DISCOURSE

PRAGMATICS
Presented by: Stephanie kate R. Cainglet
OBJECTIVES:
 Identify the meaning of discourse and pragmatics
 Demonstrate how language is use in context to convey
meaning beyond literal interpretation of words in discourse
pragmatics.
 Instill the value of discourse pragmatics and its contextual
sensitivity across various context.
WHAT IS DISCOURSE
PRAGMATICS?
 Discourse – Spoken or written communication between
people, especially in serious discussions of a particular
subject.
 Pragmatics – Pragmatics is the study of “how to do things
with words”(locutionary act), or perhaps “how people do
things with words”. In simple terms, pragmatics studies the
way people use language.
PRAGMATICS
Pragmatics is the study of how context
contributes to meaning. It is a branch of
linguistics that examines how people use
language to communicate effectively in
different social situations.
KEY ASPECTS OF
PRAGMATICS?
Implicature
Speech Acts
Coherence
Cohesive Devices
Presupposition
Conversational Maxims
Contextual Inference
IMPLICATURE
 Implicature or “Conversational Implicature” are implied meanings that arise in
between conversations.
Example;
 Context: A conversation between a group of friends regarding their recent
exam results.
 Situation : Imagine a group of friends discussing their recent exam results. One
friend says, “Some of the students passed the exam”.
 Language in Context: “Some of the students passed the exam”.
 Implication: Not all the students have performed well during the exam.
SPEECH ACTS
 A speech act is an utterance that performs an action, such as making a promise,
giving a request, or asking a question.
 Types of Speech acts
 1. A locutionary speech act occurs when the speaker performs an utterance
(locution), which has a meaning in the traditional sense.
 2. An illocutionary speech act is the performance of the act of saying
something with a specific intention.
 3. A perlocutionary speech act happens when what the speaker says has an
effect on the listener.
SPEECH ACTS
 LOCUTIONARY ILLOCUTIONARY PERLOCUTIONARY ACTS
ACTS ACTS
Examples
Examples Examples Persuading someone to do
“I’m hungry.” Making a request: “Can something: “You should try this
you please pass the salt?” new restaurant.”
“It’s a beautiful day.” Giving a promise: “I’ll be Making someone feel happy:
 “I love you.” there by 7pm.” “You look great today.”
Asking a question: “What • Making someone feel angry:
time is it?” “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve
• Making a statement: ever heard.”
“The earth is round.”
 RELATION BETWEEN THREE
TYPES OF SPEECH ACTS
 The three types of speech acts, locutionary, illocuacts ary, and perlocutionary,
are all related to the act of communication.
 The relationship between the three types of speech acts can be illustrated with
the following example:
 Locutionary act: I’m hungry.
 Illocutionary act: I’m making a request for food.
 Perlocutionary act: I want you to make me a sandwich.
SPEECH ACTS
 Speech acts such as request, promises, and commands, are used to perform
actions through language.
Example;
 Context: A request during a meal, asking another family member to hand over
the salt.
 Situation: Picture a family dinner where someone says, “Can you please pass
the salt?”.
 Language in Context: “Can you please pass the salt?”.
 Action perform through language: Politely requesting to handover the salt.
COHERENCE
 Coherence comes from a Latin word meaning “to stick together”, it helps
establish a conversation by examining how sentences are linked together to
form a meaningful and coherent discourse.
Examples
 When someone says “the policies in the school are coherent” it means that the
school policies makes sense or the policies were made accordingly and linked
to the goal of the school. The policies are correct.
 When someone says, “the arguments during the debate competition are
coherent”, it means that the argument or the shared information during the
debate are all logical and complete – with plenty of supporting facts link
altogether.
COHESIVE DEVICES
 Cohesive devices are words or phrases used to connect ideas between different
parts of text.
Examples
 Without cohesive devicest:
 I went to the store. I bought some milk. I also bought some bread.
 With cohesive devices:
 I went to the store and bought some milk and bread.
PRESUPPOSITION
 Presupposition are assumptions that speakers and listeners share during
communication or conversation.
Example;
 Context: A head in a workplace meeting discussed about a certain employees’
habit with the presupposition that the said employee used to be lazy at work.
 Situation: Think about a workplace meeting where the manager mentions and
employees’ habit and says, “Pedro have stopped being lazy at work”.
 Language in context: “Pedro have stopped being lazy at work”.
 Presupposition/Assumption: Pedro used to be lazy.
CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS
 Conversational Maxims are principles that guide effective communication.
CONTEXTUAL INFERENCE
 Contextual inference are making inferences based on the context of a
conversation. Expressing the probability of a conclusion.
Example;
 Context: A shared living spaced in a stuffy apartment between two
roommates.
 Situation: Imagine two roommates living in a small stuffy apartment then
one says, “Wow, it’s hot in here”.
 Language in context: “Wow, it’s hot in here”.
 Inference/Conclusion: “They may want to open window” or “Turn on the
air conditioning in their apartment”
CONCLUSION
 Discourse pragmatics plays a fundamental role in understanding how language
is used effectively in communication. It encompasses various aspects,
including implicature, speech acts, coherence, cohesive devices,
presuppositions, conversational maxims, and contextual inference. These
aspects are essential for conveying and interpreting meaning in everyday
conversations, where context, social norms and shared assumptions influence
the way language is used to communicate effectively. By considering these
aspects, we can gain a deeper understanding of the richness and complexity of
human communication.