PRAGMATICS

Pragmatics

I don't get it

What do we teachers focus on?

Linguistics

The structure and ordering of components within a sentence The word “syntax” comes originally from Greek and literally means “a putting together” or “arrangement.”

What is syntax? Yule (2020)

My students are brilliant Are brilliant students my

Based on the idea that all humans have an innate language capacity, Noam Chomsky developed a theory of grammar which accepts the premise that native speakers of a language find certain sentences grammatical or ungrammatical and that these judgments give insight into the rules governing the use of that language. This small and finite set of rules is sometimes described as a Generative grammar because it can be used to “generate” or produce sentence structures and not just describe them.

What is Generative Grammar? Yule (2020)

Charlie broke the window (N + V + NP) The window was broken by Charlie (NP + VP + NP)

Deep structure: The deep structure is an abstract level of structural organization in which all the elements determining structural interpretation are represented.

Charlie broke the window The window was broken by Charlie

Superficial sentences:

Deep and Surface Structures (Yule, 2020)

DEEP STRUCTURES: “Annie had an umbrella and she bumped into a man with it.” “Annie bumped into a man and the man happened to be carrying an umbrella.” SURFACE STRUCTURE: Annie bumped into a man with an umbrella.

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Structural Ambiguity (Yule, 2020)

DEEP STRUCTURES: “Annie had an umbrella and she bumped into a man with it.” “Annie bumped into a man and the man happened to be carrying an umbrella.” SURFACE STRUCTURE: Annie bumped into a man with an umbrella.

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Structural Ambiguity (Yule, 2020)

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Structural Ambiguity (Yule, 2020)

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Structural Ambiguity (Yule, 2020)

1. The club will open to members only from Monday to thursday. 2. The hostess greeted the girl with a smile. 3. They fed her dog biscuits. 4. What John disliked was being ignored by everyone.

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Structural Ambiguity

1. What comes to your mind with the word pragmatics? 2. What do you understand by Pragmatic Competence? 3. What is the impact of pragmatics in our teaching context?

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What is pragmatics?

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What is pragmatics?

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What is pragmatics?

In the late 1960s, two elderly American tourists who had been touring Scotland reported that, in their travels, they had come to a Scottish town in which there was a great ruined cathedral. As they stood in the ruins, they saw a small boy and they asked him when the cathedral had been so badly damaged. He replied in the war. Their immediate interpretation, in the 1960s, was that he must be referring to the Second World War which had ended only twenty years earlier. But then they thought that the ruins looked as if they had been in their dilapidated state for much longer than that, so they asked the boy which war he meant. He replied the war with the English, which, they eventually discovered, had formally ended in 1745. Brown (1998)

What is pragmatics? (Yule, 2020)

Pragmatics

"Communication clearly depends on not only recognizing the meaning of words in an utterance, but recognizing what speakers mean by their utterances. The study of what speakers mean, or “speaker meaning,” is called pragmatics."

What calls your attention?

Miss Rocío, Here is my essay. Check it and let me know if there is any mistake. Juanito

What is pragmatic knowledge?

1. What was the student trying to accomplish with the email? (Function of the language) 2. Does this type of email require the writer to use a certain structure (genre-based approach)? “IT’S EASY TO MAKE A FAUX PAS WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW THE LANGUAGE WELL AND YOU ARE NOT AWARE OF PRAGMATIC ASPECTS LIKE POLITENESS”

Miss Rocío, Here is my essay. Check it and let me know if there is any mistake. Juanito

What is pragmatic knowledge?

Is teaching vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc... enough for learners to grasp the pragmatic aspects of English? Why, why not? Should we teach pragmatics? how?

Oscar is late to the class. Teacher says: Good night, Oscar. Oscar: But it's only 9 a.m. teacher.

Ms. Rocío to her husband: Look at those shoes, they are beautiful. They would look great on me! Her husband: Yes, they are beautiful

Can you pass the salt? yes I can

How important is to be aware of pragmatics for us teachers of the language?

