Pragmatics: Meaning, Context, and Interaction

LELA20292 Pragmatics: Meaning, Context, and Interaction 20 Semester 2 Undergraduate Level 2 Maj-Britt Hansen Unit coordinator Linguistics & English Language 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Middle part of Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 This course covers central topics in pragmatics, studying how meaning is generated by the use of language in specific contexts of communication.Subtopics covered include conversation analysis, (im)politeness, intercultural communication, implicature, presupposition, speech acts, and deixis. Consideration will be given to the interaction between semantics and pragmatics, both synchronically and diachronically, and/or to the respective roles of speakers and hearers in meaning construction.While English will be the main language of study, data from other languages will be included to highlight crosslinguistic variation. (NB! If the module is taken for credit in French, that will be the main language of study in seminars and with respect to the assessment.) This course covers central topics in pragmatics, studying how meaning is generated by the use of language in specific contexts of communication.Subtopics covered include conversation analysis, (im)politeness, intercultural communication, implicature, presupposition, speech acts, and deixis. Consideration will be given to the interaction between semantics and pragmatics, both synchronically and diachronically, and/or to the respective roles of speakers and hearers in meaning construction.While English will be the main language of study, data from other languages will be included to highlight crosslinguistic variation. (NB! If the module is taken for credit in French, that will be the main language of study in seminars and with respect to the assessment.) The course aims to address the question of how meaning is created and interpreted by the use of language in specific communicative contexts. More specifically: <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The distribution of labor between the linguistic code and features of the context.</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The typology of contextually generated meanings.</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The specific principles that can be hypothesized to underlie different types of contextually generated meaning.</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The ways in which the structure of verbal interaction itself can create meanings.</li></ul> By successfully completing this course students will be able to: <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Identify and analyze the empirical phenomena that are central to pragmatics, including recurrent patterns in verbal interaction; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Analyze new data representing language use in context applying appropriate methodologies, as well as a precisely defined metalinguistic and metadiscursive vocabulary; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Understand the main theoretical approaches to the different subfields of pragmatics, and the relations that obtain between those approaches; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Reflect critically on their own communicative practice and that of others.</li></ul> <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Analytical skills</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Argumentation skills</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Abstract thinking skills</li></ul> <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Data collection skills</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Qualitative data analysis skills</li></ul> <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Communication skills</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Team-working skills</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Time-management skills</li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Enhanced intercultural awareness</li></ul> The course enhances skills related to data analysis and synthesis. It strengthens the students' understanding of linguistic meaning and of human interaction, and enhances intercultural awareness. It has particular benefits for students who wish to work in communication-related fields (including, but not limited to, teaching). Week 1 Introduction to the study of pragmaticsWeek 2 Conversation Analysis and EthnomethodologyWeek 3 Conversation Analysis (cont.) / (Im)politenessWeek 4 (Im)politeness (cont.)Week 5 Cross-Cultural and Intercultural CommunicationWeek 6 Deixis and subjectivityWeek 7 Entailment vs presuppositionWeek 8 Conversational implicatureWeek 9 Speech actsWeek 10 Conventional Implicature; The Semantics/Pragmatics Interface, The role of speakers vs hearersWeek 11 Revision 22 hours of lectures, 11 hours of seminars featuring a variety of tutor-led and student-led activities, including regular practice exercises.Supporting materials, and assignments will be made available on Canvas 0 Other 100% <table class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse:collapse; border:none"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black" valign="top">Assessment Task</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">Formative or Summative</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">Weighting</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black" valign="top">Final Exam</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">Summative</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">80%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black" valign="top">Satisfactory completion of weekly written group assignments for the seminars</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">Formative and Summative</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">10%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black" valign="top">Satisfactory completion of weekly assigned work for the lectures</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">Formative and Summative</td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:200px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 7px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top">10%</td> </tr> </tbody></table>   <figure class="table" style="width:671px;"><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="671"><tbody><tr><td style="width:331px;">Feedback Method</td><td style="width:340px;">Formative or Summative</td></tr><tr><td style="width:331px;"> Oral feedback on exam performance</td><td style="width:340px;"> Summative</td></tr><tr><td style="width:331px;"> Minimal written feedback on participation-related submissions   and seminar assignments</td><td style="width:340px;"> Formative and Summative</td></tr><tr><td style="width:331px;"> Oral feedback on in-class contributions, participation   related submissions, and seminar assingments</td><td style="width:340px;"> Formative</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>  FREN51030 French Language 3 Pre-Requisite Compulsory LELA10301 English Word and Sentence Structure Pre-Requisite Compulsory LELA10332 Study of Meaning Pre-Requisite Recommended Pre-req for LELA20292For English Language or Linguistics Credit:Compulsory Pre-requisite: LELA10301 - English Word and Sentence Structure. Students who do not meet this pre-requisite must gain academic approval before they can be enrolled. For French Credit:Compulsory Pre-requisite: FREN51030 - French Language 3. Students who do not meet this pre-requisite will not be able to access the material. BA(Hons) English Language BA (Hons) English Language Second Year Optional BA (Hons) French Studies BA (Hons) French Studies Second Year Optional BA(Hons) Linguistics BA (Hons) Linguistics Second Year Optional Y Bailey, Benjamin. 1997. Communication of respect in interethnic service encounters.  Language in Society 26: 327-356. (LEL students ONLY)Béal, Christine.  1992.  Did you have a good weekend?  Or why there is no such thing as a simple question in cross-cultural encounters.  Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 15(1):  23-52. (FS students ONLY)Huang, Yan. 2014. Pragmatics. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (ALL students)Levinson, Stephen C.  1983.  Pragmatics.  Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. (ALL students)Levinson, Stephen C. 2004. Deixis. In Laurence R. Horn & Gregory Ward, eds., The Handbook of Pragmatics, 97-121. Oxford: Blackwell.Senft, Gunter. 2014. Understanding Pragmatics. Abingdon: Routledge. (ALL students)Sidnell. Jack.  2010.  Conversation Analysis.  An Introduction.  Oxford:  Wiley-Blackwell. (ALL students)Zhu, Hua. 2014. Exploring Intercultural Communication. Language in Action. Abingdon: Routledge. (ALL students)  Assessment written exam 3 eAssessment 20 Lectures 22 Seminars 11 0 144