Investigating Iraqi EFL Undergraduates' Pragmatic Failure in Polite Request

Abstract

English, as a communication tool, is playing an extremely significant role in cross-cultural communication. The main function of language is communication, and pragmatic competence is an important component of communicative competence. However, owing to a lack of pragmatic knowledge, English learners can hardly avoid committing pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication .Pragmatic failure sets up barriers to the success of cross-cultural communication since pragmatic failure closely relates to English learners’ lack of pragmatic knowledge and understanding of the culture of the target country. In order to improve their pragmatic and communicative competence, more introductions to pragmatic knowledge and cultural information should be incorporated into English teaching. This research aims to investigate the pragmatic failure of Iraqi EFL undergraduate students and to provide constructive suggestions as to how to improve their pragmatic competence. This paper first investigates pragmatic failures that college English learners tend to commit in polite request in cross-cultural communication through a test, building on the analysis of the collected data, it further discusses the main sources of the pragmatic failures and provides suggestions for it. It is hoped that these suggestions can help to develop students’ pragmatic and communicative competence.