NORDIANA MAT YAACOB

GROUP 1
ELT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL
ASSIGNMENT 1
Pragmatics is defined as the study of language from the point of view of users,
especially the choices they make, the constraints they encounter in using language in
social interaction and the effects of their use of language has on other participants in
the act of communication (Crystal, 1985 as cited in Schauer, 2009). Since every
communication is embedded in a particular culture, this linguistic discipline examines
not only the interlocutors language but also the influence of culture towards their
language. Speakers of English as a second language (ESL) have to face a lot of
challenges to communicate in English. Like any other human beings, ESL speakers
learn their first language and develop their sense of culture at an early age. Hence
there is a high probability for ESL speakers to over generalise the norms of
communication in their first language and apply it to their second language. With the
establishment of pragmatics studies, arise the study of interlanguage pragmatics to
examine how non native speakers comprehend and produce action in a target
language. This essay will analyse two English pragmatic principles which are speech
acts and politeness relative to Malay language and some teaching implications will
be included under each principle.
Speech acts theory is based on the belief that speakers not only use language to
say things but also to do things in everyday lives be it to ask permission, make
promises, offer congratulations and etc. These types of utterances could be regarded
as speech acts. There are six types of speech acts that have been identified: (1)
speech acts that represent a state of affairs and can be categorised as true or false
like statements, claims, descriptions are called representatives; (2) speech acts that
commit a speaker to a course of action like promises are called commissives; (3)
Speech acts that intended to get the addressee to carry out an action like commands
and request and are called directives; (4) speech acts that bring about the state of
affairs they name like marrying and arrests are declarations; (5) Speech acts that
indicate the speakers psychological states are expressive; (6) Speech acts that
make assessments or judgements are called verdictives (Finegen & Besnier, 1989).
Every speech act contains three components which are locution, illocution and
perlocution. Locution constitutes the grammatical structure and the meaning of an
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NORDIANA MAT YAACOB

GROUP 1
ELT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL
ASSIGNMENT 1
utterance. Illocution is the speakers intention upon producing the utterance while
perlocution is the effect of the speech act on the hearer. The utterance Could I
borrow your pen? which is a request (directive speech act) is comprised of all the
three components. The locution for this speech act is a yes/no question about the
addressees ability to give permission to the speaker to use his or her pen. The
illocution is to make the question of request recognisable by the addressee whereas
the perlocution is its effect towards the addressee; whether to comply or not.
While English has more than one modal auxiliaries that could represent different
notions in a directive speech act of request, Malay language is limited only to the
word boleh can (Mintz, 1994). As a result, the choice of a modal auxiliary in a
request structure of English could affect the locution and perlocution of the speech
act. The modals can and could stresses on the idea of ability, may and might
stresses on the notion of permission and will and would emphasises on the concept
of willingness. Different tenses of modal auxiliaries will also affect the perlocution of a
speech act. According to Yule (2006), one basic but often unrecognised type of
temporal deixis in English is in the choice of tenses for modal auxiliary. For instance,
the use of modal auxiliary can in a request structure will achieve different perlocution
compared to the use of modal auxilary could. The present tense modal auxiliary
can is in proximal form whereas the past tense modal auxiliary could is in distal
form. The proximal form is most likely to put the addressee in a position to comply
with the request while the distal form will probably left the addressee to decide upon
the request on his or her own volition. In relation to this perlocution, the past tense
modal auxiliaries in directive speech act of request are considered the more
preferable forms as it allows for more freedom.
This complexity in producing English directive speech act of request versus its
simplicity in Malay language certainly will create difficulty to teach this form. The
teaching and learning of directive speech act of request is outlined in specification
2.7; perform a variety of functions in a social context such as exchanging greetings,
making introductions, inviting people, etc. and 2.7.7; to request for specific things
(Year Two English Curriculum Specification of National School, 2003). Teachers
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GROUP 1
ELT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL
ASSIGNMENT 1
should exposed ESL learners to different modal auxiliaries and their functions not
only to can or could which are the direct translation of boleh.
It is essential for teachers to teach various modal auxiliaries as each of them
represent different notions depending on the message the speakers intend to convey
when producing a directive speech act of request. Since both speech act as well as
role play require language and actions to be performed, teachers could use
simulation role play to teach about speech acts. In simulation role play, students are
given simulation and they can act out the simulation (Harmer, 2007). A simulation
should contain enough information for students to determine the context for their
acts. For example, teachers could give a simulation telling a student that he is a
customer at the airport who is requesting the person behind the counters to check his
flight schedule. The student could choose whether to act out as himself or take on a
role of an imaginative character.
It is no secret that the past tense of modal auxiliaries in directive speech act of
request is the more preferable forms. This knowledge has been passed from
generation to generation without any justification provided except that grammar is
arbitrary. With the knowledge of pragmatic, teachers could explain the effect of
temporal deixis towards this preference. However, teachers should bear in mind that
primary school ESL learners certainly cannot comprehend this abstract concept.
Therefore, explanation of distal and proximal term should be in plain language. For
example, teachers could draw an analogy between the tenses of the modal
auxiliaries and birthday presents. Teachers could challenge the students to describe
their latest birthday presents and the birthday presents they received 4 years ago to
see which present they remember better. Most of us will probably remember our
latest birthday presents better compared to the old birthday presents. When they
have thought about it, teachers could point out the similarities between the tenses of
the modal auxiliaries and the birthday presents analogy. Like the latest birthday
present, the request in present tense is more likely to stay in our head and thus give
us a sense of responsibility to comply.

