ON THE NATURE OF L2 PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE

The paper is to explore the nature of pragmatic competence in a second language (L2). In this context, “pragmatic competence” refers to a speaker-hearer’s tacit knowledge of the conditions governing the appropriate use of language (Botha 1995:123). The paper begins by Thomas’s (1983) two division of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic components of pragmatic competence in an L2. Then, the two types of pragmatic failure in communication and their differences by Blum-Kulka (1982) and Thomas (1983) are discussed. Following this, Blum-Kulka’s (2002) argument that certain aspects of pragmatic competence in an L2 are universal is discussed.