Free Printable Worksheets for learning Pragmatics at the College level

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Pragmatics

Pragmatics is the study of how people use language in context. This involves analyzing the relationship between language, speaker, listener, and the social and cultural environment in which communication takes place.

Key Concepts

  • Speech Acts: The actions performed by speakers through the use of language, such as making a request or giving an order.
  • Deixis: The use of words or expressions to refer to objects, people, or places in the context of the conversation.
  • Implicature: Meanings conveyed by speakers beyond the literal interpretation of their words, including sarcasm and irony.
  • Politeness: The strategies used by speakers to express politeness, such as using indirect language or hedging expressions.
  • Context: The social, cultural, and situational factors that affect the interpretation and meaning of language.

Examples

  • A speaker saying Can you pass the salt? is making a request speech act.
  • English speakers use the pronoun I to refer to themselves and you to refer to the listener, which are examples of deixis.
  • A speaker saying I love rainy days on a rainy day implies that they are enjoying the current weather, which is an example of implicature.
  • A speaker saying Could you please close the door? instead of Close the door is using politeness strategies.
  • The meaning of a sentence can change depending on the context, such as the sentence I left my book on the table meaning different things if said in a library or a kitchen.

Importance

Understanding pragmatics is crucial for effective communication in both personal and professional contexts. It allows speakers to convey their intended messages, and listeners to interpret them correctly. Pragmatics is especially important for non-native speakers of a language, as it involves understanding social and cultural norms that may not be explicitly taught in language classes.

Takeaways

  • Pragmatics involves analyzing the relationship between language, speaker, listener, and context.
  • Key concepts in pragmatics include speech acts, deixis, implicature, politeness, and context.
  • Pragmatics is crucial for effective communication in personal and professional settings, and is especially important for non-native speakers.
  • Understanding social and cultural norms is crucial to understanding pragmatics.

Here's some sample Pragmatics vocabulary lists Sign in to generate your own vocabulary list worksheet.

Word Definition
Context The circumstances, conditions, or setting in which something exists or occurs.
Inference A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning.
Implicature What is meant by a speaker, although not directly expressed through words.
Politeness The quality or state of being polite; consideration or regard for others.
Speech Act An utterance that serves a function in communication.
Coherence The quality of forming a unified whole; logically consistent and aesthetically pleasing.
Discourse A written or spoken communication or debate.
Deixis A word or expression which points to the time, place, or situation in which a speaker is speaking.
Maxims A rule, principle, or guideline that speakers follow to make communication more effective.
Turn-taking The exchange of taking turns in speaking.
Grice's Maxims Conversation principles proposed by philosopher Herbert P. Grice.
Felicity Conditions The conditions required for communicative acts to be considered successful.
Illocutionary Act The intended effect of an utterance, such as informing or ordering.
Register The level of formality in language use, usually determined by setting and audience.
Implicature What is meant by a speaker, although not directly expressed through words.
Speech Community A group of people who share a common language and culture.
Pragmatic Competence The ability to use language effectively in context.
Speech Event The situation in which language is used, including the participants, location, and topic.
Reference The act of referring to something.
Presupposition An assumption that is taken for granted in a conversation.

Here's some sample Pragmatics study guides Sign in to generate your own study guide worksheet.

Study Guide for Pragmatics

Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that studies the use of language in a social context. This study guide will help you understand the main concepts, theories, and methods used in pragmatics, as well as provide you with practical examples and exercises to improve your pragmatic skills.

Introduction

  • What is Pragmatics?
  • The relationship between Pragmatics and other branches of linguistics
  • The importance of Pragmatics in language use and understanding

Language Use

  • Speech Acts
  • Context and Co-text
  • Deixis
  • Implicature
  • Presupposition
  • Politeness

Pragmatics of Discourse

  • Cohesion and Coherence
  • Genre
  • Conversation Analysis
  • Pragmatics of Discourse Markers
  • Interactive Functions

Cross-cultural Pragmatics

  • Differences in Pragmatics Across Languages
  • Intercultural Communication
  • Pragmatics of Misunderstanding
  • Stereotypes and Tact

Applied Pragmatics

  • Pragmatics in Language Teaching
  • Pragmatics in Business Communication
  • Pragmatics in Legal Discourse
  • Pragmatics in Psychotherapy

