PRAGMATICS

Course Instructor:

Assoc. Prof. Dr. KIEU THI THU HUONG

Contact:
Mob. O906-115-759

Email: thuhuongkieu@yahoo.com ;
kieuhuong1661@gmail.com

1
1. Introduction to Pragmatics

2. Speech Acts and Speech Events

3. Politeness and Politeness Strategies
4. Politeness and Interaction; Deixis and Distance
5. Reference & Inference; Presupposition & Entailment
6. Cooperation and Implicature; Directness & Indirectness

7. Discourse and Culture; Discourse analysis

8. Critical Discourse Analysis

9. Conversation and Preference Structure

10. Conversation Analysis 2
 What is pragmatics?
1.1
Ss don’t usually say what they mean

1.2
Ss mean more than what they say

It’s hot in here.

1.3 Ss can mean sth different/opposite

1.4 Why don’t they say what they mean?

3
 Definition
Early 1990s:

Pragmatics is “meaning in use”

Pragmatics is “meaning in context”
(Thomas 1995:1-2)

“Pragmatics is the science of language seen

in relation to its users. … the science of
language as it is used by real, live people,
for their own purposes and within their
limitations and affordances”
(Mey 1993:5)

4
 Definition
“Pragmatics is concerned with the study of
meaning as communicated by a speaker (or
writer) and interpreted by a listener (or reader). It
has, consequently, more to do with the analysis
of what people mean by their utterances than
what the words or phrases in those utterances might
mean by themselves. Pragmatics is the study of
speaker meaning ”
(Yule, 1996:3)

5
 Definition
“Pragmatics is the study of contextual
meaning.”
“Pragmatics is the study of contextual
meaning how more get than is said.”

“Pragmatics is the study of the

expression of relative distance.”
(Yule, 1996:3)

6
 Definition

“Pragmatics is the study of

speaker meaning as distinct
from word or sentence
meaning. ”
(Yule, 1996:133)

7
 PRAGMATICS
Pragmatics studies the ways in which
context contributes to meaning.
(1) Sherlock saw the man with binoculars.

(2) Say cheese!

(3) Lights, please!

(4) You have a green light.

(5) You are a fool! 8
 KEY NOTIONS
Speech act (Hành động ngôn từ/Hành vi ngôn từ)

In saying something S does something

(Austin 1962)

You look so nice!

SAs are ‘the basic or minimal units of
linguistic communication.’
(Searle 1969: 16)
 KEY NOTIONS
SAs: performed in authentic situations of language use.

SAs are labeled as compliment, apology, request,

disagreeing or promise.
These terms for SAs used to name S's communicative
intentions

H is expected to correctly interpret S's intentions via

process of inferences.
SPEECH EVENTS
 SAs are performed in authentic
situations of language use

 The circumstances surrounding the

utterances are of great help to S & H in
successful communication.

 These circumstances are known as the

speech events.
11
SPEECH ACTS
A speech event can be considered as an
activity in which conversational
participants interact via language in a
conventional way to achieve some

outcome.
(Yule, 1996: 57)

12
Key Issues: POLITENESS
Good manners and respect for the
feelings of others
(Online Oxford Learner's Dictionary)

Showing awareness of another

person’s public self-image face-want.
Yule (1996: 132)

o Face: A person's public self-image Yule (1996: 62)

13
POLITENESS
 Kinds of face:
+ Positive face: The need to be connected, to belong
to a group.
+ Negative face: The need to be independent, not
imposed on by others.
 Kinds of Politeness:
- Positive politeness: Showing solidarity with another
- Negative politeness: Awareness of another's right
not to be imposed on Yule (1996: 132)
14
 DEIXIS (Chỉ xuất)

Deixis (“Pointing” via language) Yule (1996:129)
is the use of general words and phrases to
refer to a specific person, place, or time in
context, e.g., the words they, there, and
tomorrow.
Personal deixis
Spatial deixis
Temporal deixis
16
 REFERENCE (Tham chiếu/Quy chiếu/Sở chỉ)

 Reference is an act
by which a speaker uses a word,
or words,
to enable a listener to identify
someone or something
Yule (1996:134)
 REFERENCE (Tham chiếu/Quy chiếu/Sở chỉ)

 Reference is a relationship between objects in

which one object designates, or acts as a means by
which to connect to or link to, another object.
 The first object in this relation is said to refer
to the second object.
 It is called a name for the second object.
 The second object, the one to which the first
object refers, is called the referent of the first
object. (Wiki)
 PRESUPPOSITION
(Tiền giả định)

 Presupposition is something the

speaker assumes to be the case. Yule (1996:25)

 Presupposition is something that you

believe to be true and use as the
beginning of an argument even though
it has not been proved; the act of
believing it is true.
(Online Oxford Learner's Dictionary)
 IMPLICATURE
(Hàm ngôn)

 Implicature is the act of suggesting

that you feel or think something is
true, without saying so directly. (Online Oxford
Learner's Dictionary)

 An implicature is something the

speaker suggests or implies with an
utterance, even though it is not literally
expressed. (Wiki)
 DISCOURSE (Diễn ngôn)

 Discourse is ‘the use of language in speech and writing

to convey meaning’ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 Discourse is actually a ‘multidimensional social
phenomenon’ (van Dijk, 2006, p. 67).
 Van Dijk suggests that the term encompasses various purposes,
such as being a linguistic object,
an action, a form of social interaction,
a cultural product,
or even an economic commodity being bought and sold.
 DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (Phân tích diễn ngôn)
 DA: the analysis of spoken or written texts that contain
more than one sentence, including their social context
(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/discourse-analysis)
 DA: the study of linguistic relations and structures in
discourse https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discourse%20analysis
 DA: analysis of
elements of a language that extend or
operate beyond the sentence.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/discourse-analysis

