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Lecturer(s)
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Kratochvíl František, M.A., Ph.D.
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Course content
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The course topics and associated readings are listed below: 1. Introduction: The nature of language and communication, Semantics vs. pragmatics, Context of interpretation 2. Indeterminacies of reference: Indexicals, Deixis, Anaphora 3. Non-truth-conditional meaning I: Speech acts 4. Non-truth-conditional meaning II: Presupposition 5. Implicature I: Grice's maxims 6. Implicature II: Neo-Gricean proposals: Horn, Levinson, Relevance Theory 7. Pragmatics and Syntax I: Reflections of discourse structure (Information structure) 8. Pragmatics and Syntax II: Reflections of beliefs and attitudes, 9. Pragmatics and Syntax III: Reflections of perceived difficulty 10. Conversational interaction I: Politeness 11. Conversational interaction II: Turn-taking 12. Conversational interaction III: The functions of questions in conversation.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming)
- Homework for Teaching
- 78 hours per semester
- Semestral Work
- 39 hours per semester
- Attendace
- 39 hours per semester
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Learning outcomes
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In this course we focus on how we understand what someone is trying to communicate to us when they communicate with us, especially how the particular actions, words and structures are used for the purpose of getting us to understand just what the speaker intends. As what something means depends on how it is used, we will look at the physical and cultural contexts within which communication occurs, and the role they play in the communication of meaning.
Students should be able to think critically about how meaning is created and how societies have developed conventions for helping create specific meanings.
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Prerequisites
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Basic knowledge of linguistics is an advantage
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Analyssis of the Student's Portfolio, Seminar Work
i. class attendance ii. required readings and tutorial slips iii. final paper & presentation
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Recommended literature
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BROWN, P. & Steven C. LEVINSON. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge, UK.
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GREEN, Georgia M. (1996). Pragmatics and natural language understanding. Mahwah.
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Levinson, Stephen C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge.
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