TESOL Culture and
Pragmatics
Week 13
Lecturer: Glenda Little
“Friends”
• As you watch the episode of “Friends” the
first time, please take note of any cultural
aspects that are presented in the episode.
• You will be discussing what you noticed in
groups after you watch, so please make
sure to take notes.
Group Discussion Questions
• What cultural aspects that are presented
in this episode of Friends?
• How would Koreans of the same age behave in
these situations?
• What do you think causes these probable
difference in behaviour and ways of thinking
between the characters in the TV show and
Korean people? (Where do these differences
come from?  Dimensions of culture, value
types, cultural communication patterns, etc)
• Are there any situations in this episode that
would likely NOT occur in Korea? Why?
• Are there any examples where the culture in the
TV show and Korean culture are quite similar?
Conversation Analysis
• While you watch the following portions of
the same “Friends” episode, please take
note of the different Gricean Maxims that
are being used and which are being
broken.
Gricean Maxims
• Please make a similar chart as below and make
note of which maxims the characters follow (⇃)
or break (X).
Truthfulness Clarity
Chandler
Joey
Ross
Rachel
Monica
Phoebe
Quantity
Relevance
Conversational Implicature
• As you watch the following portions of the
same “Friends” episode again, please
take note of when the characters use
conversational implicature.
• What is said?
• What is meant?
Final Project
When?
Week 15 & 16
(Note: we will decide on when each group will
present at the end of this class)
What?
20-25 minute group presentation based on an
analysis of a TV show (5-6 minutes from
ONE episode) in regards to the cultural
issues and pragmatics presented in the
segment(s).
• Analyze and present a section of Friends
(or other English TV show of your choice)
• This should only be only 5-6 minutes long:
– ONE 5-6 minute segment
– TWO 3 minute segments
– THREE 2 minute segments
Analysis
•
Your analysis should be based on TWO
factors:
1. Culture
2. Pragmatics
Culture
• What cultural issues are present in the
segment(s)?
• How do the Friends characters behave and
respond to the situation(s)?
• Would this situation(s) exist in Korean culture?
• How would Koreans of a similar age behave in
the same situation(s)?
• Are there any examples where the Friends
culture and Korean culture are similar?
Pragmatics
• Analyze the language used in the segment and
focus on the language in use (pragmatics).
• Areas to explore are examples of:
• Ellipses
• hedging
• Goffman’s Communication Theory (8 universal
constraints)
• conversational implicature
• Grice’s 4 Conversation Maxims  Do the
characters follow them? Do they break them?
Homework
Please read the article:
Culture in Second Language Teaching
Please answer the following questions:
1. Why is it important to culture in language
teaching?
2. Which instructional strategy do you like
best? Why?