Recommended books on pragmatics
By Jono Ryan - Head of Materials Development
Recently, a teacher asked me to recommend an introductory book that would lay out the central concepts of pragmatics. I didn’t have an immediate answer and this prompted me to revisit and reflect on the options. Since no single book ever seems enough, I decided to come up with three useful introductions that I could recommend to her.
Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
I remember a lecturer vaguely defining pragmatics, and then swiftly moving on. It sounded mysterious and impenetrable. It sounded like she didn't really understand it. I was intrigued.
One or two years later, on a marketing trip to South Korea, I found myself in an enormous store with an impressive array of language teaching and linguistics books. And here was a slim volume intriguingly titled ‘Pragmatics’ and by an author I was already familiar with.
It's a book that covers a lot of territory in a small number of pages. I've never read it back-to-back – and it doesn’t feel like that sort of book – but it's one that I've dipped into many many times. The type of book to have in your bag for when you have five minutes between classes. 13,000 won well spent.
There are quite a few alternatives to this book, but I like the really compact style, the glossary, the range of topics covered and the guide to suggested readings.
If you’re looking for a book that maps a lot of the pragmatics territory as efficiently as possible, this is it.
Roever, C. (2021). Teaching and testing second language pragmatics and interaction: A practical guide. Routledge.
This book arrived in the mail just a few weeks ago and I highly recommend it. I say that with the utmost confidence despite not finishing it. It’s a book that applies pragmatics to language teaching and does so in an engaging style and while offering very practical and sound advice. I’m hooked.
The first two chapters provide a brief, compelling case for the relevance of pragmatics, and the remaining chapters turn to the practical issues that preoccupy teachers: curriculum, materials, teaching and assessment. The chapter on curriculum makes recommendations for which aspects of pragmatic competence should be developed at each of the CEFR levels. The chapter on teaching includes example lesson plans with clear explanations of the intended outcomes and rationale for the approach. I haven't yet delved into the chapter on assessing pragmatics, but this is Roever’s specialty and so could prove the best.
If I had to choose a single book for a teacher who was brand new to pragmatics, this would be it.
Wong, J., & Waring, H. Z. (2021). Conversation analysis and second language pedagogy: A guide for ESL/EFL teachers (2nd ed.). Routledge.
This is my all-time favorite book for teachers. More than any other book, this has deeply influenced my thinking around how language is used and what the content of speaking and listening classes can be. The new edition comes with new chapters and a more attractive format. Even better.
When the first edition came out, I was already about seven or eight years into my fascination with pragmatics, but I only had a very vague impression of what conversation analysis (CA) was all about. But I had seen a keynote presentation by author Jean Wang and was intrigued enough to ask a local journal for a copy to review. I was blown away. This is what I'd been looking for.
It's a book specifically for language teachers and the authors do a great job of explaining complex material from decades of CA research and then drawing connections to language teaching. But it's not necessarily an easy first step for teachers. It takes a while to grasp the CA mindset. Rather than dip into now and then, it’s one that I’d recommend really sitting down with and thinking along with. For teachers willing to put in the work, CA is immensely rewarding and this is an outstanding guide to its application to teaching.