Abstract

Pragmatic aspect of formulaic language must be emphasized and employed in second language acquisition. Translation of formulaic speech can help learners better understand the pragmatic nature of L2 prefabricated language through comparing them with their L1 (first language) equivalents. This study proposes a contrastive lexical pragmatic approach in teaching pragmatics. It is demonstrated how lexical equivalents between two languages help in clarifying pragmatic aspect of L2 (second language). It is claimed that metapragmatics as an effective strategy in teaching and learning pragmatic aspect of language is highly apt to be achieved through a contrastive lexical pragmatic practice which results in learners’ conscious raising and understanding about pragmatics. The claim made in this paper is that as rich sources of pragmatic (mostly pragmalinguistic) knowledge, comparisons made between L1 and L2 prefabricated expressions are highly effective in bringing second/foreign pragmatic acquisition and second/foreign language acquisition together. Whenever pragmatic failures occur, through a metapragmatic process, prefabricated expressions are revised in the light of their L1 equivalents in order to fulfill functions in certain contexts. Transleme is introduced as L1 stereotypical equivalents for a pragmeme which can almost always account for all its pragmatic actions.

Key words: Contrastive lexical pragmatics, prefabricated language, formulaic language, metapragmatics, transleme.