19 International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics ...

G E N E R A L S E S S I O N
(male / female) and word length (shorter antonyms precede longer antonyms – directly / indirectly,
easy / difficult). As for the markedness criterion, the results show that, rather than actively determining
antonym sequence, it is itself subject to the influence of other sequencing criteria. However, the
factors that rule antonym sequencing are not rigid rules and it is possible to flout the dominant word
sequence. Analyzing some sentences in which the dominant word order is reversed we uncovered two
main reasons why this is possible. In the majority of cases the syntactic distance between antonyms is
greater than usual, so flouting the convention is not so noticeable; or there appears to be a specific
purpose in contexts where some rhetorical effect may be intended, in which case semantic and
pragmatic conditions govern the choice of antonym which is to be mentioned first.
Pragmatic competence for intercultural communication:
theory and pedagogy
Svetlana Kurteš
University of Cambridge
s.kurtes@googlemail.com
The paper will discuss some aspects of acquisitional pragmatics and possible ways of its
didacticisation. More precisely, language teaching methodologies are increasingly acknowledging the
fact that language learners, particularly those at more advanced stages of language proficiency, when
attempting to decode the message and get its proper contextual meaning, need to develop the right
level of sophistication not only in their linguistic competences, but also in the pragmatic and cultural
competences (Bailey 2003). Such competences should sensitise the learners to the discoursal and
pragmatic layers of meaning of the message and enable them to decode its metaphorical and
figurative levels – which can be very deeply culturally embedded – rather than interpreting the
message only on the basis of its literary uses (Bailey 2003).
It will be reiterated that pragmatic principles underlying the rules of usage of grammatical
structures, often quite neglected in traditional reference and descriptive grammars and other relevant
pedagogical materials, need to be established and analysed in the socio-cultural context in which the
examined instances were found to be naturally occurring. It will then be shown how the basic concepts
of the Theory of Cultural Scripts (Goddard and Wierzbicka 2007; Wierzbicka 2006) can be introduced
into the foreign language classroom. The main construct of the theory refers to “a technique for
articulating cultural norms, values and practices using the […] metalanguage of semantic primes as
the medium of description” (Goddard and Wierzbicka 2007: 105). These norms change constantly, so
“in every period there are certain shared understandings and shared cultural norms that find their
expression in a community’s ways of speaking” (Wierzbicka 2006: 9). Perhaps most importantly, the
cultural norms and values in the theory of cultural scripts are described “from within rather than from
outside”, […] form the point of view of those people who are the bearers of the postulated norms and
values (and in their own language)” (Wierzbicka 2006: 24).
We shall conclude by illustrating how the basic principles of the Theory of Cultural Scripts could
find their practical didactic and potentially auto-didactic application, helping the learners not only to
improve their cultural fluency, but also gradually to develop relevant metacognitive strategies that will
in turn ensure more successful and more autonomous language learning and learning in general
(Kurteš, 2008).
References
Bailey, R. 2003. Conceptual metaphor, language, literature and pedagogy. Journal of Language and Learning,
1:2; 59-72.
Goddard, C. and Wierzbicka, A. 2007. Semantic primes and cultural scripts in language learning and intercultural
communication. In F. Sharifian and G. B. Palmer (eds). Applied cultural linguistics: implications for second
language learning and intercultural communication. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; 105-124.
Kurteš, S. 2008. An investigation into the pragmatics of grammar: cultural scripts in contrast. In M. Pütz & J. Neff
van Aertselaer (eds). Developing contrastive pragmatics: interlanguage and cross-cultural perspectives.
Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter; 65-83.
Wierzbicka, A. 2006. English: meaning and culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
<strong>19</strong> th ISTAL 29