Measuring Second Language Pragmatic Competence

Rezensionen / Stimmen

Theoretically robust and eminently practical, this book describes the process of developing and validating an assessment battery covering three areas of pragmatics - speech acts, implicature and discourse. Adopting the theory of explicit and implicit knowledge, the book uniquely situates pragmatics assessment at the intersection of SLA and psycholinguistics. This is an invaluable resource for researchers and teachers seeking innovative yet thorough ways of assessing pragmatic competence. * Naoko Taguchi, Northern Arizona University, USA * In another tour de force, Rod Ellis and his stellar group of colleagues have pushed the boundaries of existing instructed second language acquisition knowledge, this time regarding the measurement of implicit and explicit second language (L2) pragmatic processing, with implications for the development of L2 pragmatic abilities in instructed contexts. Like Ellis and colleagues' previous work, this volume provides a rich research agenda that will keep pragmatics researchers busy for years to come. * Shawn Loewen, Michigan State University, USA * ...the book presents an innovative test battery for measuring L2 pragmatic competence, which incorporates the

implicit/explicit distinction of pragmatics processing, a psycholinguistic perspective often overlooked in pragmatic assessment. The novel test designs and scoring systems are applicable to L2 pragmatics research and teaching in general. Language teachers can find inspiration in the test design and scoring methods and apply them to diagnostic and instructional purposes for various aspects of L2 pragmatic competence. L2 pragmatic researchers can select and improve specific tests from the battery for their own research purposes. More importantly, the comprehensive discussion of knowledge versus processing in pragmatics assessment as well as the centrality of processing efficiency in pragmatics test design will inspire researchers to explore different options for measuring pragmatic competence. * Meng Zhou and Yunwen Su, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, Journal of Pragmatics 230, 2024 *