Pragmatic Failure in English Communication Among Igbo L1 Speakers in Imo State

Pragmatic failure, the inability to use language appropriately in social context despite grammatical competence, is a frequently encountered but systematically understudied problem in Nigerian ESL communication. This study examines pragmatic failure in English communication among Igbo L1 speakers in Imo State, focusing on speech act performance in request, apology, and greeting contexts. Data were collected through a discourse completion task administered to one hundred and fifty participants at two higher institutions in Owerri, supplemented by role-play recordings from thirty selected participants. Responses were analysed against native English pragmatic norms using a pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic failure classification framework. Results indicate that pragmatic failure is more prevalent in the request and apology speech acts than in greetings, with sociopragmatic failures predominating over pragmalinguistic ones across all three acts. Specifically, requests show a tendency toward directness that violates negative politeness expectations in Standard English, while apologies frequently omit the offer of repair component expected in English apology sequences. Analysis of interview data suggests that many participants are unaware of these mismatches, attributing communication difficulties to grammar rather than pragmatic convention. The study argues that pragmatic instruction is significantly underweighted in English curricula in Imo State tertiary institutions and recommends the integration of speech act awareness modules into communication skills courses. Keywords: pragmatic failure, speech acts, Igbo L1 speakers, ESL communication, Imo State.