Classic, Seminal Books on L2 Pragmatics
Alcón Soler, E., & Martínez-Flor, A. (Eds.). (2008). investigating pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching and testing. Multilingual Matters.
Structured in three parts – learning, teaching, and testing – following a preface by Amy Snyder Ohta and an introductory chapter by the editors setting out the volume's rationale. The learning section includes studies such as Margaret DuFon's chapter applying language socialization theory to pragmatics acquisition in the foreign-language classroom, and Yumiko Tateyama and Gabriele Kasper's study of learner exposure to request strategies through interaction with a classroom guest. The testing section includes James Dean Brown's chapter examining the reliability of common data-elicitation techniques – written and oral discourse completion tasks, multiple-choice tasks, role-plays, and self-assessments.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Mahan-Taylor, R. (Eds.). (2003). Teaching pragmatics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Office of English Language Programs. https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/teaching-pragmatics/
A free, openly available online collection of classroom-ready materials rather than a conventional academic monograph – commissioned by the State Department's English Language Programs to give teachers concrete, usable lessons rather than research summaries. Chapters take the form of short, practical units on individual pragmatic targets – for example, Barsony on polite ways of correcting or contradicting a conversation partner's assumptions, and Reynolds on strategies for complaining successfully – alongside units on email requests, closings, and other everyday speech-act sequences, each built around ready-to-use classroom activities rather than theoretical discussion. Because it's freely hosted (via americanenglish.state.gov) and written directly for teachers rather than researchers, it functions as an accessible, no-cost entry point that complements the more theory-grounded Ishihara & Cohen and Roever volumes – often the first thing recommended to a teacher who wants classroom-ready pragmatics material immediately rather than a full course text.
Rose, K. R., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (2001). Pragmatics in language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
The classic bridge volume between pragmatics theory and classroom application. Connects theory, empirical research, and practical curricular suggestions on pragmatics for learners at different proficiency levels, with tasks and activities offering guidance for teaching and testing L2 pragmatics. Probably the closest single-author "how to teach and assess it" companion to Ishihara & Cohen.
Tatsuki, D. H., & Houck, N. R. (Eds.). (2010). Pragmatics: Teaching speech acts. TESOL.
This edited volume is a practical resource for language teachers seeking to incorporate pragmatics into L2 instruction through the teaching of speech acts. Bringing together contributions from leading researchers and practitioners, the chapters present research-informed, classroom-tested lessons and activities focusing on a wide range of speech acts, including requests, advice, refusals, opinions, complaints, critical feedback, and email communication. The volume emphasizes the relationship between linguistic forms and social context, helping learners develop awareness of how speech acts vary according to factors such as power, distance, and degree of imposition. In addition to instructional activities, the book includes guidance on classroom assessment, worksheets, transcripts, audio resources, and answer keys, making it especially valuable for teacher education and classroom implementation.
Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
A concise, accessible introductory textbook (Oxford Introductions to Language Study series) covering the basics of deixis, implicature, presupposition, speech acts, and politeness. Often used for undergraduate or introductory-level courses due to its brevity and clarity.
More Recent Books on L2 Pragmatics
Barron, A., Gu, Y., & Steen, G. (Eds.). (2017). The Routledge handbook of pragmatics. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315668925
A comprehensive edited reference covering core areas of pragmatic theory (implicature, speech acts, deixis, politeness) alongside applied and interdisciplinary approaches (corpus pragmatics, historical pragmatics, pragmatics and SLA). Useful as a broad entry point and for chapter-length overviews of specific subfields.
Cohen, A. D. (2018). The learning of pragmatics from native and nonnative language teachers. Multilingual Matters.
Examines how both native and nonnative language teachers can enhance pragmatics instruction, focusing on instructors' experiences teaching L2/FL pragmatics and identifying areas where each group's background offers distinct advantages. Chapters move from teacher knowledge and practice through motivating learners, technology's role, learner development, and assessment and research methods in pragmatics — functioning as a companion piece to Cohen's earlier work with Ishihara, with a foreword by Rachel Shively.
Ellis, R., Roever, C., Shintani, N., & Zhu, Y. (2024). Measuring second language pragmatic competence: A psycholinguistic perspective. Multilingual Matters.
Takes a psycholinguistic perspective on how L2 learners' pragmatic abilities in English can be measured, extending earlier work on testing implicit and explicit grammar. Reports the development and validation of a test battery – a Metapragmatic Knowledge Test, Social Variables Test, Irony Test, Elicited Imitation Test, and monologic/dialogic role plays – applying it to studies of study abroad and instructional effects, with clear applications for diagnostic and instructional use as well as research.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2025). The pragmatics of intercultural communicative competence: Language use and intercultural understanding in foreign language and study abroad contexts. Multilingual Matters.
Presents a pragmatic perspective on developing intercultural communicative competence and understanding among language learners in foreign-language classrooms and study-abroad contexts, using role-play data, intercultural episodes, and student reflections from both U.S. Spanish learners and multilingual learners of other languages. Addresses intercultural impoliteness, discourse-level negotiation of speech acts, learner agency, and pragmatic resistance, closing with reflections on teaching and assessment. This is his most classroom/practice-facing solo book to date.
