Pragmatic Content in Teaching Chinese: Reflection from a Case Study in Thailand

Abstract

This research attempts to explore the frequency of pragmatic contents represented by the six speech acts of "refusal", "request", "complaint", "apology", "gratitude" and "suggestion" in a set of Chinese intermediate textbooks. It also garners the opinions of Chinese teachers toward their teaching of these pragmatic contents. In order to analyze the pragmatic contents in the textbooks, the researcher uses six speech acts frameworks. In order to collect the opinions of Chinese teachers, the researcher interviews three native Chinese teachers. The research results show that the Chinese intermediate textbooks provide pragmatic contents, but the frequencies of the six speech acts in the books vary. Some speech acts are valued while some are not. The three Chinese teachers possess certain pragmatic knowledge, and all of them have experiences in teaching pragmatic contents. The findings also showcase development of these Chinese textbooks and the improvement of Chinese teaching.