Pragmatics is a specialized branch of the study of language, concerned with how people use language to interact in the real world. It is often contrasted with the linguistic disciplines of semantics (the meaning of a sentence), syntax (word order), and semiotics (the study of symbols), although experts view pragmatics as a complement to those other disciplines rather than as a replacement.
It has been described as “meaning minus semantics,” referring to the role of context in communication, which is a central concern of pragmatics, while semantics refers strictly to the actual, literal meaning of a spoken utterance and grammar involves the rules that determine how words are put together. Pragmatics also takes into account the way that signs have as their interpreters living organisms.
A major framework in pragmatics is relevance theory, which was first developed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson. Relevance theory is inspired by Grice’s ideas of conversational implicature, and focuses on what the speaker is trying to convey through an utterance and how the listener would be expected to infer that information.
One of the main contributions of this approach is the idea that there is a distinction between far-side and near-side pragmatics. Near-side pragmatics includes such things as resolution of ambiguity and vagueness, the reference of proper names, indexicals and demonstratives, anaphors and presupposition, and at least some issues involving quantification. Far-side pragmatics includes the overall communicative situation, and the interlinguistic and cross-cultural aspects of pragmatics.
Earlier approaches to pragmatics were more philosophical, and focused on the notion that communication is not simply a process of sending messages from one person to another but that it is about the ways in which the sender and recipient connect with each other. These earlier theories drew heavily on sociology and anthropology, the study of human societies and cultures and their development. Charles Morris’s work, for example, drew on his earlier editing of the writings and lectures of George Herbert Mead, an American philosopher and social psychologist.
For language learners, pragmatics is a fascinating field because it shows that we often communicate in very non-literal ways. It’s why slang exists, jokes can be funny, and conversations usually don’t take quite as long as they do in the literal sense.
Many children will have difficulty with demonstrating appropriate pragmatic skills and it is important for educators, speech pathologists, and other professionals to be aware of this and to be able to support students in developing these abilities. This can be done through a range of activities including teaching and practising relevant social routines. It can also be done through the use of visual supports and through interactive activities that offer opportunities for communicative practice. Research has shown that pragmatic routines are teachable to beginning foreign language learners. This is a great relief to some, who may have been under the impression that pragmatics can only be taught after a solid foundation in grammar and vocabulary has been established.