Job Discussion Forums

[spiral78]

Thanks, but I'm a proficient walker already, having practiced the art for some years.

I've also got an effective level of knowledge of pragmatics, as they fall under the broader umbrella of ICC and as they affect my specific range of students, though I wouldn't claim to be an expert by any means - the field is simply far too vast and complex.

Perhaps the clearest input I can offer here is to simply answer the questions you put originally.

I was wondering how many of you address these differences (if you do ) in your teaching. Do you address them directly or indirectly?

We do. Overtly - it's a part of the curriculum across faculties.

First, I'm wondering how she teaches this subject as I can envision some real "cultural" landmines when teaching pragmatics.

Not sure what 'landmines' you envision, but the overall approach used in my situation is absolutely non-judgemental - there are a trillion ways to communicate - English speakers tend to do something in 'this' range and it can be useful for you, student, to know 'that' as it helps you to unlock the meanings of others and to communicate more clearly in international contexts yourself.

Secondly, I'm wondering how useful the training is as my impression of a lot of Japanese English teachers is that they often seem to ignore pragmatics in dealing with their native speaker colleagues (but who knows, maybe my sample data is skewed ).

I know very little about Japanese teaching contexts at all, but teaching myself in an international university, where 99% of students are non-native English speakers, but are all studying in English - here, there's a real need to understand and communicate on as many levels as possible.

I would guess that you are likely right - it could be very difficult to get across the importance of effective communication across cultures in a situation when students rarely need to actually do this - studying in home country and native language is an entirely different context.

[steki47]

[gaijinalways]

spiral78 posted

[spiral78]

So, basically, this thread's for the Japan forum.

[steki47]

[spiral78]

I'm a bit in between students at the moment, but over the past 12 years I've been blessed with students who are both interested in and have an actual need for anything that will help them communicate successfully in international contexts. I doubt I'd have anything useful to add to a whinge about trying to teach pragmatics to students who kinda don't really need it at the moment

MOD EDIT

[killthebuddha]

[gaijinalways]

gaijinalways posted

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Several offensive, off-topic and/or inappropriate postings have been deleted or edited.

Bottom Line: Stick to the topic and avoid the personal asides if your membership here is important to you.