Bridging the Gaps : Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices of Pragmatics, Grammar and Communicative Language Teaching

要旨

It has long been said that English language education in Japan has not maximized learning effectiveness.This can be attributed to several gaps causing complex issues despite the efforts made by all the concerned parties.One of those issues involves a lack of pragmatic awareness among learners, which can be brought about by a gap between what is taught in the classroom and what is required for successful communication in society.In an attempt to fill the gap and raise such awareness, it would be necessary to work with teachers, Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) in particular.At the same time, it may be effective to integrate pragmatic pedagogy with grammar teaching and communicative language teaching (CLT), as those elements play a vital role in the Japanese classroom.In order to explore possible paths towards that end, this study investigates teachers' perceptions and practices of teaching pragmatics, grammar and communicative aspects through a qualitative analysis of interviews with two JTEs.The results suggest positive initiatives that can be taken by teachers to bridge the gaps and bring in more pedagogical opportunities as well as holistic approaches to helping learners.

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