Awareness

Noticing

Understanding

Attention

-Attention is the access to awareness. -Teaching Explicit pragmatics seems to be more effective. -Exposing learners to pragmatic input (implicit teaching) is less strong in comparison with pragmatic output (more attention to contextual factors).

COGNITIVE FRAMEWORK The Noticing Hypothesis (Ishihara & Cohen, 2010)

MAXIM OF QUANTITY : one tries to be as informative as one possibly can, and gives as much information as is needed, and no more. MAXIM OF QUALITY : one tries to be truthful, and does not give information that is false or that is not supported by evidence. MAXIM OF RELEVANCE: one tries to be relevant, and says things that are pertinent to the discussion. MAXIM OF MANNER: one tries to be as clear, as brief, and as orderly as one can in what one says, and where one avoids obscurity and ambiguity.

Grice's Maxims (1975)

MAXIM OF QUANTITY : one tries to be as informative as one possibly can, and gives as much information as is needed, and no more. MAXIM OF QUALITY : one tries to be truthful, and does not give information that is false or that is not supported by evidence. MAXIM OF RELEVANCE: one tries to be relevant, and says things that are pertinent to the discussion. MAXIM OF MANNER: one tries to be as clear, as brief, and as orderly as one can in what one says, and where one avoids obscurity and ambiguity.

Grice's Maxims (1975)

What maxims do we usually flout? Can you think of any examples related to your classmates? What Maxims does...Rocío Flout? What Maxims does Oscar flout? What Maxims does Seba Flout? What Maxims does Rosa Flout? What Maxims does Pauli Flout? What Maxims does Vane Flout? What Maxims does Cata Flout? What Maxims does Caro Flout? What Maxims does Gonzalo Flout? What Maxims does July Flout? What Maxims does Pauli Flout?

Pragmatics Grice's Maxims (1975)

Applied pragmatics Speech Act sets (Segel, 2016)

Applied pragmatics Speech Act sets (Segel, 2016)

We can create checklists for pragmatic aspects of the language, for instance, to apologize or to request: learners focus on pragmatics and not only on grammatical aspects. Did I include “taking responsibility” when I apologized? Did I use appropriate grammar structures in my apology? Did I offer the person repair or compensation? Did I explain why I made a mistake?

Applied pragmatics What are the implications for our language classes?

You can offer learners scenarios for different functions of the language “You and your friend have arranged to meet at the cafeteria to agree on the topics you will include in a presentation for a class. You meet your friend at the cafeteria but you forgot to bring your notes to work on your presentation. What do you say to your friend?”

Applied pragmatics What are the implications for our language classes?

To teach polite requests, for example, you can teach the use of softeners: “The music is too loud, turn the volume down” “The music is a bit loud, could you turn the volume down?”

Applied pragmatics What are the implications for our language classes?

Teach your students register: You need to ensure your learners know a range of interlocutors by adjusting age, position and social status in role plays. Example: Person 1: An elderly man person 2: A woman in a business suit Person 3: A boy younger than you are

Applied pragmatics What are the implications for our language classes?

Nettiquette

Applied pragmatics What are the implications for our language classes?

Considering pragmatic abilities. How would you react in the following situation? Your boss calls you for a meeting in his office. He starts complaining about your performance at work, he says just negative comments about you but you disagree with his perception. What and how would you reply?

Awareness Raising Approach

Based on the noticing hypothesis: Designed to facilitate learner’s noticing and understanding of the FORM-CONTEXT relationship. Learners need to know the meaning and linguistic form associated with expressions (pragmalinguistics) e.g. I agree - I disagree. In addition, they need cultural knowledge (appropriate contexts for using these expressions (sociopragmatics) e.g. In a regular discussion, in a debate. Learners act like researchers, collecting naturally occurring linguistic samples from speakers of L2. Through Surveys or interviews. Then they can analyze the linguistic features as well as the non-linguistic contextual factors.

Awareness Raising Approach