Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics: Language in Context and Practice
Pragmatic Linguistics: Language in Context
“Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others.” — David Crystal
In contrast to Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, and other fields that describe different levels of language structure, Pragmatics deals with language use. Pragmatics primarily focuses on the relationship between linguistic signs and their users. It investigates how context (both situational and linguistic) affects the meaning of utterances.
Understanding Utterances in Pragmatics
An utterance is the smallest unit of speech and the object of study in pragmatic analysis. Pragmatic Linguistics focuses on the study of the speaker’s meaning, not on the phonetic or grammatical form of an utterance, but rather on the speaker’s intentions and beliefs.
Utterance vs. Sentence
- Utterance: A speech unit whose interpretation depends on semantic content and environment.
- Sentence: A grammar unit whose semantic content depends on its structure, not on its possible uses.
Elements of an Utterance (Physical)
- Source or Sender: Objects that encode message data and transmit information via a channel (written or oral).
- Receiver or Observer: The one who receives decoded messages or information from the sender, who first encoded them.
- Utterance: Linguistic information produced by the sender.
- Space-time Context: The physical background in which the utterance occurs.
Elements of an Utterance (Immaterial)
- Pragmatic Information: A set of knowledge, beliefs, opinions, and feelings of a person.
- Purpose: The relationship between the source and the information.
- Social Background: The relationship between interlocutors.
Characteristics of an Utterance
An utterance is an individual, single, and unique action. It is a psychophysiological activity, bounded by pauses (beginning/end).
Discourse Background
A set of extralinguistic factors that condition both the production and the meaning of the utterance:
- Social: Belongs to a certain social group and is understood within that group.
- Situational: Refers to the ‘here and now,’ understood only by the source and observer.
- Linguistic: The linguistic environment in which a word is found.
Linguistics: The Scientific Study of Language
Linguistics is simply defined as the scientific study of language.
General Divisions of Linguistics
- Phonetics: The study of the physical properties of sounds of human language.
- Phonology: The study of sounds as discrete, abstract elements in the speaker’s mind that distinguish meaning.
- Morphology: The study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified.
- Syntax: The study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences.
- Semantics: The study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics) and fixed word combinations (phraseology), and how these combine to form the meanings of sentences.
- Pragmatics: The study of how utterances are used (literally, figuratively, or otherwise) in communicative acts.
- Discourse Analysis: The analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed).
Applied Linguistics: Bridging Theory and Practice
Applied Linguistics is the application of knowledge about the nature of language, achieved for the improvement of efficiency in practical tasks where language is a central component.
Linguistics vs. Applied Linguistics
- Linguistics: It is the scientific study of language, seeking to answer questions like: What is language? How is it represented in our minds?
- Applied Linguistics: It is oriented towards the solution of linguistic problems. It puts linguistic theories into practice in areas such as foreign language teaching, translation, and so forth.
Key Concerns of Applied Linguistics
Applied Linguistics involves what we know about language, how it is learned, and how it is used. The main concern of AL has been second language acquisition theory, second language pedagogy, and the relationship between these two areas.
Applications of Applied Linguistics
Applied Linguistics can be applied in various fields, including:
- Language teaching and learning
- Language testing
- Psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics
- Sociolinguistics
- Discourse analysis
- Computational linguistics
- Translation studies
Major branches of Applied Linguistics include bilingualism and multilingualism, computer-mediated communication (CMC), conversation analysis, language assessment, literacies, discourse analysis, language pedagogy (education), sociolinguistics, second language acquisition (education), psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and translation.
Who is an Applied Linguist?
Is a Language Teacher an Applied Linguist? Yes.
Who Else is an Applied Linguist? Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), Speech and Language Therapists, and Translators.