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Chapter1
PRAGMATICSANDLEARNING
AFOREIGNLANGUAGE
1.0Introduction
Althoughinterlanguagepragmaticsisarecentavenueofresearch,itsap-
pearanceseemsanaturalconsequenceofthenatureofpragmaticsitselfde-
fnedasastudyoftheprocessofproducinglanguageandthosewhoproduce
it,withparticularattentionpaidtoHthesocietalfactorsthatmakeacertain
languageusemoreorlessacceptable”(Mey2002:8).Giventhatthelanguage
user,andinthecaseofthisbookitslearner,remainsinthecenterofthere-
searchinterestofpragmatics,whateverlanguageheorsheusesmaybecome
theobjectofsuchstudies(Mey2002:5).Itactuallytookscholarsaround30
years(sincetheseminalworksofAustin1962,andSearle1969,1977)torealize
thatanylanguageuse,includingILdata,cancountasanadequaterepre-
sentationofHdoingthingsbysayingsomething”(Austin1962:25).Thisin-
terpretationwasprecededand,tosomeextent,triggeredoffbyanintensive
developmentofcross-linguisticstudiesinpragmaticsinthe1980s.Thisturn
inresearchorientationwassparkedoffintheveryearly1980sbytheseminal
studiesofWalters(1980),Schmidt(1983)andWierzbicka(1985).Thesepubli-
cationsconstitutedstatementsofacategoricaldeparturefromtheviewswide-
spreadatthattimewhichpresentedpragmaticknowledgefromaone-sided,
usuallyAnglo-Saxon,perspective,e.g.,inlinewithBrownandLevinson’s
(1978)universalpragmatics1.Againstthisbackground,inthe1990sthestudy
oftransitionalpragmaticsentersitsheyday.
1Todaycalledformalpragmatics.