 ‘doing discourse analysis’ involves both ‘doing syntax

and semantics’ and ‘doing pragmatics’ (Brown & Yule (1983:26)
 CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (CDA)

 CDA ‘focuses on social problems, and especially on the

role of discourse in the production and reproduction of
power abuse or domination’ (van Dijk, 2001:96)

 CDA is mostly concerned with structural relationships of

dominance, discrimination, power and control as
manifested in language (Wodak, 2001)

 Difference between CDA and DA

CDA provides description and interpretation of discourse

in context, and offers an explanation of why and how
discourses work. (Rogers, 2004:3)
 COMPONENTS OF CDA

 In CDA, ‘critical’ doesn’t mean criticizing or being

negative. Wodak (2001)

 It’s understood as not taking things for granted,

opening up complexity to make opaque structures
of power relations and ideologies explicit. Wodak (2001)

 CDA practitioners intend to uncover power

relationships and demonstrate inequalities embedded in
society. Rogers (2004:3)
 COMPONENTS OF CDA
Wodak (2001:9):

 ‘Critical is used in the special sense of aiming to

show up connections which may be hidden from
people – such as the connections between language,
power and ideology referred above them’.
Fairclough and Wodak (1997:259):

 Discourse – language use in speech and writing – is

a form of ‘social practice’.
 CDA
Chouliaraki & Fairclough (1999) claim

 the analysis of discourse covers the structural and

interactional analysis.
Van Dijk (1998) states

 CDA is a field that is concerned with studying and

analyzing written and spoken texts to reveal the discursive
sources of power, dominance, inequality and bias.
 CDA examines how these discursive sources are
maintained and reproduced within specific social, political
and historical contexts.
 KEY CONCEPTS IN CDA
 Ideology:
“…ideology refers to social forms and processes within which, and by
means of which, symbolic forms circulate in the social world. Ideology
is an important aspect of establishing and maintaining unequal power
relation.”
Thompson (1990:12).
Thus, the study of ideology is the study of the way in which meaning
is constructed and conveyed by symbolic forms of various kinds.
 Power:
Language is not powerful on its own – it gains power by the use of
powerful make of it.
 8 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CDA

 (i) CDA addresses social problems;

 (ii) power relations are discursive;
 (iii) discourse constitutes society and culture;
 (iv) discourse does ideological work;
 (v) discourse is historical;
 (vi) the link between text and society is mediated;
 (vii) discourse analysis is interpretative and explanatory;
 (viii) discourse is a form of social action
Fairclough & Wodak (1997)
 PRINCIPLES OF CDA

 1. Language is a social practice through which the world is

represented.

 2. Discourse/language use represents, signifies, and constitutes

other social practices (power, domination, prejudice, resistance …).

 3. Texts acquire their meanings by the dialectical relationship

between texts and the social subjects (Ws and Rs operate with various
degrees of choice and access to texts and means of interpretation.

 4. Linguistic features and structures are not arbitrary (i.e. they are
purposeful whether or not the choices are conscious or unconscious).
 PRINCIPLES OF CDA

 5. Power relations are produced, exercised, and reproduced

through discourse.

 6. Ss and Ws operate from specific discursive practices

originating in special interests and aims involving inclusions
and exclusions.

 7. Discourse is historical in the sense that texts acquire their

meanings by being situated in specific social, cultural and
ideological contexts, and time and space.

 8. CDA does not solely interpret texts, but also explains them.
Fairclough, 1995; Van Dijk, 1998; Wodak, 1996
 CDA MAIN APPROACHES
Fairclough’s Socio-Cultural Approach
 provides a three-dimensional framework [(i) linguistic description of text;
(ii) interpretation of relationship between discursive processes/interaction and text,
(iii) explanation of relationship between discourse and social and cultural reality].

Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach

 regards discourse as a form of social practice, proposes a dialectical
relationship between discursive practices and fields of action (such as
situations, institutions, and social structures, in which they are situated).

Van Dijk’s Socio-cognitive Approach

 aims to establish a connection between the micro-structure of
language and the macro-structure of society, emphasizing social
cognition as the intermediary between text and society.
REFERENCES
1. Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. New York: Oxford University Press, Oxford.
2. Chouliaraki, L. & Fairclough, N. (1999) Discourse in Late Modernity: Rethinking Critical Discourse
Analysis. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh
3. Fairclough, N. (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London: Longman
4. Fairclough, N. (2001) Language and Power (second edition). Harlow: Longman
5. Fairclough, N. and Wodak, R. (1997) “Critical Discourse Analysis”, in T.van Diij (ed.), Discourse
Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction. Volume 2. London: Sage, pp 258-84
6. Mey, J. L. (1993). Pragmatics: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishers.
7. Rogers, R. (2004). An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education. London: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
8. Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
9. Thomas, J. (1995). Meaning in interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics. USA, England: Longman.
10. Van Dijk, T. A. (2006). Ideology and discourse analysis. Journal of Political Ideologies, 11 (2), 115-140.
11. Van Dijk, T.A. (1998). Critical Discourse Analysis. Place: University of Amsterdam
12. Wodak, R. (2001). What Critical Discourse Analysis is about-a summary of its history, important
concepts and its developments. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (eds.), Methods of Critical Discourse
Analysis (pp. 1-13). London: Sage.
13. Wodak, Ruth (1996). Orders of Discourse. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
14. Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.
 III. Homework
 Write the answers
 Write about your last Tet holiday

3333
33
33