Pragmatics
Code: 100189 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500245 English Studies | OT | 3 | 0 |
| 2500245 English Studies | OT | 4 | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Eva Codó Olsina
- Email:
- Eva.Codo@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- english (eng)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
To be able to complete this course successfully, students must have level C2 of the CEFR.
Objectives and Contextualisation
This course is an introduction to the vast field of linguistic and discursive pragmatics. A few key theoretical frameworks and concepts will be examined. They will provide the tools for students to analyse both oral and written texts from a socio-interactional and discursive perspective. Talk is viewed as a situated object and as a tool to accomplish goals in specific interpersonal, historical, socio-ideological and cultural contexts.
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
-Define the main concepts in pragmatic analysis, situate them in their theoretical framework, establish connections and assess their contribution to the development of the field.
-Apply the concepts learned to the description and comprehension of language use.
-Reflect on the one's own and others' communicative practice.
-Identify and explain differences and similarities between the pragmatics of English and of other languages spoken locally.
Competences
- English Studies
- Critically assessing the scientific, literary and cultural production in the English language.
- Describe synchronously the main grammar units, constructions and phenomena of the English language.
- Distinguish and contrast the various theoretical and methodological models applied to the study of the English language, its literature and its culture.
- Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activities.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Utilising new technologies in order to capture and organise information in English and other languages, and applying it to the personal continued training and to the problem-solving in the professional or research activity.
- Working in an autonomous and responsible way in a professional or research environment in English or other languages, in order to accomplish the previously set objectives.
Learning Outcomes
- Analysing the English language from a semantic and pragmatic point of view, and critically commenting the implementation of the studied models and theories to the analysis of a concrete problem or question.
- Apply the acquired knowledge in order to improve the general knowledge of linguistic and cultural diversity.
- Apply the acquired knowledge to the generation of innovative and competitive research on a basic level.
- Applying the acquired knowledge and competences to professional and academic activities related to linguistics.
- Applying the acquired methodologies of work planning to work in an environment in the English language.
- Applying the acquired scientific and work planning methodologies to the research in English.
- Applying the information in English that is available on the Internet, in databases, etc. to the work and/or research environments.
- Communicating in the studied language in oral and written form, properly using vocabulary and grammar.
- Demonstrate a master of the specific methods of individual academic work that prepare the student for a postgraduate specialised education in the same or a different field of study.
- Demonstrate sound knowledge of the topics within the study of Linguistics.
- Describing and identifying the differences and main possible explanations of the theoretical and methodological models that can be applied to the study of grammar and pragmatics.
- Describing the field of study of pragmatics and knowing the main analysis topics.
- Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
- Explaining the combinatory morphological objects and principles of the word formation.
- Generate strategies to facilitate the increase and improvement of mutual respect in multicultural environments.
- Interpreting the pragmatic contextual meanings and developing the ability to grasp implicit meanings.
- Issue appropriate critical assessments based on the comprehension of relevant information about social, scientific or ethical issues related to linguistics.
- Locating and organising relevant information in English that is available on the Internet, in databases, etc.
Content
Unit 1: Pragmatics as a discipline. Origins and development. Pragmatic and contextual meaning. The pragmatic perspective.
Unit 2: Language as social action. Speech act theory
Unit 3: The interpersonal dimension of language use: Politeness theory
Unit 4: Cross-cultural, intercultural pragmatics and language teaching
Unit 5: The pragmatics of interaction. Conversation Analysis. Talk and Gender.
Methodology
The course engages students actively, and combines theoretical lecturing with applied exercises.
The teaching methodology and the evaluation proposed in the guide may undergo some modification subject to the onsite teaching restrictions imposed by health authorities.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Critical analysis and discussion of assigned readings | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 5, 11, 17, 13, 8, 15 |
| Critical discussion and correction of practical exercises | 17 | 0.68 | 1, 5, 2, 10, 11, 12, 17, 14, 8, 15 |
| Presentation of theoretical concepts | 23 | 0.92 | 1, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Individual consultation sessions | 30 | 1.2 | 9, 11, 17, 8 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Completion of exercises | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 2, 10, 9, 12, 17, 8 |
| Completion of individual and group assignments | 15 | 0.6 | 6, 17, 13 |
| Personal study | 25 | 1 | 5, 6, 2, 7, 18 |
Assessment
Assessment criteria:
1) ALL assessment tasks are compulsory.
2) If a student submits ONLY ONE assessment task (25% of all tasks), s/he will be considered "no avaluable". If a students submits MORE THAN ONE assessment task, s/he will either PASS or FAIL the course.
3) Any item awarded a grade of less than 4 may be re-assessed. The grade for those items awarded 4 or higher will be included in the calculation of the global average grade for the subject.
4) The student's command of English will be taken into account when marking all exercises and for the final mark. If a student's level of English is lower than C2, up to 40% of the final grade can be taken off.
5) Plagiarism/copy: In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
6) Students are required to employ non-sexist language in their written and oral productions. For guidelines on how to do this, they are advised to check the website of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA): https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/lsa-guidelines-nonsexist-usage. Appropriate use of language will be part of the assessment criteria.
NOTE:
In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools,or will offer them feasible alternatives.
Re-assessment conditions:
Re-assessment for this subject will be undertaken on an item-by-item basis, for which the following conditions are applicable:
- The student must previously have obtained a grade equal to or higher than 3.5 to be able to re-assess a specific item.
- The student must have passed items weighing 60% of the subject's mark.
- The maximum grade for re-assessed items is 6/10.
- If the student fails the re-assessed item or items in question, the subject may still be passed provided that their average overall grade is equal to or higher than 5.
It is not possible to re-assess the following activities:
-Active class contribution
Procedure for Reviewing Grades Awarded:
On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturer swill inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active class contribution | 5% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 4, 9, 17, 13, 8 |
| Individual assignment 1 | 20% | 3.5 | 0.14 | 1, 5, 6, 2, 4, 10, 9, 11, 12, 17, 13, 8, 15, 16 |
| Individual assignment 2 | 25% | 3.5 | 0.14 | 1, 5, 6, 3, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 17, 13, 8, 16, 18 |
| Mid-term 2 | 25% | 0 | 0 | 2, 10, 11, 12 |
| Mid-term exam | 25% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 2, 10, 9, 11, 12, 17, 14, 13, 8 |
Bibliography
Alba-Juez, Laura & J. Lachlan Mackenzie (2015) Pragmatics: Cognition, Context and Culture. Madrid: McGraw-Hill/UNED
Archer, Dawn, Karin Aijmer & Anne Wichmann (2012) Pragmatics: An Advanced Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge
Brown, Penelope & Stephen Levinson (1987) Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Couper-Kuhlen, Elizabeth & Margret Selting (2018) Interactional Linguistics: Studying Language in Social Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cutting, Joan (2008) Pragmatics and Discourse: A Resource Book for Students (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Huang, Yan (2014) Pragmatics (2nd ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Huang, Yan (2017) The Oxford Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
Hutchby, Ian & Robin Wooffitt (1998) Conversation Analysis: Principles, practices and applications. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Martínez-Flor, Alicia & Esther Usó-Juan (2010) Speech Act Performance: Theoretical, Empirical and Methodological Issues. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Mey, Jacob L. (1993) Pragmatics: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell
Thomas, Jenny (1995) Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics. London: Longman.
Verschueren, Jef (1999) Understanding Pragmatics. London: Arnold.
Software
Not applicable