1. Pragmatics
JESSICA ELAINE CAVAZOS BABCOCK

2. Over the past years
OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS OR SO PRAGMATICS
HAS GROWN INTO A WELL ESTABLISHED SECURE
DISCIPLINE IN INSTITUTIONAL TERMS.
PRAGMATICS IS THE SCIENCE OF THE RELATION
OF SIGNS TO THEIR INTERPRETERS. PRAGMATICS
IS CONCERNED NOT WITH LANGUAGE AS A
SYSTEM OR PRODUCT , BUT RATHER WITH THE
INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE
FORM, MESSAGES AND LANGUAGE USERS.

3. Pragmatic meaning
IT IS OFTEN ASSUMED THAT THE TASK OF
SEMANTICS IS TO DESCRIBE AND EXPLAIN
LINGUISTIC MEANING WHEREAS
`PRAGMATICS` IS CONCERNED WITH THE
STUDY OF MEANING THAT LINGUISTIC
EXPRESSIONS RECEIVE IN USE.

5. Assigning reference in context
A LISTENER NEED TO ASSIGN REFERENCE
TO THE WORDS THAT A SPEAKER USES, AND
SINCE THERE IS NO DIRECT RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN ENTITIES AND WORDS, THE
LISTENER TYPICALLY HAST TO MAKE
INTERFERENCES AS TO WHAT THE SPEAKER
INTENDS TO IDENTIFY.

6. Assigning sense in context
OBSERVATIONS SHOW THAT CONTEXTUAL
MEANING IS NOT FULLY DETERMINED BY THE
WORDS THAT ARE USED ; THERE IS A GAP
BETWEEN THE MEANING OF THE WORDS THAT
ARE USED BY THE SPEAKER AND THE
THOUGHT THAT THE SPEAKER INTEND TO
EXPRESS BY USING THOSE WORDS ON A
PARTICULAR OCCASION.

7. Working out implicated
meaning
THE MAIN FACT EASILY LIE NOT WITH THE
THOUGHT EXPRESSED BY THE UTTERANCE
BUT RATHER WITH THE THOUGHT THAT
THE HEARER ASSUMES THE SPEAKER
INTENDS TO SUGGEST.

8. Explaining the impact on social
factors
GRICE'S (1989) THEORY OF CONVERSATION, AND IN PARTICULAR
HIS VIEW THAT CONVERSATION IS GOVERNED BY A SET OF
NORMS. LEECH (1983)MAINTAINS THAT THE POLITENESS
PRINCIPLE IS A NECESSARY SUPPLEMENT TO GRICE'S CO-
OPERATIVE PRINCIPLE ARGUING THAT PEOPLE OFTEN
BREAK THE CO- OPERATIVE PRINCIPLE FOR POLITENESS
REASONS, IN OTHER WORDS TO MAINTAIN SOCIAL EQUILIBRIUM
AND THE FRIENDLY REASONS. LEECH (1983) ALSO SUGGESTS
THAT LANGUAGE USE INVOLVES A PRAGMALINGUISTIC
PERSPECTIVE AND A SOCIOPRAGMATIC PERSPECTIVE. THE
PRAGMALINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE FOCUSES ON THE LINGUISTIC
STRATEGIES THAT ARE USED TO CONVEY A GIVEN PRAGMATIC. A
SOCIOPRAGMATIC PERSPECTIVE FOCUSES ON THE SOCIAL
JUDGMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH SUCH SCENARIO. ONE OF THE
MOST INFLUENTIAL MODELS THAT TRY TO EXPLAIN THE IMPACT
OF SOCIAL FACTOR ON PEOPLE USE OF LANGUAGE IS BROWN AND
LEVINSON'S (1978 /1987) FACE MODEL OF POLITENESS. BROWN
AND LEVINSON ARGUE THAT SPEAKERS TAKE THREE MAIN
VARIABLES INTO ACCOUNT WHEN DECIDING HOW TO WORD A
FACE- THREATENING UTTERANCE SUCH AS A REQUEST OR A
CHALLENGE: * THE POWER DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN THE
HEARER AND THE SPEAKER *THE DISTANCE - CLOSENESS
BETWEEN THEM *THE DEGREE OF IMPOSITION OF THE CONTENT
OF THE UTTERANCE

9. CONVERSATIONAL
PATTERNS AND STRUCTURE
THIS IS AN APPROACH THAT STARTS FROM
THE COMMONSENSE OBSERVATION THAT
PEOPLE TAKE TURNS IN CONVERSATION ,
AND THAT RELIES ON DESCRIPTIONS OF
NATURALLY OCCURRING DATA TO DISCOVER
THE RULES INVOLVED IN THE PATTERNING
OF CONVERSATIONAL EXCHANGES.

10. THE ROLE OF CONTEXT
CONTEXTS PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN
COMMUNICATION PROCESS AND SO AN
IMPORTANT TASK FOR PRAGMATIC THEORY IS
TO ELUCIDATE THIS PROCESS. ONE OF THE
MAIN PROBLEMS OF PRAGMATICS IS TO
EXPLAIN THE CONSTANT UPDATING OF
CONTEXTUAL ASSUMPTIONS MIN THE COURSE
OF A COMMUNICATIVE EXCHANGE.

11. The importance of context
CONTEXT IS A CRUCIAL FACTOR IN
PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS IT INFLUENCES
WHAT PEOPLE SAY, HOW THEY SAY IT AND
HOW OTHER INTERPRET WHAT THEY SAY.

12. The impact of speech act theory
HAS HAD A CRUCIAL IMPACT ON FOREIGN
LANGUAGE TEACHING, AS IT IS PLAYED A
MAJOR ROLE IN THE EMERGENCE OF THE
FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF LANGUAGE
LEARNING AND TEACHING.

13. Peoples sensitivities to face
PRAGMATIC INSIGHTS FROM FACE TO FACE
AND POLITENESS THEORY CAN BE OF GREAT
PRACTICAL RELEVANCE TO TEACHERS
ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF CLASSROOM
MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL INTERACTION.