This paper explores how experienced English language teachers conceptualise and enact pragmatics, with particular attention to English as a lingua franca (ELF) perspective. Drawing on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and a follow-up focus group with three experienced teachers enrolled on a UK-based MA in Applied Linguistics/TESOL, the study investigates: (1) how teachers understand pragmatics and position its importance within teacher expertise; (2) how pragmatics features in teacher education trajectories; and (3) how pragmatic awareness is enacted in classroom practice. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the findings reveal that teachers display principled orientation towards (ELF) pragmatics: it is widely recognised by teachers as essential for communicative competence, yet its conceptualisation and pedagogical implementation remain uneven. Participants reported limited exposure to pragmatics in initial teacher education and described encountering the concept more substantially only during postgraduate study or exam preparation teaching. In classroom practice, pragmatics tended to emerge through spontaneous interactional moments rather than through systematic lesson planning. While teachers broadly endorsed key ELF principles-such as negotiation of meaning, accommodation and multilingual resource use-they found it difficult to translate these orientations into stable curricular content within institutional contexts shaped by standard language ideology, exam requirements and materials design. The study argues that the marginalisation of pragmatics is less a matter of teacher attitude than of pedagogical infrastructure, and calls for closer integration of ELF pragmatics into teacher education, curriculum design and assessment frameworks.
Existing scholarship has extensively documented the limitations of product-oriented and test-driven writing instruction in many English as a foreign language contexts, such as its negative impact on students’ idea expression, writing motivation, and understanding of writing as a communicative practice. Informed by these concerns and firsthand teaching observations, this innovations in practice paper introduces the implementation of a student-generated materials (SGM) cycle in an eight-week writing course in a Chinese university. By positioning students as materials creators, writers responding to peer-generated topics, feedback providers and revisers, the SGM cycle aims to provide students with a more engaging and interactive alternative to their passive and instrumental writing experiences shaped by prior instruction. The pedagogical value of the innovation was explored through student reflection papers, interviews and students’ artefacts. The findings suggest that the SGM cycle helps to generate personally relevant writing topics that prompt genuine idea expression, reduces writing pressure, and shifts students’ understanding of writing toward a social and recursive practice. At the same time, the implementation also revealed challenges, including uneven materials quality, limited peer feedback literacy, and difficulties in group coordination. The paper concludes by discussing future pedagogical implications.
Recent English globalization has highlighted the need for English language teaching (ELT) to prioritize pragmatic competence for effective international communication rather than ‘native-like’ accuracy. This study examines how this concept of pragmatic competence is reflected in ELT curricula/listening assessments in Hong Kong (HK) and Taiwan from an English as an International Language (EIL) perspective through the lens of situational and interactional authenticity. First, a thematic analysis of secondary ELT curricula in HK and Taiwan was conducted, drawing on pedagogical recommendations from EIL research across four areas: language/(inter)cultural awareness; communication abilities/strategies; language standards/norms/models; and pronunciation teaching foci. Second, quantitative content analysis was applied to listening examination speech samples (2022–2024) to examine situational authenticity (speech events/contexts/interlocutor identities/accents) and interactional authenticity (use of communication strategies). Findings show both curricula acknowledge English's local/global roles and aim to enhance (inter)cultural awareness. They stress the importance of communication skills and suggest exposure to different varieties, but (‘native-like’) pronunciation accuracy remains an implicit target. The listening papers in the two regions reveal notable differences: HK samples are longer, more interactive and locally contextualized, featuring some second language speakers, whereas Taiwan samples are shorter and often decontextualized. Both rely on British/American accents. The HK samples display a wider range and higher frequency of communicative strategies than those in Taiwan, but they both lack certain key features in EIL communication. The paper concludes by making suggestions for curricula and assessments to enhance situational and interactional authenticity, considering their interrelationship, thereby fostering pragmatic competence and preparing learners for real-world international communication.
