1. Ontario-Canadian Perspectives of Pragmatic Competence
Amanda Careena Fernandes

2. Pragmatic Competence Pragmatic Competence
Indispensible for learning a new language
(Bachman, 1990)
When poorly developed, it leads to communication problems in the target language
(Huang et al., 2013)
Concerns the study of meaning that is communicated by a speaker beyond what is directly being communicated
(Yule, 1996; Levinson, 1983; Ishihara, 2010)
“Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said.”
(Yule,1996, p. 3)

3. Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to examine current Ontario-Canadian teachers’ perceptions of the use and assessment of pragmatic competence instruction
Do French as a Second Language teachers impart importance to the use of pragmatic competence instruction?
What are French as a Second Language teachers' current opinions about the use of pragmatic instruction in the French as a Second Language classroom?
Which assessment strategies do French as a Second Language teachers believe best assess the impact of pragmatic competence instruction on students' understanding of a non-native language?

4. Study Framework Realist ethnographic qualitative approach
Based on the interpretative framework of social constructivism
Utilized interviews
Data were gathered for this study through the completion of interviews with three Ontario-Canadian French as a Second Language teachers

5. Data Analyses 1st cycle Descriptive coding (Saldaña, 2012) 2nd cycle
Pattern coding (Saldaña, 2012)
3rd cycle
Theme identification
4th Cycle
Responses to the research questions

6. 1st Cycle Analysis

7. 2nd Cycle

8. 3rd Cycle

9. 4th Cycle PC is important
Research Question #1 Imparted Importance
PC is important
PC is important for situational and social interactions
There is a lack of general knowledge about PC
Research Question #2 Current Opinions
PC is challenging to teach and assess
PC is a highly social aspect of language acquisition
PC concerns "real-life" and spontaneous situations
Research Question #3 Assessment Strategies
PC assessment should be authentic (i.e. spontaneous and in situ)
PC assessment should include a social aspect
There is a lack of knowledge of how to assess PC

10. Research Question
1. Do French as a Second Language teachers impart importance to the use of pragmatic competence instruction?
Participants believe pragmatic competence is important
There is a lack of knowledge as to what pragmatic competence truly is
This general lack of understanding may impact the participants' opinions about its importance

11. Research Question
2. What are French as a Second Language teachers' current opinions about the use of pragmatic instruction in the FSL classroom?
It is seen as being challenging to teach and assess
Teachers are not being truly comfortable or aware of the use and importance of pragmatic competence instruction
Pragmatic competence instruction is seen as being difficult and a challenge
Participants identified that it concerns "real-life" situations which are spontaneous

12. Research Question
3. Which assessment strategies do French as a Second Language teachers believe best assess the impact of pragmatic competence instruction on students' understanding of a non-native language?
Pragmatic competence assessment should be authentic in that it is spontaneous and in situ
It is identified as being a highly social aspect of language
There is a lack of knowledge concerning how to best assess pragmatic competence

13. Conclusions
Pragmatic competence instruction is important to second-language learning and teaching.
Participants currently do not truly understand what pragmatic competence instruction is and how it can be practiced or assessed.
Participants all agree that pragmatic competence is a highly social aspect of language learning.
It is best taught and assessed through social interactions that aim to be "real-life" and authentic in nature.

14. References
Bachman, L. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Huang, J., Sheeran, T., Zhao, B., & Xiong, Y. (2013). Faculty perceptions of assessing Chinese college students' pragmatic competence: The hidden face of communication. Language and Communication Quarterly, 2(1), Ishihara, N. (2010). Instructional pragmatics: Bridging teaching, research, and teacher education. Language and Linguistics Compass, 4(10), Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Saldaña, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the field: On writing ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.