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Pragmatic is the contextual meaning of our language, which goes beyond the literal sense. It takes into account social, cultural and situational factors that affect how we use our words. This month’s Teacher’s Corner explores pragmatics and why it is a valuable component to include in language instruction.

The word pragmatic is related to the Latin word “progn” (to do, to proceed). It refers to actions and decisions based on practical considerations rather than abstract theories. In linguistics, pragmatics deals with the “how” of communication in specific situations rather than the underlying structures of a language. Pragmatics looks at the ways we communicate with each other, including things like how polite it is to say sorry and what the appropriate response is to someone who has done something wrong.

There are many different approaches to the study of pragmatics: Some see it as a philosophy, in the tradition of Grice; others view it as a scientific project with a rigorous methodology, drawing on research in psychology, semantics and phonology; some focus on interaction between grammar and pragmatics; and some see pragmatics as an empirical psychological theory of utterance interpretation that is not restricted to grammatical rules. There are also different subfields: formal and computational pragmatics; theoretical and applied; intercultural, interlingual and experimental pragmatics; game-theoretical and clinical pragmatics; neuropragmatics; and historical pragmatics.

For example, some researchers in pragmatics use a model of conversational implicature to explain how we infer what someone else means when they don’t explicitly state their intention. Others take a more functionalist approach, seeing pragmatics as an important aspect of human communication that can be studied in natural settings. Others have focused on the role of emotion in pragmatics, while others have looked at the way that pragmatics changes with culture and age.

Regardless of how pragmatics is viewed, it has become an increasingly significant and useful field of study. It can help us understand how people use their language and how we might teach them to do so. It can also help us understand how people change their behaviors in response to new situations and how we might encourage them to do so.

Ultimately, pragmatics is an idea that can be applied to any activity where we try to get the most out of our resources. For example, if you know how to calculate the speed of an object in space, you can be more efficient when building a rocket. The same is true of social skills; if you learn to be more pragmatic, you can be more successful in your relationships. And of course, there are many other examples that you can apply to your everyday life.