Conclusion

  • Future development of Pragmatics
  • The practical usefulness of Pragmatics

Exercises:

  • Identify different examples of speech acts, such as requests or apologies, in real-life contexts
  • Analyze the use of context and co-text in a movie or TV show
  • Identify examples of deixis and implicature in a conversation you had with somebody
  • Rewrite a sentence to show how presupposition would change the meaning
  • Create a hypothetical speech act and analyze its illocutionary force
  • Analyze a transcript of a conversation using Conversation Analysis
  • Analyze the use of discourse markers in a magazine article or newspaper editorial
  • Compare and contrast the pragmatics of apologies in different cultures

Here's some sample Pragmatics practice sheets Sign in to generate your own practice sheet worksheet.

Pragmatics Practice Sheet

Directions: Read each scenario and answer the following questions.

Scenario 1

During a job interview, the interviewer asks the candidate, What makes you the most qualified person for this position?

  1. What is the illocutionary force of the interviewer's question?
  2. How might the candidate pragmatically interpret this question?
  3. What type of speech act is the interviewer performing?

Scenario 2

A friend sends you a text saying I'm bored.

  1. What might be the presupposition of your friend's statement?
  2. What could be a possible implicature of their message?
  3. How might you pragmatically interpret their message?

Scenario 3

A student asks a professor in class, Can I go to the bathroom?

  1. What type of speech act is the student performing?
  2. Is there an implied meaning behind the question?
  3. How might this phrasing of the question naturally occur in the context of a classroom?

Scenario 4

Two friends are planning a beach day, one asks the other: Do you mind getting sunscreen?

  1. What is the function of the question?
  2. What is the presupposition behind the question?
  3. Could this question be considered indirect speech? Why or why not?

Scenario 5

A customer at a restaurant says to the server, I'll have a burger and fries, but hold the pickles.

  1. What is the literal meaning of the customer's statement?
  2. Could there be another implicature other than not wanting pickles? What might that be?
  3. What type of context could change the meaning of this request?

Pragmatics Practice Sheet

Understanding Context

  1. What is the difference between a literal and a figurative meaning of a phrase?
  2. What is an example of a phrase that has both a literal and a figurative meaning?
  3. How can the context of a phrase affect its meaning?
  4. What is the difference between a denotation and a connotation?
  5. What is an example of a phrase that has both a denotation and a connotation?

Speech Acts

  1. What is the difference between a locutionary act, an illocutionary act, and a perlocutionary act?
  2. What is an example of a locutionary act?
  3. What is an example of an illocutionary act?
  4. What is an example of a perlocutionary act?
  5. How do speech acts affect the meaning of a phrase?

Presuppositions

  1. What is a presupposition?
  2. How do presuppositions affect the meaning of a phrase?
  3. What is an example of a phrase that has a presupposition?
  4. What is the difference between an entailment and a presupposition?
  5. What is an example of a phrase that has both an entailment and a presupposition?

Implicatures

  1. What is an implicature?
  2. How do implicatures affect the meaning of a phrase?
  3. What is an example of a phrase that has an implicature?
  4. What is the difference between an implicature and a presupposition?
  5. What is an example of a phrase that has both an implicature and a presupposition?

Pragmatics Practice Sheet

Part 1: Defining Pragmatics

  1. What is pragmatics?
  2. What are the goals of pragmatics?
  3. What is an example of a pragmatic approach?
  4. How does pragmatics differ from other linguistic approaches?

Part 2: Context and Meaning

  1. What is the relationship between context and meaning?
  2. How does context influence the interpretation of language?
  3. What are the implications of context in communication?
  4. How does context affect the interpretation of language in different cultures?

Part 3: Speech Acts

  1. What is a speech act?
  2. What are the different types of speech acts?
  3. How do speech acts influence communication?
  4. What are the effects of speech acts on the interpretation of language?

Part 4: Politeness

  1. What is politeness?
  2. What are the different types of politeness strategies?
  3. How does politeness influence communication?
  4. What are the implications of politeness strategies in different cultures?

