Course Information
SemesterCourse Unit CodeCourse Unit TitleT+P+LCreditNumber of ECTS CreditsLast Updated Date
2ELT510Pragmatics and Language Teaching3+0+03712.10.2026
Course Details
Language of Instruction English
Level of Course Unit Master's Degree
Department / Program English Language Teaching
Type of Program Formal Education
Type of Course Unit Elective
Course Delivery Method Face To Face
Objectives of the Course The course develops specialist understanding of pragmatic theory and its implications for language learning and teaching. Students learn to interpret contextual meaning, evaluate research evidence, recognize pragmatic diversity, and justify appropriate instructional and assessment designs. Critical interpretation, ethical judgment, and reasoned pedagogy are emphasized rather than memorization of fixed cultural rules.
Course Content This MA course examines how speakers and writers construct meaning in context and how pragmatic knowledge can be developed in language education. Foundational concepts include deixis, reference, presupposition, implicature, speech acts, politeness, and interaction. Students connect these concepts with L2 pragmatic development, intercultural communication, learner agency, instruction, and assessment. Supplied examples and research studies support critical analysis and pedagogical reasoning. Assessment consists solely of individual written midterm and final examinations.
Course Methods and Techniques Three hours per week combine interactive lectures, guided reading, analysis of utterances and transcripts, role-play, case comparison, collaborative problem solving, and formative teaching/assessment design. No student-led seminar is required. Classroom discussion, peer feedback, and practice tasks support learning without contributing separate marks. No regular class is held during the midterm week.
Prerequisites and co-requisities None
Course Coordinator None
Name of Lecturers Associate Prof.Dr. Seda SIVACI seda.sivaci@hku.edu.tr
Assistants None
Work Placement(s) No

Recommended or Required Reading
Resources Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. D. (2022). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Instructor-selected empirical articles on instructed L2 pragmatics, pragmatic variation, and assessment supplement the main coursebook. Relevant topic-based book sections and one or two core readings are announced at least one week in advance.
Course Notes Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. D. (2022). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Instructor-selected empirical articles on instructed L2 pragmatics, pragmatic variation, and assessment supplement the main coursebook. Relevant topic-based book sections and one or two core readings are announced at least one week in advance.

Course Category
Field %100

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
Activities are given in detail in the section of "Assessment Methods and Criteria" and "Workload Calculation"

Assessment Methods and Criteria
In-Term Studies Quantity Percentage
Mid-terms 1 % 40
Final examination 1 % 60
Total
2
% 100

 
ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload
Activities Quantity Duration Total Work Load
Course Duration 14 3 42
Hours for off-the-c.r.stud 14 6 84
Mid-terms 1 36 36
Final examination 1 48 48
Total Work Load   Number of ECTS Credits 7 210

 
Course Learning Outcomes: Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
NoLearning Outcomes
1 Critically explain and compare core pragmatic concepts and theories, relating them to language learning and teaching.
2 Analyze context-dependent meaning in supplied spoken and written examples using concepts of inference, speech acts, politeness, and interaction.
3 Critically evaluate research on L2 pragmatic development and instruction, comparing theoretical assumptions, methods, evidence, and limitations.
4 Evaluate pragmatic variation and intercultural misunderstandings while accounting for learner agency, identity, power, and contextual diversity.
5 Design and justify context-sensitive classroom activities for teaching pragmatic comprehension and production.
6 Develop and critically evaluate classroom assessment tasks and scoring criteria for pragmatic performance, considering contextual appropriateness, fairness, and feedback.

 
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
WeekTopicsStudy MaterialsMaterials
1 Introduction to pragmatics and language teaching: Speaker meaning, context, semantics/pragmatics and communicative competence. - -
2 Deixis reference and context: Person, time, place and social deixis; reference and contextual interpretation. - -
3 Presupposition and pragmatic inference: Common ground; presupposition triggers; inference and ambiguity. - -
4 Implicature and indirect meaning: Conversational implicature; cooperation; alternative contextual interpretations. - -
5 Speech acts and communicative action: Requests, refusals, apologies and complaints; form, force and sequences. - -
6 Politeness face and relational work: Power, distance and imposition; critiques of universal models. - -
7 Interaction and discourse pragmatics: Turn-taking, repair, openings/closings; discourse markers and pragmatic prosody. - -
8 Pragmatic variation and intercultural interaction: Pragmalinguistics/sociopragmatics; transfer, misunderstanding and agency; revision. - -
9 Written midterm examination. - -
10 L2 pragmatic development and learning contexts: Development, noticing, individual differences and learning opportunities. - -
11 Instructed L2 pragmatics: Explicit/implicit instruction; metapragmatic awareness, input and feedback. - -
12 Pragmatics in materials and classroom interaction: Textbook representations, authentic input and task sequencing. - -
13 Pragmatics assessment: DCTs, role-plays and interaction tasks; scoring, validity, fairness and feedback. - -
14 ELF multilingual identity and digital communication: Negotiated norms, learner agency, email/messaging and digital interaction. - -
15 Revision: Reflections. - -

 
Sustainable Development Goals
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12
C1 5 3 3
C2 4 3 3
C3 4 5 2 2
C4 3 3 3 4 3
C5 3 4 3 4 4
C6 3 4 3 3

  Contribution: 1: Very Slight 2:Slight 3:Moderate 4:Significant 5:Very Significant