An integrative proposal to teach the pragmatics of phatic communion in ESL classes

Abstract

Learners of English may have problems or make mistakes when engaging in phatic communion, as its use requires a meta-pragmatic awareness of a wide range of complex and subtle issues, such as when and with whom to engage in it, the underlying reasons to do so, the types of phatic tokens that may be exchanged, the topics that such tokens may address, or potential effects achievable. Although many didactic materials implicitly deal with some elements related to phatic communion, they do not include it as an independent topic, nor do they neatly define it, distinguish its different manifestations or address its socio-cultural peculiarities. For this reason, this paper suggests a methodological proposal to teach the pragmatics of phatic communion and raise learners' meta-pragmatic awareness. Based on an approach to teach the pragmatics of specific L2 aspects (Martínez Flor and Usó Juan 2006), this proposal integrates relevant findings about phatic communion from pragmatics and other neighboring disciplines, combines different approaches to teach intercultural pragmatic issues in class and includes tasks.