Pragmatics: Language and Context

2021/2022

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

5

ECTS credits

Delivered by:

School of Foreign Languages

Type:

Elective course

When:

3 year, 3, 4 module

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course will provide an introduction to the study of contextualized meaning in linguistics and attempt to explain how we create meaning from the utterances we make. Students will examine data, theories, and methodologies dealing with language use in context. They will consider both the interactional structure and the social principles (pragmatics) that influence the production and interpretation of discourse. Students will also examine how individuals bring their cultural experiences, worldview, and assumptions to conversations.

Learning Objectives

• students will develop an understanding of pragmatics as a interdisciplinary subject connected with logic, philosophy, semiotics and linguistics
• they will learn to develop critical thinking skills while interpreting texts or producing their own
• they will evaluate the role of context in discourse interpretation

Expected Learning Outcomes

• students will determine logical fallacies in arguments and analyze sources of information critically
• students will learn different concepts and theories of pragmatics and will apply them practically in text interpretation and text writing
• students will practice cooperative discourse and learn how to overcome cases of miscommunication
• students will practice the art of building strong arguments and develop persuasive skills

Course Contents

• Grice’s maxims of conversation. Principle of cooperation. Cooperative and non-cooperative dialogues. Implicatures and explicatures of a conversation. Neo-Gricean pragmatic theories. Propositions.
• Presuppositions in pragmatics.
• Pragmatics and evolution of cooperation. Theories of Tomasello and Maturana. Negotiation in interaction.
• Pragmatics of argumentation and persuasion.
• Pragmatic and semantic ambiguity.
• Habermas’s validity claims. Textual evidence to identify and evaluate arguments as fallacious. News analysis practice.
• Miscommunication and communication conflicts in the digital realm. Ways to solve conflicts.
• Introduction to pragmatics, its connection to linguistics, logic and psychology. Syntactics, semantics and pragmatics. Speech act theory. Types of speech acts (direct, indirect, performative).
• Deixis and pragmatics.
• Pragmatic aspects of making and responding to complaints in an intercultural context.
• The pragmatics of politeness. Theories of Geoffrey Leech and Steven Levinson. Politeness and facework.
• Pragmatic abilities in narrative production. Constructing identities. Linguistic and social constraints on storytelling.

Assessment Elements

• Assignments
  Assignment 1 on Speech act theory and Grice’s maxims; Assignment 2: a role-play on negotiation and cooperation; Assignment 3: a 5-min argumentative talk or presentation; Assignment 4: news analysis practice (presentation); Assignment 5: writing an e-letter (making or responding to complaints); Assignment 6: a 3-min talk on storytelling; Assignment 7: draft proposal of the exam presentation.
• Class Participation
• Exam
  a presentation on one of the listed topics of the course with your own practice material (the analysis of the text or speech production) 5-7 min.

Interim Assessment

• 2021/2022 4th module
  0.2 * Class Participation + 0.4 * Exam + 0.4 * Assignments

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Horn, L. R., & Ward, G. L. (2004). The Handbook of Pragmatics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=108714

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Habermas, T. (2019). Emotion and Narrative : Perspectives in Autobiographical Storytelling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1948891

Authors

• KARAMALAK OLGA ALEKSEEVNA