Pragmatic competence is a frequently-discussed concept in linguistic research and English as foreign language teaching （EFLT）. It means the ability of appropriately choosing a linguistic form for a specific context，or of correctly using the target language in social interaction. Learning a foreign language means not only the cultivation of linguistic competence，but more importantly，the cultivation of pragmatic competence。 Many domestic scholars have contributed a great deal of effort on pragmatic competence of the Chinese learners of English，and the acquisition of target language pragmatic competence in the past two decades with fruitful results. Scanning the previous study and works，we find that the subjects being investigated are almost college students and graduates of English major and non-English major，while about the EFL learners of Science and Technology at different educational systems are seldom attended to. For this reason，a research on pragmatic competence of 178 EFL learners of Science and Technology in Xian Technological University is conducted to find out whether the subjects exhibit similar pragmatic competence in spite of their different linguistic backgrounds。 According to Thomass "pragmatic failure"，the study attempts to investigate EFL learners pragmatic competence by a survey in the form of questionnaire. The data suggest that their pragmatic competence is still of low level and the pragmatic competence does not necessarily develop with their linguistic competence andbackground. After finding out and analyzing the causes of low level of pragmatic competence，which are differences in thinking patterns，association，culture，and pragmatic principles，and inappropriate language input，the author proposes some practical suggestions for EFL teaching with the purpose of developing the learnerspragmatic competence and reduces the occurrence of pragmatic failure。 As for EFL teaching，the ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to make learners be capable of communicating with people in the target language. Therefore，it is very important for foreign language teachers to help students cultivate their pragmatic competence by raising the learners cultural，pragmatic and context awareness； integrating cultural knowledge with foreign language teaching，introducing pragmatic act，and teaching language in context. In English teaching，teacher should try to provide authentic teaching materials which cover grammar，culture and pragmatic principles in the process of teaching. Improving the present testing system and promoting teachers pragmatic competence are also essential. Only by doing these can we make students be more aware of what they should adapt to in the process of linguistic choices in inter-cultural communication，and make them avoid or minimize the possibility of pragmatic failure in inter-cultural communication and，finally help them improve their pragmatic competence。