AJ3203 Pragmatics

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Renata Povolná, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Renata Povolná, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ3203/Kombi01: Fri 20. 9. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 4. 10. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 18. 10. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 8. 11. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 22. 11. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 6. 12. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, R. Povolná
AJ3203/Kombi02: Fri 27. 9. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 11. 10. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 25. 10. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 15. 11. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 29. 11. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, Fri 13. 12. 14:00–15:50 učebna 12, R. Povolná
AJ3203/Prez01: Tue 12:00–13:50 respirium (4. nadzemní podlaží), R. Povolná
Prerequisites
Pragmatics can be taken by any student of English, preferably after functional and communicative syntax, and must be taken by all students in all the study programmes for secondary schools.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 13 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of the course labelled Pragmatics is to introduce students into the study of pragmatics, i.e. a linguistic discipline which views the language from the point of view of its users. In this respect the course will be contrasted especially with students previous study of syntax and semantics. The course concentrates on the most important issues connected with the study of pragmatics with the aim to make students acquainted with the possibilities how to encorporate their knowledge of pragmatics into their future daily teaching profession.
Learning outcomes
The students are expected: 1. to be able to analyze authentic written as well as spoken text from the viewpoint of pragmatics, i.e. the users of the language; 2. to understand the differences in the ways of expression depending on contextual and sociocultural factors, e.g. between the ways of expression applied in public and private settings; 3. to be capable of distinguishing various language means on the scales of formality and informality, directness and indirectness, and politeness and impoliteness; 4. to be able to provide examples of concrete features appropriate and typical for various communicative situations and describe them while using linguistic terms from the area of pragmatics; 5. to be able to prepare concrete activities applicable in the teaching profession in which the knowledge and skills acquired in the sessions on pragmatics are used.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the study of pragmatics. 2. Deixis and distance. 3. Reference and inference. 4. Presupposition and entailment. 5. The cooperative principle. Conversational implicature. 6. Conventional implicature. 7. Conversation analysis. Features typical of spoken interaction. Conversational style. 8. Conversation and preference structure. 9. Speech acts and speech events. Performative hypothesis. 10. Direct and indirect speech acts. Speech act classification. 11. Politeness and interaction. Positive and negative politeness. 12. Discourse and culture. Discourse analysis.
Literature
    required literature
  • YULE, George. Pragmatics. First published. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, xiv, 138. ISBN 0194372073. info
  • THOMAS, Jenny. Meaning in interaction : an introduction to pragmatics. Harlow: Longman, 1995, xii, 224. ISBN 0582291518. info
  • YULE, George. The study of language [Yule, 1996]. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, xiii, 294. ISBN 0-521-56851-X. info
    recommended literature
  • STENSTRÖM, Anna-Brita. An introduction to spoken interaction. 1st publ. London: Longman, 1994, ix, 238. ISBN 0582071305. info
  • BROWN, Gillian and George YULE. Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, xii, 288. ISBN 0521284759. info
Teaching methods
Mode of teaching: seminar The methods used in classes are presentations of new and problematic issues by the teacher, who provides students with some necessary theoretical background. This is always suplemented by many examples. Then, after discussing the given topic with their teacher, students are asked to prepare and simulate authentic conversational situations in which they are supposed to use structures and/or strategies under discussion. As for homework, students are supposed to study in advance relevant chapters from their textbooks and be ready for class discussions. Apart from that, students have to do various interactive moodle modules including quizzes designed particularly for their course.
Assessment methods
For the final exam, students must pass a written exam test which consists of three topics, different for every student, taken from the subject matter studied during the term, followed by a short discussion if necessary. Before the exam students have to pass successfully an on-line moodle test in the middle of the term. Moreover, all students are supposed to prepare a suggestion how to use pragmatics in their own teaching profession and try to apply their suggestion in a contact class.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: kombinované studium: výuka v blocích.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/autumn2019/AJ3203