Through a glass, darkly: When learner pragmatics is misconstrued

Abstract

The notion of a second language native-speaker target for learners of pragmatics has been criticised on several counts. However, one problem with this target seems to have escaped notice: when a learner behaves in a native-like way the native speaker might actually misconstrue this behaviour, because he or she views it through a filter of expectations about how the learner will behave. This claim is illustrated with snippets of ethnographic data on one pragmatic problem: avoiding unwelcome questions in Indonesian. Show more