This study investigates the effects of instruction on learners' pragmatic competence by integrating pragmatic consciousness-raising (PCR) activities into a beginning-level Chinese language course during one academic semester. The study also examines the effect of integrating the PCR activities, i.e., before or after the instruction of a lesson-unit that focuses on vocabulary and grammar. Results show that the integrated approach helps beginning-level learners improve speech act competency, but do not indicate any significant difference in terms of when to incorporate PCR activities into language instruction. This study has implications for teaching pragmatics in a foreign-language instructional setting.