Pragmatic Competence and Intercultural Communication

Kusevska, Marija (2018) Pragmatic Competence and Intercultural Communication. In: Traditions and transitions, 28-30 Sept 2018, Sofia, Bulgaria. (Submitted)

[thumbnail of CONFERENCE PROGRAMME.pdf]
Preview
Text
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME.pdf

Download (441kB) | Preview
[thumbnail of Sofia2018.pdf]
Preview
Text
Sofia2018.pdf

Download (446kB) | Preview

Abstract

Globalization has intensified communication among people with different first languages and of different cultures. Because of this, intercultural communication is perceived as being somewhat problematic. Misunderstanding and communication breakdown are said to mark many intercultural encounters as participants rely on the norms of their mother tongue and native culture to interpret and create meaning. Raising intercultural awareness through research in pragmatics can help people overcome misunderstandings and maintain communication. This paper contributes to that trend of enhancing cross-cultural, intercultural and interlanguage pragmatics research. It focuses on the speech act of complaining as it is formulated in English and in Macedonian with respect to complaint strategies, complaint frames and speech act modification. The pragmatic competences of Macedonian learners of English is also in focus. We compare their performance with native speaker performance and discuss the appropriatnes of their utterances. The analysis was based on the responses of 48 American native speakers of English, 50 native speakers of Macedonian and 52 Macedonian learners of English. Data were collected through a Discourse completion test consisting of six scenarios with different contextual parameters. The results are presented though statistical and comparative methods. We then point out that research in pragmatics is not pure linguistic endavour without practical application. It is very important for language education, syllabus design and design of methods appropriate for acquiring pragmatic competences. It is also important for all those who need to communicate with members of other cultural communities when visiting conferences, seminars, business meetings and diplomatic gatherings.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects: Humanities > Languages and literature
Divisions: Faculty of Philology
Depositing User: Marija Kusevska
Date Deposited: 09 Oct 2018 20:27
Last Modified: 09 Oct 2018 20:27
URI: https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/20511

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item