Language Level 5: Pragmatics

Pragmatics is the study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning. It is concerned with the ways people use language in communication, and goes beyond the literal meaning of words.
This level involves understanding speaker’s intention, conversation implicatures, and indirect speech acts. It plays a crucial part in understanding what is actually meant, rather than what is explicitly stated.
Speech act theory, a subset of pragmatics, categorises utterances into: locutions (literal meaning), illocutions (intended meaning), and perlocutions (effect of the utterance on the listener).
Context is significant in pragmatics. The physical context (where the communication is happening), the social context (relationships and social status of the speakers), and the cultural context (norms and values) all impact the meaning drawn from a given statement.
An important concept in pragmatics is the ‘cooperative principle’ proposed by Paul Grice. It includes four maxims that, when adhered to, help maintain effective and cooperative communication. These are: Quantity (providing the right amount of information), Quality (speaking truthfully), Relation (keeping the conversation relevant), and Manner (being clear, concise, and avoiding ambiguity).
‘Implicature’ refers to what is suggested in an utterance, even though not expressly stated or entailed by the utterance. For instance, “Can you pass the salt?” implicitly instructs someone to pass the salt.
‘Deixis’ refers to words or phrases, like ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘here’, ‘there’, ‘now’, ‘then’, which require contextual information to fully understand their meaning.
Understanding ‘face-threatening acts’ (utterances that risk damaging the speaker’s or listener’s credibility or respect) and ‘politeness strategies’ used to mitigate these, is also essential in studying pragmatics.
Often, non-verbal signs and cues, body language, and the use of silence are a part of pragmatic study as these, too, can markedly affect the meaning of an utterance.

Remember to check your nuanced understanding of these concepts and their applicability through numerous practise exercises and text analyses.