Approaching EFL Learning Under Chinese Setting

EFL learning has become one of the hot issues that attract some Chinese scholars and researchers' attention since 1970s. Facing some problems arising in the process of EFL learning most of researchers have attempted to get reasonable interpretations from traditional linguistics such as syntax, semantics and so on but the results are unsatisfied.Pragmatics has set up a brand new area for linguistic research and found a breach for some thorny problems emerged in syntax and semantics. Pragmatics has developed into a dynamic discipline from the "waste-basket" of semantics within a short period. As a new branch of linguistics, pragmatics has gained full momentum for its development especially in recent two decades since it was introduced to China in 1980s. "The pragmatic research carried out in China can roughly divided into three aspects: 1) pragmatic research is geared to the needs of foreign language teaching; 2) pragmatic research is developed towards Chinese grammar and pragmatic usage; 3) theoretical research in pragmatics." (Shen Jiaxuan, 1996) But this thesis aims to integrate pragmatic theories with EFL learning and make an analysis of some pragmatic failures arising in the learning process. After that, to aggrandize the pragmatic input, arouse EFLlearners' pragmatic awareness and cultivate their language competence-pragmatic competence in particular are put forward as the principal goal of EFL learning.This thesis reports a research composed of a test and two questionnaires.This research is conducted among 60 sophomores majoring in mathematics of Shandong University. The content of this research includes a CET4 of January, 2002 and two questionnaires concerning pragmatic competence and general information of English learning as well. Test can function both as "diagnosis" and "feedback" to the study. By taking the problems arising in the test into consideration I will analyze the language problems from the pragmatic perspective and then offer some solutions accordingly. One of the objectives of this study is to collect the data involving pragmatic failures made by subjects in writing and spoken English of the test and then to analyze the sources of these pragmatic failures. The second objective of this study is to expound the interdependent relationship between linguistic competence and pragmatic competence through Questionnaire I. To what extent, is the pragmatic competence influenced by the linguistic competence? The third objective of this study is to get the general information related to EFL learning, such as pragmatic knowledge, culture factors and so on by Questionnaire II.This thesis consists of seven parts, including Introduction and Conclusion. The introduction presents the influence on EFL learning originated from the development of linguistic theory and the deficiency of EFL learning under Chinese setting.Chapter one is the basic part for the whole thesis. Firstly several relative paired concepts concerning foreign language learning and second language acquisition are distinguished. In this thesis the discussion of EFL learning is mainly confined to the classroom situation, which is unavoidable to be affected by the teaching methods of different periods. Therefore it is necessary to go over some influential teaching methods briefly in this chapter.Chapter two is the theoretical part in which the definition of pragmatics, the historical development and some important theories are introduced in detail. These theories cover Speech Act Theory, Conversational Implicature, Cooperative Principle, Politeness Principle, which lay solid foundations for the following chapters.Chapter three is a tentative study of pragmatic failures which arose in the CET4. The methodology includes objectives, participants, instruments and limitations. After that we will make an intensive analysis of the pragmatic failures made by the subjects in writing and spoken English and also attempt to apply the relevant pragmatic theories into the interpretation of these pragmatic failures. Furthermore the final score...