S2 E3: “Hello” or “How do you do?” Is There A Rule?

In this episode, Dr Kaitlyn Zavaleta interviews Dr Jiayi Wang, about those “unwritten” rules of language use, which are known as “pragmatics”. What’s really interesting about pragmatics is that they aren’t really reflected in textbooks the way we originally learn a language. Dr Wang discusses research into English learners and their use of language in emails.

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Or get in touch via email: kaitlyn.zavaleta@dmu.ac.uk and marie-josee.bisson@dmu.ac.uk

Link to Dr Wang’s webpage

Dr Wang’s research:

Wang, Jiayi and Halenko, Nicola (2022a). “Mind your language”: L2 English emails during study abroad. In Halenko, Nicola and Wang, Jiayi (eds.) Pragmatics in English Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 29-56.


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What have you learnt from this episode? How has your attitude towards language learning been affected?

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