Linguistic Meaning Versus Pragmatic Meaning

Abstract

A critical gap between linguistic specifications and context-relevant
interpretation has existed ever since linguists sought to investigate meaning.
As a matter of fact, English language has gained an unprecedented
momentum over the last decades, and the ultimate aim of English language
teaching has revolved around fostering the students’ ability to communicate
proficiently in English. In this realm, much emphasis was given on the
development of learners’ oral skills; however, those efforts were watered
down on the progression of linguistic competence on the expense of
communicative competence. In an attempt to bridge this gap, this study
adopted Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1975) and embodied examples on
how participants breach and neglect maxims upon which the Cooperative
principle rests. For this aim, the study was carried on 100 English major
students enrolled in the TEFL class at the Lebanese University (fifth branch);
the investigation was carried over a period of four months in spring 2015-
2016. The results revealed that despite the subjects’ adequate linguistic
proficiency in English, EFL learners still fall behind attaining pragmatic
competence. The study endorses recommendations for EFL learners,
teachers, and curriculum designers.