Universität Wien
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122051 PS PS Linguistics (2021W)

Pragmatics

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
REMOTE
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 05.10. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 12.10. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 19.10. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 09.11. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 16.11. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 23.11. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 30.11. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 07.12. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 14.12. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 11.01. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 18.01. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 25.01. 08:15 - 09:45 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

“At the heart of language use is human action, people doing things with language” (Clark & Bly 1995: 371). The linguistic field of pragmatics investigates what speakers use language for and “how more gets communicated than is said” (Yule 1996: 3).
Taking the study of pragmatics as an example, this course provides students with insights into one area of linguistic research and prepares them for their first small-scale research project.

The course will zoom in on key-concepts, approaches and theories in pragmatics (e.g. Speech Acts, Co-operative Principle, Conversation Analysis, Politeness). Engaging with exemplary studies and data samples, participants will learn to approach questions concerning language use in a systematic way. To design and conduct their own research, students will acquire knowledge and develop skills to identify pragmatic phenomena in linguistic data, interpret and discuss their observations, and relate insights to the conceptual framework of their research project.

Some of the key questions we will address in the course of the term are:
- What is the role of context in meaning making?
- How do speakers use language to perform actions and negotiate understanding?
- How can we study the pragmatics of conversation?
- What is conventional about communication?
- What role does pragmatics play in the English language classroom?

In addition to exploring these questions and learning about linguistic research, participants will also learn how to find relevant literature on a specific research topic/question, critically analyse and reflect on existing research in the field and collect first experience in planning, conducting and writing up a small-scale linguistic research project.

This course combines lecturer input, sample analyses of relevant material, on- and offline study phases and assignments, group work, discussions and student presentations.

In sum, students will ...
- become familiar with the basics of conducting and reporting linguistic research
- gain knowledge in selected areas of pragmatics
- carry out a small-scale empirical research project

Assessment and permitted materials

Student assessment is based on active participation in class, self-study and regular readings, written and online assignments, an oral poster presentation, and the PS paper.

For the paper each student will choose one aspect related to pragmatics, explore it in more detail and conduct an empirical study.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Attendance (max. 2 absences)
Part 1: Class participation, readings, smaller (online) assignments, discussions (f2f, online) etc. 10%
Part 2: Poster presentation in class: 25%
Part 3: Paper proposal: 20%
Part 4: PS paper (3,500 words +/-10%): 45%

All parts (1, 2, 3 and 4) must be completed and at least three out of four parts must be positive. The overall pass mark is 60%.

Grading scale: 1 (sehr gut) 100-90%; 2 (gut) 89-80%; 3 (befriedigend), 79-70%; 4 (genügend) 69-60%; 5 (nicht genügend) 59-0%.

Examination topics

Course evaluation is based on
- active participation, discussions/online activities, regular readings
- online poster presentation
- on-time submission of PS paper and paper proposals

Please note that your paper will be checked with anti-plagiarism software (TurnItIn).

Reading list

Cutting, Joan. 2015. Pragmatics: a resource book for students. (3rd edition). London/New York: Routledge.

Association in the course directory

Studium: BEd 046 / 407
Code/Modul: BEd 09.1
Lehrinhalt: 12-2045

Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:16