NORDIANA MAT YAACOB

GROUP 1
ELT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL
ASSIGNMENT 1
Another principle is politeness which is a set of principles that examines the
constitution of a polite utterance. Lakoff is one of the earliest scholars who
concentrated in linguistic pragmatic of politeness. She proposes three rules of
politeness which are formality, hesitancy and equality (Lakoff, 1977 as cited in
Schauer, 2009). The rule of formality requires speakers to remain aloof. The rule of
hesitancy requires speakers to allow the addressees their options. And the rule of
equality requires speakers to address their addressees equally. The rule of formality
involves addressing the addressees using their last name whereas the rule of
equality involves addressing the addressees using their first name. The choice to
employ which rules between these two rules depends on the speaker with regard to
the situation and context. Lakoff (1977 as cited in Schauer, 2009) put high
consideration of the aspects of status differences and the degree of familiarity
between speakers as well as the culture in which the utterance is made. These
aspects determine polite utterances.
Other than Lakoff, Leech is another important figure in politeness principle. Leech
(1983 as cited in Schauer, 2009) developed his Politeness Principle that consists of
six maxims. The first maxim is the maxim of tact which encourages interlocutors to try
their best not to upset or embarrass others. The second maxim is the maxim of
generosity which is the interlocutors willingness to make sacrifices for the sake of
others. The maxim of Approbation is the third maxim which encourages interlocutors
to show approval to others. The fourth maxim is the maxim of modesty which sets the
boundary to prevent interlocutors from appearing too proud. The fifth maxim is the
maxim of agreement which cultivates the attitude of minimising disagreement with
self and others as well as maximising agreement with self and others. The maxim of
sympathy which is the last maxim promotes the feeling of sympathy and at the same
time minimise the feeling of antipathy. Leechs principle manages to provide the
framework for politeness within a particular culture but fails when it comes to cross
cultural communication. This is because, different culture has different norms and
what is considered polite or not by a particular speaker of a particular language is
closely related to the cultural norms.

NORDIANA MAT YAACOB

GROUP 1
ELT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL
ASSIGNMENT 1
In terms of politeness, English and Malay differ on the preferred and dispreferred
responses of adjacency pairs. The preferred response for an offer in English is
acceptance whereas the preferred response in Malay is to decline. For example,
according to Malay culture, visitors are expected to decline when the host offer drinks
or food during a visit. This response is employed in order not to trouble the host and
the same response will be given even though the visitors happen to be thirsty or
hungry. This situation shows the adherence to Leechs maxim of tact as the guests
are encouraged to minimise cost to the host as well as to maximise benefit for them.
The rule of formality also applies to this situation. If the visitors are very familiar with
the hosts, the hosts will surely let them to buat macam rumah sendiri make
themselves at home. Malay peoples response is further justified by Wilson (1967 as
cited in Goddart, 1997) who claimed that part and parcel of being brought up Malay is
embracing the inherent values of the Malay view towards the conduct and matter of
social relationship. These values include showing consideration and concern,
anticipating the other and above all being sensitive to the other person (Wilson, 1967
as cited in Goddart, 1997). These values have also enabled the Malays to build a
strong community with mutual understanding and reciprocal relationships. Hence,
despite the decline, the host would still prepare some drinks and food for the guests.
Due to the difference discussed above, speakers whose first language is Malay
may encounter miscommunication when communicating in English. To decline an
offer will possibly offend the native speakers of English. Therefore, teachers should
ensure that their students understand that different culture has different norms. Not
only teaching the language, ESL teachers are also required to incorporate the
English pragmatic concept of politeness in their teaching. This incorporation could be
seen in curriculum specification 2.2; ask questions politely to obtain information and
clarification, 2.3; give relevant information politely in response to enquiries made (to
identify, to refute, to make

comparisons, to state) and 2.4; make and receive

telephone calls politely (Year Six English Curriculum Specification for National
School, 2003).

NORDIANA MAT YAACOB

GROUP 1
ELT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL
ASSIGNMENT 1
Harmer (2007) suggested that teachers could have students watch film clips with
many adjacency pairs to promote students awareness of adjacency pairs and the
preferred responses in English. Teachers need to choose film clips that depicts both
the interactional and transectional conversations to observe the degree of politeness
in both forms. Film clips are chosen based on a few reasons. With the rapid
development of Information Communication Technology (ICT), these film clips are
easily accessible to teachers as well as to students using the Internet. Teachers and
students could visit a website called YouTube.com and choose film clips from a
variety of selection to be watched. Besides the accessibility factor, film clips give
students the opportunity to watch authentic communication without having the
difficulty to imagine the context of the conversation.
In conclusion, there are differences in pragmatic principles between English and
Malay in terms of speech acts and politeness. Unlike Malay, the locution and
perlocution of English speech act could be changed with the changed of modal
auxiliary. Also, Malay and English have different concept of politeness. These are
among the differences that have made learning English as a Second language (ESL)
more challenging for Malays. However, these challenges are addressed with the
suggestion of simulation role play in teaching speech acts and watching film clips in
teaching the notion of politeness. It is hoped that the teaching implications outlined
could help teachers in addressing the challenges.

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ELT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL
ASSIGNMENT 1
REFERENCES
Curriculum Development Centre. (2003). Year Two English Curriculum Specifications
for National School. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Education, Malaysia.
Curriculum Development Centre. (2004). Year Six English Curriculum Specifications
for National School. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Education, Malaysia.
Finegan, A. & Besnier, N. (1989). Language: Its structure and use. San Diego:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.
Goddart, C. (1997). Cultural values and cultural scripts of Malay (Bahasa Melayu):
Journal of Pragmatics, 27, 183-201.
Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Harlow:
Pearson Education Limited.
Mintz, M. A. (1994). A Students Grammar of Malay & Indonesian. Singapore: EPB
Publishers Pte Ltd.
Schauer, G. A. (2009). Interlanguage Pragmatic Development: The Study Abroad
Context. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.