Research in English Language Pedagogy (Sep 2023)

Reflection of Pragmatic Knowledge in Iranian High School English Textbooks (Vision Series)

  • Fateme Jamshidian,
  • Omid Tabatabaei,
  • Hadi Salehi,
  • Hossein Vahid Dastjerdi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.30486/relp.2022.1961284.1383
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 3
pp. 398 – 422

Abstract

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Pragmatic competence is an essential language pedagogy component represented in English textbooks. The paper attempts to examine the extent to which pragmatic knowledge was reflected in Iranian high school English textbooks (Vision series). Hence, Halliday’s (1973) model and Halliday, et al.’s (1964) model were used to investigate subcategories of functional knowledge and sociolinguistic knowledge. The data was described by descriptive statistics. The findings revealed the Iranian culture-deprived representation (e.g., traditional customs, and ceremonies such as Nowruz, Chaharshanbesori, and Yalda). Moreover, the results highlighted only a limited number of pragmatic components implicitly introduced in the Vision series, and attention was given to their representation and problematic distribution. Furthermore, the English sociocultural patterns were limited and attempts were made to reflect the Iranian culture and convection of daily communication. Thus, some pedagogical implications were offered to improve the Vision series, using authentic pragmatic content instead of proclaiming the fictitious prescription of its authors.

Keywords