Description
In this paper, I explore how knowledge about intention-based communication and the cognitive universals of language processing (MacNamara, 1972, 1973; Sperber and Wilson 1986/1995) can be used to redefine L2 listening instruction and approach L2 listening learning from a pragmatic competence perspective. I argue that L2 listener behaviour should be learned as part of developing L2 pragmatic competence, on the basis that the activity of listening or all the activities we engage in when interpreting speaker meaning have everything to do with pragmatic competence. In L2 oral inferential comprehension, the work of interpretation relies as much on visual cues as it does on audible ones, so we need an approach to L2 listening instruction which accommodates communication beyond language per se (Madella, 2020). I take a cognitive-pragmatic approach, informed by relevance theory, and test the pedagogical value of multimodal pointing for refocusing Chinese L2 listeners’ attention to the speaker’s paralinguistic behaviour and thereby enhancing their pragmatic competence. I present evidence that increased alertness to the speaker’s ostensive paralinguistic cues leads to more sophisticated interpretive abilities and demonstrates the need for further investigation into how we can instil in L2 learners the ability to trust what goes on beyond language.| Period | 8 May 2021 |
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| Event title | Linguistics and Knowledge About Language in Education (LKALE) BAAL SIG Event |
| Event type | Conference |