语用能力是一个跨学科概念，在语言学、应用语言学、人类学、社会学、心理学、交际学和跨文化研究中均有涉及。外语语用能力培养作为外语教学的一个新兴领域正日益引起学者们的广泛兴趣。本文依照外语教学的理论框架，在大量国内相关文献的基础上系统总结了近三十年国内本研究领域的成果，包括需求分析、课程设计、教材编写、课堂教学、教学测试等。最后，文章从理论层面、研究内容和研究方法等方面对现有研究中存在的一些问题进行了反思。

Pragmatic competence, broadly defined as the ability to use language appropriately in a social context, has become an object of inquiry in a wide range of disciplines including linguistics, applied linguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, communication research, and cross-cultural studies. As a newly developed interdisciplinary field of study, research on the development of pragmatic competence is increasingly attracting extensive academic interest. On the basis of much related literature, the present paper attempts a brief survey of the studies in China in the past three decades, represented according to the theoretical framework in foreign language teaching. The major issues include need analysis, course design, textbook compiling, classroom teaching, and assessment of pragmatic competence. A critical analysis is then presented with regard to some problems pertaining to the existing studies, involving theory exploration, research contents, and research methodologies.