, this book has a well-knitted structure and carefully selected topics. The papers are organized in the sequence of starting from the macro or general coverage and ending with the micro or specific illustrations. This arrangement facilitates to some degree the readers' understanding and grasp of the essence and spirit of the book. Specifically speaking, the contents include both the theoretical consideration and the practical application, and the latter even covers researches on learners of different languages, namely, English, German, French, Japanese so as to manifest the similarities and differences between one's native language and target language. In so doing, the editors draw the readers' attention to the factors influencing the selection of a research topic when carrying out a relevant study. Moreover, considering the differences between grammar testing and that of pragmatic competence, the editors recommend to readers two papers which present the tools for the quantitative study and research methods for different goals. Thus, it may help readers go deeper in their study on the learning and teaching of pragmatic ability.
The drawback of this book lies in its lack of coherence in both content and writing style. What is fortunate is that a forthcoming book entitled Pragmatic Development in a Second Language, written by these two editors, will help remedy this defect soon.