Acquiring Pragmatic Knowledge through Textbooks : Explicit Teaching of Speech Acts in EFL Textbooks in the Swedish Upper Secondary School

Abstract: Previous studies in the field have suggested that speech acts are underrepresented in EFL textbooks and that, in addition, these tend to have little or no presentation of meta-pragmatic information. In relation to these findings, the present study investigated the extent and manner in which speech acts are presented in EFL textbooks currently used in the Swedish upper secondary school. The focus was limited to explicit teaching of speech acts and, thus, does not present any information or findings concerning implicit teaching of speech acts or to what extent this is presented in the textbooks. The findings showed that the four textbooks examined provide limited presentation of speech acts and that, when presented, little or no meta-pragmatic information is included, which is consistent with the findings of previous studies. To begin with, the findings of the present study show that, on average, speech acts cover less than 1% of the content in the four textbooks examined, providing students with very little opportunity for frequent repetition and to acquire knowledge about speech acts through these textbooks. Moreover, the findings show that the range of speech acts presented in the textbooks is rather low, presenting only 8 different speech acts in total between the books, which compares rather well with the findings of Nguyen (2011: 21) who, as mentioned in Section 6.1, also found 8 distinct types of speech act presented in EFL textbooks designed for courses for more proficient students. Further on, the manner in which these are presented is problematic. Two manners of presentation were identified: speech acts were either presented in lists of useful phrases or integrated as examples of phrases to use within a written assignment. The speech acts presented as useful phrases were listed according to level of formality and the integrated examples provided, to some extent, contextual information concerning the gender and status of an addressee. However, this is the extent to which meta-pragmatic information is presented. No textbook provides any explanation as to why some speech acts are more formal than others or why one phrase may be better suited than another. Subsequently, the findings of the present study have implications for teachers and learners using the textbooks for the purpose of teaching and learning EFL. As the findings suggest that speech acts are underrepresented in Swedish EFL textbooks and that, once mentioned, there is still a lack of meta-pragmatic information on these, such information must be provided in the teaching elsewhere. This can mean a number of things. For one thing, it could mean that textbooks need to be further developed, providing a wider range of speech acts presented and including more metapragmatic information. It could also mean that, in the meantime, teachers need to find alternative ways of incorporating speech acts and information on these, so that students are given the opportunity to acquire this language feature elsewhere.