Teaching Strategies to Get the Tone Right: Making Requests and Gaining Compliance

Authors

  • Maria Glass George Brown College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v30i7.1156

Abstract

Language learners invariably struggle with the target language pragmatics, and helping them to understand and use it appropriately is not an easy task for ESL teachers. Specific pragmatic acts, such as requests, involve myriad elements that, despite being inherent to these acts, are quite elusive. No wonder so many ESL teachers feel intimidated and, not surprisingly, end up avoiding dealing with pragmatics in the classroom. This article introduces a strategy-instruction tech- nique that has been proven effective in teaching language learners how to make requests and gain compliance.

Author Biography

Maria Glass, George Brown College

Maria Glass is a full-time EAP professor with George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario, Can- ada. She holds a TESL certificate, a Master’s in Applied Linguistics, and a PhD in Linguistics (Pragmatics). Her research interests include Pragmatics, Interpersonal and Intercultural Com- munication, and Second Language Acquisition.

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Published

2014-02-20

How to Cite

Glass, M. (2014). Teaching Strategies to Get the Tone Right: Making Requests and Gaining Compliance. TESL Canada Journal, 30(7), 125. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v30i7.1156

Issue

Section

In the Classroom