Dr Aglaia Rouki
PhD in Applied Linguistics
Afilliation
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Country
Greece
Professional URL
SHORT BIO
Dr Aglaia Rouki is an English language teacher and researcher specialising in pragmatics and corpus linguistics. She holds master's degrees in Applied Linguistics and Educational Leadership, along with a PhD focusing on the teaching of English pragmatics to Greek students. Her research interests include pragmatic awareness, corpus-based language assessment, and intercultural education.
PRESENTATION TITLE
PRESENTATION TITLE
When Textbooks Say Too Little: Teaching Conversational Implicatures through Corpus-Based Materials in Greek EFL Education
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the limited presence of pragmatic instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks used in Greek secondary education, with particular focus on conversational implicatures. Although pragmatic competence constitutes a crucial component of communicative ability, classroom materials often emphasize grammar and vocabulary while neglecting inferential meaning. Drawing on Relevance Theory, the study examines how corpus-based authentic material can support the development of learners’ pragmatic awareness. Data from classroom intervention with Greek high-school students demonstrate that explicit instruction using corpus examples significantly improves learners’ ability to interpret implicatures. The findings highlight the need to integrate pragmatics more systematically into EFL textbooks and teaching practices.
ABSTRACT
PRESENTER INTERVIEW
1. Why is pragmatic awareness essential for successful communication in a foreign language?
Grammar and vocabulary tell us what words mean, but pragmatics tells us what people actually mean when they use them. In real interaction, speakers constantly convey more than they say — through hints, indirectness, and implication. A learner can be grammatically flawless yet still misread an invitation, a refusal, or a joke. Pragmatic awareness is what allows learners to bridge that gap between literal form and intended meaning, and it's often where genuine communication succeeds or breaks down, especially across cultures.
2. Why do learners often find conversational implicatures challenging?
Because the meaning simply isn't in the words. Implicatures ask learners to reconstruct a speaker's intention from context, shared assumptions, and expectations about how cooperative communication works. This is demanding even in one's first language, and in a foreign language learners must do it while still processing form. In my testing research, the tasks that required learners to identify the relevant intended response proved the hardest. Interestingly, learners sometimes transfer interpretive skills positively from Greek — but where cultural expectations differ, that same instinct can mislead them.
3. How can corpus-based materials help teachers move beyond traditional textbook content?
Corpora give teachers direct access to how language is really used, rather than the tidied-up, invented dialogues textbooks often rely on. Through data-driven learning, students can explore authentic examples in tools like COCA or SKELL and notice patterns of implied meaning for themselves. My curriculum analysis found that under ten percent of tasks in a standard Greek EFL textbook addressed implicature at all — and most examples were conventional rather than creative. Corpora let teachers fill precisely that gap with real, context-rich language.
4. What changes would you like to see in future EFL textbooks and classroom practices?
I'd like pragmatics to be treated as core content, not an occasional extra. Textbooks should include a genuine range of implied meaning — including creative, non-conventional implicatures — alongside explicit opportunities for learners to notice and discuss how meaning is negotiated. In practice, I'd like to see more space for authentic data, reflection, and metapragmatic awareness: not just exposing learners to language, but helping them think about how it works. My experimental work suggests learners both perform better and engage more when taught this way.
5. What advice would you give teachers who want to introduce more authentic, context-based activities?
Start small and stay curious. You don't need an elaborate corpus project — a short, well-chosen set of authentic examples can spark rich discussion about what a speaker really meant and why. Free tools like SKELL make this very approachable. Frame these activities around noticing and reflection rather than right-or-wrong answers, and connect them to situations your learners recognise. Above all, let students explore the data themselves; the discovery is where the pragmatic awareness actually develops.