Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyzes teachers’ and learners’ ways of making sense of pragmatics, how their assumptions about social relationships impact their perceptions of language use, and how their reflection on pragmatic judgments opens up possibilities for developing intercultural understanding. It foregrounds the different ways in which learners’ understandings of Japanese speech styles were shaped by their own relational goals and sense of belonging within different networks of social relations and discusses how the learners’ real communicative needs often led them to question the politeness rules they had internalized in formal learning. The book shows that the meanings of macro categories are not stable but subject to redefinition in accordance with the learner’s desire to deal with identity-related tensions and construct new identity positioning. It identifies concrete indicators of pragmalinguistic awareness, socio-pragmatic awareness, and intercultural adaptability.