Pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning. It differs from other fields of linguistics, such as semantics and syntax, in that pragmatics looks at how meaning is created and used rather than at the underlying grammatical structure of an expression. Linguists who specialize in pragmatics are called pragmaticians. Pragmatics is related to the philosophy of pragmatism, which is about being realistic and doing what works best in the real world. For example, a four-year-old who wants a unicorn for her birthday isn’t being very pragmatic.
A person who takes a pragmatic view of things is one who considers the consequences for everyone involved in a situation. This can include the effects of one’s actions on other people, as well as the impact on the environment. For example, if someone kills their creditor and never has to pay their debt, it may seem pragmatic from their point of view, but it isn’t pragmatic for the other people who would have been able to work with them.
Children’s pragmatic skills are critical for their success at school and with peers. Research on language development shows that children begin developing pragmatic skills early, as early as the first year of life. As children grow and gain experience with the social world, their pragmatic skills develop alongside other aspects of their language, such as vocabulary, grammar and syntax.
As they reach adolescence, their expanding social world both enables and motivates them to develop more sophisticated pragmatic behaviors, which help them interact with a wider range of teachers and students. Adolescents’ pragmatic behavior also reflects normal progress in their identity formation, as they start to take the perspective of others and use language strategically.
People with pragmatic communication deficits may have difficulty interacting effectively in all aspects of their lives. They may struggle to initiate conversation, take turns, adapt their message to match the listener’s needs or understand sarcasm, irony and other figures of speech. People with pragmatic communication difficulties are more likely to have trouble with social relationships, be excluded from activities and have a lower quality of life than people without these difficulties.
Pragmatic skills can be taught in many ways, including using scenarios and role play. The Forum article “Pragmatic Activities for the Speaking Classroom” by Joseph Siegel suggests a classroom activity that involves giving learners a scenario and asking them to decide how they would make a request in that situation. This helps learners understand that there are different pragmatic responses that can be used to make a request, and why certain ones are more appropriate than others. Lessons on pragmatics can also be integrated with content in other linguistics classes. For example, a teacher who is teaching about apologies in the textbook might incorporate lessons on the ways that different cultures apologize into the class. This is called a functional approach to language learning. It teaches the language in its natural context and in relation to real-world situations.