This note addresses the topic of Judith Bridges’s focus article, namely ‑splain neologisms such as mansplain, thinsplain and covidsplain, from perspective morphological theory. I attempt to show that Morphopragmatics, a subfield morphology, can account for complex pragmatics word formation processes like those in neology. propose analysis words constructional idioms, under framework Constructio...

Audience metadiscourse refers to the speech choices made by speakers indicate their metapragmatic awareness of audience. It encompasses expressions including directly referring audience as “you” and “we”, generic expressions, imperative rhetorical interrogative expressions. This study primarily focuses on describing analyzing representational forms, pragmatic functions, different reflected in s...

This special issue on ‘metacommunication in instructional settings’ deals with the topic of language awareness in an integrated framework of interaction, context and communication. What brings the four contributions (Kress, Ogborn and Martins; Sarangi; Roberts; van Lier) together is a concern with the relationship between what is communicated in and through language vis-à-vis other semiotic sys...

Recent  research  in  interlanguage  pragmatics  (ILP)  has  substantiated  that  some  aspects  of pragmatics are amenable to instruction in the second or foreign language classroom. However, there  are  still  controversies  over  the  most  conducive  teaching  approaches  and  the  required materials.  Therefore,  this  study  aims  to  investigate  the  relative  effectiveness  of  conscio...

This study examines the effect of familiarity, context, and linguistic convention on idiom comprehension in Mandarin speaking children. Two experiments (a comprehension task followed by a comprehension task coupled with a metapragmatic task) were administered to test participants in three age groups (6 and 9-year-olds, and an adult control group). Laval (Journal of Pragmatics 35(2):723-739, 200...

Pragmatic aspect of second language (L2) as a component of communicative competence has recently received more attention. Many research studies have investigated the gap between native and nonnative speakers’ command of L2 pragmatics. However, development of L2 pragmatics has been the focus of few studies. In this study, how coursebooks can help both nonnative teachers and learners develop L2 p...

Despite the general findings that address the positive contribution of teaching pragmatic features to interlanguage pragmatic development, the question as to the most effective method is far from being resolved. Moreover, the potential of literature as a means of introducing learners into the social practices and norms of the target culture, which underlie the pragmatic competence, has not been...