Part 5: Conversation Analysis

  1. What is conversation analysis?
  2. How does conversation analysis help to understand communication?
  3. What are the implications of conversation analysis in different cultures?
  4. How can conversation analysis be used to improve communication?

Here's some sample Pragmatics quizzes Sign in to generate your own quiz worksheet.

Pragmatics Quiz

Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of Pragmatics.

Problem Answer
What is the difference between semantics and pragmatics? {Your answer}
How does Grice's Cooperative Principle relate to pragmatics? {Your answer}
Give an example of an implicature in a sentence. {Your answer}
Explain the concept of deixis and provide an example. {Your answer}
What is the difference between anaphoric and cataphoric reference? {Your answer}
How do speech acts relate to pragmatics? {Your answer}
Explain the role of context in determining meaning in pragmatics. {Your answer}
How does Politeness Theory contribute to our understanding of pragmatics? {Your answer}
Give an example of a presupposition in a sentence. {Your answer}
What is the relevance of implicature and presupposition in understanding utterances? {Your answer}

Note: This quiz is designed to challenge your mastery of Pragmatics. Good luck!

Question Answer
What is Pragmatics? Pragmatics is the study of how language is used in context, including how people use language to express meaning, how context affects language use, and how language use affects communication.
What are the goals of Pragmatics? The goals of Pragmatics are to understand how language is used in different contexts, to explain why language is used in certain ways, and to identify the rules and conventions that govern language use.
What is the difference between Pragmatics and Semantics? Pragmatics is concerned with how language is used in context, while Semantics is concerned with the literal meaning of words and phrases.
What are the components of Pragmatics? The components of Pragmatics are discourse analysis, speech acts, politeness theory, conversational implicature, and deixis.
What is the difference between a speech act and a conversational implicature? A speech act is an utterance that is meant to perform a certain action, while a conversational implicature is an inference that is made based on the context of a conversation.
What is politeness theory? Politeness theory is a theory of language use that suggests that people use language to minimize conflict and maximize cooperation. It suggests that people use language to express politeness and to show respect for others.
What is deixis? Deixis is the use of words or phrases that refer to a particular context or situation. Examples of deixis include words like “here”, “there”, “this”, “that”, and “now”.
What is the difference between a literal meaning and an implied meaning? A literal meaning is the dictionary definition of a word or phrase, while an implied meaning is the inferred meaning of a word or phrase based on the context of a conversation.
What is the difference between a literal interpretation and a pragmatic interpretation? A literal interpretation is the dictionary definition of a word or phrase, while a pragmatic interpretation is the inferred meaning of a word or phrase based on the context of a conversation.
What is the difference between a syntactic rule and a pragmatic rule? A syntactic rule is a rule that governs the structure of a sentence, while a pragmatic rule is a rule that governs the use of language in a particular context.

Quiz on Pragmatics

Question Answer
What is Pragmatics? Pragmatics is the study of language use in context, including the study of how context influences language use and how language use influences context.
What are the three main components of Pragmatics? The three main components of Pragmatics are meaning, context, and language use.
What is the relationship between language and context? Language and context are interrelated, meaning that they influence each other. Context provides the necessary information for language to be understood, while language provides the necessary information for context to be understood.
What is the difference between semantics and pragmatics? Semantics is the study of the literal meaning of words, while pragmatics is the study of how words are used in context.
What is the Cooperative Principle? The Cooperative Principle is a set of maxims that guide how people communicate in conversation. It states that people should be cooperative, truthful, relevant, and clear when communicating.
What is an example of a speech act? An example of a speech act is making a request. For example, saying Can you pass the salt? is a speech act that is used to make a request.
What is the difference between an implicature and an entailment? An implicature is an inference that is made based on the context of a conversation, while an entailment is a logical consequence that follows from the meaning of a statement.
What is the Gricean Maxims? The Gricean Maxims are a set of four maxims that guide how people communicate in conversation. They are: quantity, quality, relevance, and manner.
What is the difference between deixis and anaphora? Deixis is the use of language to refer to something in the immediate context, while anaphora is the use of language to refer to something that has already been mentioned.
What is the difference between pragmatics and discourse analysis? Pragmatics is the study of language use in context, while discourse analysis is the study of language use in a broader context, including the social and cultural context.
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