Developing Pragmatic Competence Using EFL Textbooks: Focus on Requests

Learning to request in a foreign language is a key competence within communicative language teaching. This paper examines how requests are taught using English G2000A (Cornelsen), an EFL textbook series employed in many schools in Germany. The focus of analysis is on the linguistic request strategies and request modification (pragmalinguistics) to be learned and on the contextual information provided on the use of these linguistic forms (sociopragmatics). Findings reveal that commonly employed request strategies and cognitively simple forms of modification are introduced – also in line with developmental patterns. However, it is also found that many strategies are not dealt with and that modification is only touched on. On a sociopragmatic level, a strong focus is found to exist on standard situations in which role relations are clear. Contextual constraints are generally communicated implicitly only and there is a general danger of overgeneralization. Finally, the textbook only considers cross-cultural differences in requesting to a very narrow extent. The paper closes with some recommendations.