Call for papers Babylonia 1/2026 - Pragmatics and Foreign Language Teaching
Learning vocabulary and grammar may be an important part of the learning process, but the acquisition of pragmatic skills enables learners to become social beings and to interact in the foreign or second language (FL/SL). Teaching pragmatics remains a challenge in a language classroom where exposure to the language and its variety of uses is limited by the timetable. Moreover, pragmatics, pragmatic skills, their teaching, and how they are acquired are difficult to define. Pragmatic competence is important because language in the classroom becomes real and meaningful when it connects to actual conversations and social situations, rather than lessons that just focus on vocabulary and grammar rules in isolation.
But can pragmatics be taught explicitly? Or should we specify what aspects of pragmatics are to be taught? How and for what purposes? What impact has the CEFR – Companion Volume (CoE 2018) had on teaching practices regarding “pragmatic skills”? And what about the pragmatics of communication mediated by digital technologies?
This issue questions the place of pragmatics in language teaching and wants to shed light on teaching methods and practices where different aspects are addressed: norms, implications, implicit language, speech acts, pragmatic routines, mediation, interaction skills etc. This issue aims to show different ways of strengthening the link between pragmatics and language teaching.
We are interested in contributions that analyze the current teaching of pragmatics and answer, among others, the following questions:
- Regarding pragmatics, how effective are approaches such as TBLL, awareness-raising activities, or explicit instruction?
- How effective are available teaching/learning materials and tools that target the development of pragmatic skills?
- Can and should learners' pragmatic skills be measured and assessed?
- How are pragmatic competences integrated in current foreign language syllabuses and textbooks? Does it reflect to the real difficulties observed among L2 learners when it comes to acting socially in the language?
We are equally interested in contributions that address specific pragmatic areas in relation to foreign language teaching, such as:
- How can L2 learners be made aware of pragmatic aspects of language such as irony and humor, politeness and (in-)appropriate use of language, etc.?
- How should pragmatics be taught if new forms of communication give rise to 1) new pragmatic norms depending on the medium and 2) a uniformization of communication practices across languages?
- Which areas of pragmatics merit greater attention in language teaching?
We are also open to other ideas.
For this issue of Babylonia, we favour short contributions that discuss and/or present research results and show a concrete applications f the concepts discussed and/or the research results to foreign language instruction.
Empirical (research projects, action-research) as well as practical contributions (teaching materials, exercises, good practices) and stances om the topic (position papers, interviews, etc.) are welcome. Babylonia favours the use of clear and easily understandable language. Practical examples, whether integrated directly into the text or in a separate textbox, are welcome. Length of articles: 16’000 to 20’000 characters (4 to 5 pages).
Cf. Submission Preparation Checklist.
Please send your abstract (max. 2,000 characters including spaces) in German, English, French, Italian or Romansh to anna.ghimenton@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr and/or karine.lichtenauer@unige.ch by March 1, 2025.
Deadlines – Issue 1/2026
- Abstract submission (max. 2’000 characters): March 1, 2025
- Notification of acceptance: April 2025
- Article submission (max. 16,000 characters including spaces, 4 pages): July 31, 2025
- Feedback on the article and revisions by the editorial committee September 2025
- Text revisions and final submission: December 31, 2025
- Publication: April 2026
Indicative bibliography
CoE / Council of Europe (2018). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment: Companion Volume with New Descriptors. Strasbourg. https://rm.coe.int/common-european-framework-of-reference-for-languages-learning-teaching/16809ea0d4. (accessed 20.11.2024)
Halenko, Nicola & Jiayi Wang (2022). Pragmatics in English Language Learning. Cambridge University Press.
Sánchez-Hernández, A. & J. Barón (Eds). Language Teaching Research 2022/6 - Special Issue: Teaching second language pragmatics in the current era of globalization.
Taguchi, Naoko (Ed.) (2019), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and pragmatics.
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