Improving Pragmatic Competence in IT Students: Challenges and Strategies

Аннотация

Pragmatic competence plays crucial role in improving communication process in English. Especially, in ESP (English for specific purposes) students need awareness of pragmatic competence as they communicate with native speakers. Thus, demand for specialists who master English language like native speakers is rising. They gain more opportunity in achieving success in any sphere. Pragmatic competence the ability to use language appropriately in context is crucial for IT professionals, yet often overlooked in technical education. This study explores the improvement of pragmatic competence in first-year IT students at technical universities, focusing on their communication skills in team meetings. In order to conduct survey researcher used mixed-method approach which includes qualitative and quantitative data collection. 4-week observation was conducted to explore syllabus, process of lesson, challenges and strength of students. To check their level placement test was taken from students at the beginning of experiment. Placement test was taken online through Englishradar.com. 20 questions were created in a test form for the pre-test and post-test to find out differences in results before and after experiment. Questions were in an open ended test format and focused to assess how students handle turn-taking, disagreement strategies, politeness markers, and clarity in technical communication. Students were asked to fill dialogue in different situations. Answers of students were assessed according to rubric which was designed by researcher basing on CEFR. T-test was used to calculate results of pre-test and post test. According to findings researcher could find challenges and strategies of students in improving pragmatic competence in English lessons.