DEVELOPING PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE THROUGH SPEECH ACT ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK COMMENTARIES

Abstract

The rapid growth of social media communication has created new opportunities for language learning, particularly in the development of pragmatic competence. Facebook comment sections represent authentic, dynamic discourse environments where users perform various speech acts such as expressing opinions, agreeing, disagreeing, criticizing, and supporting others. This study investigates how analyzing speech acts in Facebook commentaries can develop students’ pragmatic competence in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study involved 22 intermediate university students who participated in a six-week instructional intervention focused on identifying and analyzing speech acts in Facebook comment threads. Data were collected through pre-test and post-test pragmatic awareness tasks and classroom observation. The findings indicate that students improved significantly in recognizing speech acts, interpreting pragmatic intentions, and understanding interactional meaning in digital discourse. The study concludes that Facebook comment analysis is an effective pedagogical tool for enhancing pragmatic competence in modern EFL classrooms