With increasing numbers of primary school pupils learning English as a foreign language, this volume is an innovative and timely addition to the fields of Second Language Pragmatics and Teaching English to Young Learners. The volume’s impressive scope offers insightful analyses of pragmatic production, perception and development, as well as a range of original approaches to and investigations of pragmatic instruction. A must read for foreign language teachers, teacher educators and researchers alike.

Anne Barron, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany

This volume represents a multi-authored yet impressively integrated case for heightening European EFL schoolchildren’s knowledge about and performance of greetings, invitations, and requests. Schauer and her colleagues demonstrate why language educators need to view pragmatically appropriate speech act interactions among school children as a priority in the burgeoning field of applied pragmatics.

Andrew D. Cohen, Emeritus, University of Minnesota, USA

<p><em>Second Language Pragmatics and Young Language Learners</em> stands as an an exceptionally useful and insightful resource. Overall, the book effectively combines pragmatic research centered on students and teachers, with practical teaching examples using diverse pragmatic input. Drawing on excellent contributions from a variety of European countries, it serves as a must-read guide on how to teach pragmatics to young learners of English in a setting traditionally overlooked. This short review does not fully capture the depth and richness of its content, but it is clear that it is a noteworthy and essential contribution to the field. I heartily recommend this volume for any researcher, teacher or student engaged in the learning and teaching of pragmatics, especially within the primary school context.</p>

- Laura Portolés, Universitat Jaume I, Spain, Journal of Pragmatics 254 (2026),

This book brings together research on second language pragmatics in the underexplored context of EFL primary classrooms. Presenting studies from Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands, the book offers a rich exploration of different topics, such as learners' pragmatic performance, awareness and development, learners’ and teachers' views on pragmatic instruction, and investigations concerning material use and lesson planning. The studies feature a range of data sources including animated films, arts-based instruction, classroom discourse, narrated picture-based tasks, questionnaires and interviews, introducing the reader to a wealth of opportunities for young learners’ engagement with pragmatics. Being the first edited volume to provide an overview of the rapidly growing area of young learner pragmatics, it will be of great interest to researchers, graduate students and language teachers.

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This book brings together L2 pragmatics research in the under-explored context of EFL primary classrooms. Presenting studies from across Europe, the chapters provide a rich exploration of young learners’ pragmatic performance, awareness and development, classroom practices and the views of teachers and learners on pragmatics instruction.

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Tables and Figures
Contributors
Acknowledgements

Gila Schauer, Anders Myrset, Milica Savić and Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis: Introduction: Pragmatics and Young EFL Primary School Learners in Europe  

Part 1: Young Learners: Production, Perception and Development

Chapter 1. Eva Jakupčević and Jelena O'Reilly: Young EFL Learners’ Development of Discourse Marker Use

Chapter 2. Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis, Anders Myrset and Milica Savić: ‘If we are Talking to the Minister of Education...’:  L2 Request Appraisals and Metapragmatic Awareness in Young Learners of English 

Chapter 3. Anders Myrset: Giving Young Language Learners a Voice: Learner Feedback on Pragmatics Instruction

Chapter 4. Alicia Martínez-Flor: Exploring In-Service Primary School EFL Teachers’ Views on Pragmatics 

Part 2: Young Learners: Materials and Pedagogical Considerations

Chapter 5. Veronika Timpe-Laughlin, Tetyana Sydorenko and Judit Dombi: Pragmatics in Primary School: A Look into an English-as-a-Foreign-Language Classroom

Chapter 6. Esther Usó-Juan: The Use of Animated Films as a Resource to Teach Oral Requests and Responses to Young Language Learners: An Evaluative Analysis

Chapter 7. Holger Limberg: Teaching Greetings in Young Learner EFL Classrooms: A Methodological Approach for Primary Pragmatics

Chapter 8. Karen Glaser: Teaching Pragmatics from the Start: Implementing Teaching Units on Greetings in the Primary EFL Classroom 

Chapter 9. Gila A. Schauer and Raphaëlle Beecroft: An Arts-Based Approach to Pragmatic Instruction: Using Graphic Novels, Drama and Drawing to Teach Basic Speech Acts in Young EFL Learners

Index

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First edited volume to bring together research on pragmatic competence in primary EFL contexts

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781836681687
Publisert
2025-10-14
Utgiver
Channel View Publications Ltd
Vekt
420 gr
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Dybde
16 mm
Aldersnivå
UP, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
270

Biografisk notat

Gila A. Schauer is Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Erfurt, Germany. Her recent publications include Teaching and Learning English in the Primary School: Interlanguage Pragmatics in the EFL context (Springer, 2019) and her research focuses on L2 pragmatics, intercultural competence, and literature in L2 teaching and learning.  

Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis is Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. Her research spans L2 and intercultural pragmatics, cross-cultural communication, linguistic politeness and L2 email pragmatics. She is the co-author of Researching and Teaching Speech Acts with Young L2 Learners: Beneath the Linguistic Surface (with Savić and Myrset, Multilingual Matters, 2025).

Milica Savić is Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Stavanger, Norway. Her main research interests include L2 pragmatics, especially children’s (meta)pragmatic development, email communication and, more recently, critical visual literacy and participatory research approaches with children.

Anders Myrset is Associate Professor of ELT Methodology at the University of Stavanger, Norway. His research has mainly focused on children’s L2 (meta)pragmatic development, L2 pragmatics instruction and, more recently, aspects related to participatory research with children. He is also an author of ELT textbooks for young language learners.