Pragmatic Knowledge Presentation In Senior High School English Textbooks With Case Studies

In the field of interlanguage pragmatics,the theory of language competence tells us that L2/FL learners' communicative competence includes linguistic(grammatical)competence and pragmatic competence.The former is related to the correctness of language arrangement,while the latter is related to the appropriateness of language use.L2/FL learners should not only learn the grammatical knowledge of the target language,but also the pragmatic knowledge of the target language.Grammatical knowledge involves grammatical rules such as word pronunciation,spelling,word formation and sentence formation,while pragmatic knowledge involves how communicators choose words to make sentences and discourses,how to use words appropriately,and how to use language according to the pragmatic rules of the target language.There is no exception in English teaching.Teachers should not only pay attention to their students' vocabulary and grammar learning,but also pay more attention to their students' pragmatic learning,that is,the learning of habitual ways of language use in particular context.Only in this way can students learn natural and idiomatic ways of English.Over the years,teaching language knowledge and grammar is the center of middle school English teaching.Teachers mainly focus on the structure of language itself,pay attention to the interpretation of phonetics,grammar,vocabulary knowledge,and also to the requirement of the students only stay on the understanding of the lexical grammar knowledge.They pay little attention,even ignore students' pragmatic knowledge of teaching,which indicate pragmatics is ignored to some degree in middle school English teaching.Therefore,it is easy for us to see that the issue of pragmatic competence is the cause for time-consuming and ineffective foreign language teaching.On January 16,2018,the English curriculum standards for ordinary senior high schools(2017 edition)was officially released,which clearly put forward the requirements for pragmatic knowledge teaching in senior high school English teaching.How to carry out pragmatic teaching in senior high school Englishteaching has become a challenge and problem faced by our teachers.Textbooks are the main materials of senior high school English teaching in the context of foreign languages,and the main language input for senior high school students to learn foreign languages.At the same time,teaching materials are also one of the important means to achieve curriculum standards.Therefore,this study takes the teaching contents,organizational design and presentation distribution of compulsory Volume 0ne to Five in the PEP edition of senior high school English textbooks as the research object to investigate the presentation of pragmatic knowledge in senior high school English textbooks.On this basis,the present situation of pragmatic teaching in senior high school classroom teaching is investigated and analyzed by means of teaching case study.Findings are as follows:1.The PEP edition of senior high school English textbooks emphasizes the learning of students' ability to use English.The textbook consists of 11 volumes,each of which has five teaching units.Each unit conducts teaching in a thematic context,covering 55 thematic contexts,including cultural customs,exotic customs,literature and art,natural environment protection,social life,modern science and technology,and the future world.This textbook not only pays attention to language learning,but also pays attention to the use of language,and emphasizes the connection between language teaching and the real world.2.The pragmatics of the senior high school English textbook is obvious.Each unit of the textbook consists of six sections: topic,functional items,(grammar)structure,reading,writing,and student books,plus the final appendix.The theme defines each unit discourse type and the scene of discourse generation.Functional items directly indicate the different speech acts and pragmatic functions of each unit;the writing part trains the students' language ability and discourse ability.The text notes and unit vocabulary in the appendix also partly reflect pragmatic knowledge.3.In teaching,teachers neglect the teaching of students' pragmatic knowledge.In the case study,the author finds that the senior high school English teachers still do not combine the pragmatic knowledge in the teaching materials.Teachers seldom integrate pragmatic knowledge into nine teaching steps,including warming up,pre-reading,reading,comprehending,learning about language,using language,summing up,learning tip,reading for fun,etc.The pragmatic knowledge points are obvious,but the key lies in the teachers' pragmatic awareness and pragmatic teaching.It is indeed difficult to correct the teaching habits or traditions formed over the years that emphasize the explanation of language,grammar and vocabulary knowledge and ignore the cultivation of students' language use ability.Therefore,from the perspective of the content design,organization and arrangement of textbooks,this study presents the pragmatic knowledge contents of compulsory volumes one to five in the PEP edition of senior high school English textbooks.On the one hand,this paper provides a kind of pragmatic inspiration for the first-line teachers to analyze textbooks;on the other hand,it also provides a case for the first-line teachers to implement the new curriculum standards in senior high schools.Through this research,the author hopes to realize the goals and requirements of the new curriculum standards of high school English from the perspective of pragmatic knowledge when preparing lessons for teachers.