Pragmatic is a philosophy of language and communication that studies how the meanings of words can vary from one context to another based on the intentions of the speaker and listener. It also focuses on the understanding of non-verbal cues such as body language and tone of voice. Pragmatics has many branches including conversational pragmatics, social and intercultural pragmatics, experimental and clinical pragmatics, and even neuropragmatics.
The pragmatist approach to language has been influential in other areas of philosophy beyond the field of pragmatics itself. In areas like epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy, pragmatism has a broad appeal as an alternative to more traditional philosophies.
A defining feature of pragmatism is its view that knowledge is primarily a practical matter of experience and that this experiential approach to the formation of truth is the most reliable way of achieving it. This is reflected in the work of 18th-century empirical idealists such as George Berkeley, who argued that sensations are a direct, immediate and pragmatic form of knowing about the world around us.
Peirce himself was influenced by this work and developed his own pragmatist theory of truth as inferred from experience. He claimed that ‘the only safe rule is not to try and know things by analyzing definitions, but to try to find out what they mean in practice’ (CP2: 236). This was his rationalist variation of pragmatism, and it has become a central theme in the development of pragmatist epistemology.
However, Peirce was a skeptic of purely logical analyses of semantics and syntax, which he saw as too theoretical and abstract to be of much use in understanding language in real life. This led him to develop the pragmatist maxims of relevance and pragmatic inference. These are a set of general rules that apply to most situations and languages, and that help determine the likely interpretations of a given sentence.
The pragmatist maxims of relevance, coherence and clarity are still in use today and are a key part of most grammatical textbooks. They are not a complete description of pragmatics, but they provide a useful starting point.
In the field of education, pragmatic skills play a crucial role in classroom communication and collaboration. Students with strong pragmatic skills are able to take turns and stay on topic in discussions, understand and interpret facial expressions and body language, and communicate effectively with teachers and peers. They can also use problem-solving and conflict resolution skills to create positive classroom environments that promote learning and social-emotional development.
For students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, it can be challenging to develop and demonstrate these pragmatic skills. Teaching them how to use visual supports, practice role playing and social stories, and understand non-verbal cues can help increase their pragmatic abilities. In addition, fostering a classroom environment that encourages empathy and respect can improve students’ pragmatic skills by teaching them how to respond appropriately to different situations.