Félix-Brasdefer, J. C., & Shively, R. L. (Eds.). (2021). New directions in second language pragmatics (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, Vol. 356). De Gruyter Mouton.
A festschrift honoring Andrew D. Cohen, gathering 17 chapters across four sections: learning and teaching speech acts, assessing pragmatic competence, analyzing L2 digital discourse, and emerging issues in the field. The volume traces L2 pragmatics' roots in second language acquisition and pragmatics research while foregrounding newer directions such as discursive approaches to speech acts, study-abroad instruction, and computer-mediated contexts. Useful as a state-of-the-field survey alongside more classroom-oriented texts.
Halenko, N. (2021). Teaching pragmatics and instructed second language learning: study abroad and technology-enhanced teaching. Bloomsbury Academic.
Directly compares the effects of technology platforms versus traditional paper-based tasks for developing pragmatic competence in the L2 classroom, based on empirical research with undergraduate Chinese learners of English receiving explicit instruction on speech acts (apologies and requests) using different training materials in a study-abroad context. A distinctive contribution is its use of computer-animated production tasks (CAPT) to elicit oral speech-act data and boost learner engagement, offering researchers and practitioners concrete, technology-enhanced ways to maximize L2 pragmatic development in the classroom. Uses a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach and situates the work against the well-documented gap between how much attention pragmatics receives in L2 classrooms and materials in comparison to grammar, despite evidence that pragmatics does not develop reliably without explicit instruction.
Halenko, N., & Wang, J. (Eds.). (2022). Pragmatics in English Language Learning. Cambridge University Press.
Explores the benefits and challenges of developing pragmatic competence in English inside and outside the classroom, across young and adult learners, drawing on first-language contexts including China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, and Norway, and outlining practical teaching solutions for both face-to-face and online instruction.
Ishihara, N., with Cohen, A. D. (2022). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet (2nd ed.). Routledge.
A practical, classroom-facing guide to teaching L2 pragmatics, updated from the 2010 first edition. Covers identifying sources of learner pragmatic errors, grounding classroom practice in SLA theory, building pragmatics-focused curricula and assessments, fostering learner strategy use, and integrating technology into pragmatics instruction. Each chapter includes hands-on classroom tasks, making it as much a teacher-training text as a scholarly overview.
Koike, D. A., & Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (Eds.). (2021). The Routledge handbook of Spanish pragmatics: Foundations and interfaces.. Routledge.
An edited volume addressing pragmatics specifically within Spanish and Spanish-speaking contexts, covering topics like speech acts, politeness, discourse markers, and interlanguage pragmatics. Valuable for readings with a language-specific (Hispanic) focus, useful in bilingual or Spanish-linguistics courses.
Martínez-Flor, A., Sánchez-Hernández, A., & Barón, J. (Eds.). (2023). L2 pragmatics in action: Teachers, learners and the teaching-learning interaction process. John Benjamins.
An edited volume centered on the teacher's role in the classroom: teacher awareness/beliefs about pragmatics instruction, teacher training, and the practical realities of bringing pragmatics into daily teaching’.
Roever, C. (2021). Teaching and testing second language pragmatics and interaction. Routledge.
This practice-oriented volume provides a comprehensive guide to integrating L2 pragmatics into language teaching, curriculum design, and assessment. Roever bridges theory and classroom practice by explaining major components of pragmatic competence – including speech acts, implicature, routine formulae, politeness, and interactional competence – and demonstrating how these can be taught and assessed across different proficiency levels. The book offers practical guidance for developing instructional materials, designing classroom activities, constructing assessment tasks (e.g., discourse completion tasks, role plays, and elicited conversations), and validating pragmatic tests. With examples drawn primarily from English but applicable to multiple languages, it serves as an accessible resource for language teachers, graduate students, and researchers interested in L2 pragmatics, language pedagogy, and assessment. It is especially valuable for those seeking evidence-based approaches to teaching and testing pragmatic competence in communicative language learning.
Yus, F. (2025). Emoji pragmatics. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-73723-7
This monograph is the first book to examine emojis systematically from the perspective of pragmatics, arguing that their communicative functions are best understood through inferential, context-dependent processes rather than as fixed visual symbols. Drawing primarily on cognitive pragmatics and Relevance Theory, Yus analyzes how emojis contribute to meaning by guiding interpretation, expressing emotions and attitudes, signaling interpersonal relationships, managing politeness, and enriching both explicit and implicit communication in digital discourse. The book demonstrates that emojis function in ways analogous to linguistic expressions, with their interpretation depending heavily on contextual cues and users' communicative intentions rather than on inherent meanings alone. The volume also examines how emoji use varies across communication platforms, demographic groups, and discourse domains, including humor, advertising, politics, law, and health communication. Based on examples from messaging applications and social media, the book provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding emojis as integral components of contemporary digital interaction rather than merely decorative additions to text.
