ABSTRACT

Tests of pragmatic ability have not tended to find their way into the classroom. Even recently, the view has been expressed that before classroom assessment of pragmatics can be implemented, there is first a need to further develop theories of communicative competence and communicative language teaching and a commensurate need to conduct more empirical investigations. 1 In our view, the need for more theoretical development and empirical investigation is not a reason for avoiding classroom assessment of pragmatics, especially given its demonstrable value. So let us consider why:

Classroom assessment of pragmatics sends a message to the students that their ability to be pragmatically appropriate in the comprehension and production of language in different sociocultural situations is valued or even advantageous.

The very act of putting such items on a test gives the students an incentive to study L2 pragmatics.

Assessment gives teachers an opportunity to see the relative control their students have in what may at times be a high-stakes area for L2 performance (e.g., getting or holding a job).

It gives teachers an opportunity to check on whether learners have learned what they explicitly taught them.