Context, Intention, and Meaning in English Language Teaching: Developing Pragmatic Awareness in Learners of English as a Foreign Language
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21196227Ключевые слова:
English as a Foreign Language (EFL); pragmatic awareness; communicative competence; communicative context; communicative intention; implicit meaning; speech acts; pragmatic competenceАннотация
This article examines the role of context, communicative intention, and meaning in teaching English as a Foreign
Language (EFL). The relevance of this study lies in the fact that effective English language proficiency requires not
only knowledge of grammatical structures, vocabulary, and pronunciation but also the ability to interpret utterances by
considering the communicative context, the degree of formality, the social relationships between interlocutors, intonation,
and implicit meaning. The purpose of this study is to examine the significance of pragmatic awareness in the development
of learners’ communicative competence and to identify the methodological conditions necessary for fostering pragmatic
awareness in English language teaching. The methodological framework of the study consists of a theoretical analysis of
the relevant scholarly literature, pragmatic analysis of context-dependent English utterances, the descriptive method, and
a comparative-analytical approach. The article analyzes communicative situations in which the literal meaning of an utterance
differs from its pragmatic function. Particular attention is devoted to indirect requests, polite refusals, expressions of
disagreement, academic criticism, politeness formulas, and utterances whose interpretation depends on intonation and
communicative context. The theoretical analysis demonstrates that pragmatic awareness constitutes an essential component
of communicative competence. Its development contributes to a more accurate interpretation of English discourse,
reduces the likelihood of pragmatic errors, and enables learners to use English not only with grammatical accuracy but
also with communicative appropriateness. The study therefore argues for the systematic integration of instructional activities
aimed at analyzing communicative context, identifying speaker intention, distinguishing between literal and implicit
meanings, and selecting linguistic forms that are appropriate to specific communicative situations
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