The present study was mainly concerned with investigating advanced L2 learners’ pragmatic knowledge and the challenges of teaching and learning it. To fulfill the objectives of this study, a convergent mixed-methods study was conducted, and 196 advanced L2 learners and 10 experienced Iranian EFL teachers took part in the study. The results of the quantitative study yielded that, on the whole, the pragmatic knowledge level of advanced EFL learners is not satisfactory. In fact, advanced EFL learners are more skilled at receptive, non-interactive productive, and then pragmalinguistic tasks than sociolinguistic ones. In other words, they are good at intrapersonal perception of pragmatic knowledge but weak at interpersonal and pragmatic social interaction and communication. Furthermore, the gender factor was found to be insignificant. Additionally, the results of the qualitative study revealed five main challenges for teaching and learning pragmatics i.e., inappropriate pedagogical material, improper pragmatic assessment, pragmatically incompetent teachers, unsuitable instructional context, and insufficient time and effort. Finally, both quantitative and qualitative results confirmed and completed each other. In light of the findings, the study provides some pedagogical implications for language teachers, supervisors, language institute managers, material developers, and curriculum designers. Manuscript profile

Speech acts shape the core of pragmatic competence and their mastery is a prerequisite for successful dis- course encounters in an L2. Cross-cultural comparisons, as claimed by Johnstone (2018), are very effec- tive for knowing and acquiring the speech acts. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to compare a limited number of communicative routines in English and Persian within the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) developed by Wierzbicka (1991) and to examine if the words uttered by speakers at the surface level (exterior) would match their thoughts (interior) especially in such routines as compliment, request, and invitation patterns. The participants comprised 21 MA students studying Eng- lish language teaching. The data was obtained by a validated researcher-made questionnaire containing both structured and unstructured items and 10 scenarios on the basis of which the study participants pro- vided comments, appropriate expressions, and responses. For the English routines, the data was obtained from three English plays. The aforementioned communicative routines in Persian were described in terms of their NSM while the metalinguistic components for the English routines were adopted from Wierz- bicka (1991). The results indicated that the NSM provided rich insights into subliminal cross-cultural dif- ferences. Since this study makes use of simple cultural scripts (similar to circumlocution) to describe communicative routines in both English and Persian, learners can easily understand differences within the hidden cross-cultural bound interactions. Implications of the study suggest that both EFL teachers and learners can gain more profound insights about the cross-cultural sociopragmatic differences between English and Persian. Manuscript profile