This book seeks to inspire a new way of thinking about English in Europe, providing evidence for shared tendencies in pragmatic behavior, a key element of successful communication across cultures.
English in Europe is not one but many, and substantial differences in the way people from different countries communicate using it may cause misunderstandings. This book shows that, through research into the pragmatic behaviour of non-native speakers of English from across Europe, it is possible to uncover the core-the shared strategies. This common pragmatic linguistic behaviour is proposed as the basis for a reference guide for those who wish to successfully communicate in English in Europe. The study reported on in this book is based on the analysis of the speech act of apologizing as realized by 466 respondents from 8 European countries, all proficient users of English involved in teacher-training programmes. The results Provide a basis for practical teaching and in-class research.
The European Union: culture, identity and languages.- English as a means of communication by non-native Speakers.- Learning English for Intercultural Communication.- Linguistic pragmatic background for the study of the speech act of apologizing: from theory to practice.- Empirical study of the realisation of the speech act of apologizing in Euro-English.
