B1704 - Pragmatics (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to present the main theoretical models of pragmatics, analyzing the use of language in relation to the intentions and expectations of speakers, the specific enunciative and discursive situations, and the inferential mechanisms that allow the understanding of meanings. At the end of the course, the student is therefore aware of the main problems relating to the explicit and implicit dimension of communication, both in the written text and in the spoken interaction, and is able to independently recognize and explain the main pragmatic phenomena connected to the organization of information and discourse, to the performative component of linguistic action, to the unspoken and its manipulative implications, to the incremental and cooperative dimension of spoken language.

Course contents

1.The pragmatic dimension of linguistic communication.

• Definitions of pragmatics: an introduction.
• Communication models: production and understanding of meanings.
• The role of expectations and context: communication as cooperation and interaction.

2. To produce and understand utterances: speech acts and communication of the implicit

•  Speech act theory and and performativity.
• The logic of conversation and the interpretation of the unsaid: encoding vs. inference.
• Main types of inferences: presuppositions, implicatures; inductions, deductions, abductions
• Grice and conversational implicatures
• Neo-Griceans and the principle of informativity
• Post-Griceans: cognitive pragmatics and relevance theory
  

3. Text, context and discourse

• Inside the text: cohesion and coherence
• Context dependence: anaphora, deixis, and indexical categorization
• The information structure: topic and focus
• The discourse structure: discourse markers
• Cross-cultural pragmatics: politeness and face
  

4. The perspective of spoken language

• The units of speech analysis and their functional and sociolinguistic correlates
• Spoken communication: real-time syntax and low-definition semantics
• Vagueness in language and its interpretation
• Elements of conversation analysis: turns, pauses, repairs, politeness, compliments, expression of agreement and disagreement

5. Applying theory to data: workshop on spoken Italian

• Observing comprehension and misunderstanding at work: feedback, response and dis/agreement signals
• From speech to grammar: new emergent constructions

Readings/Bibliography

Manuals

The mandatory readings for all are indicated below. If chapters are not specified, reading of the entire volume is required.

• ANDORNO C., 2005, Che cos'è la pragmatica linguistica, Roma, Carocci.
• BIANCHI, C. 2018. Pragmatica cognitiva. I meccanismi della comunicazione. Laterza Editore (cap. 2-3)
• VOGHERA, M. 2017. Dal parlato alla grammatica. Roma, Carocci. (cap. da 1 a 6)

Further readings for those who do not attend

Non-attending students are additionally required to read one of the following books:

• DOMANESCHI, F. e PENCO, C. 2016. Come non detto. Roma, Laterza.
• BALLARE', S., GORIA, E. E MAURI, C. 2022. Italiano parlato e variazione linguisticaTeoria e prassi nella costruzione del corpus KIParla. Bologna, Pàtron.
• LEVINSON, S. 2024. The dark matter of Pragmatics - Known unknows. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Additional resources
The slides projected in class will be posted weekly in the e-learning platform. They are highly recommended reading for both attending and nonattending students.
Other bibliographical indications related to specific parts of the course will be provided in class.

Teaching methods

All lectures will have a strong empirical component: computer tools and online resources for analyzing and collecting language data will be presented and used. Special attention will be paid to the observation of spoken language.

Most of the lectures will be face-to-face. However, part of the course will be laboratory in nature, organizing students into small groups to collect new data and/or conduct analysis of existing data. In addition, seminar activities are also planned, during which students will be able to delve into scientific articles and lead their discussion in the classroom.

Assessment methods

The exam is aimed to assess the level achieved by the student in the understanding of the theoretical tools provided during the course and their application to real language data.

The assessment of the knowledge and skills acquired will be done through an oral exam. For students who attend classes, the teacher will also take into account their activity during the course (seminars and lab sessions) in determining the final grade. Students who don't attend classes should study one extra book for the oral exam (see bibliography). All students are kindly requested to inform the teacher about their attending classes or not at the beginning of the course. The evaluation will be based on:

• the number of correct responses
• formal and exhibition adequacy
• expressive clarity and the ability to organize the argumentation

An excellent rating will be given to those who show that they have a thorough knowledge of the program, expressive and expository mastery, precision in data analysis and in the use of specialist terminology, critical thinking skills.

Intermediate evaluations will be given to those who show that they have studied, but will restrict to a partial knowledge of the issues addressed, will use the terminology loosely, and will show themselves insecure in the data analysis.

Sufficiency will be given in the presence of a mnemonic studio, partially incomplete, that reveals a poor command of the terminology and basic concepts of the language, along with an imprecise and inaccurate analysis of data.

The assessment will be insufficient in the presence of significant deficiencies, inability to argue a theoretical discussion and / or properly analyze the data.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint presentations, digital resourses and printed handouts will support most of the lectures.

The laboratory sessions will require the students to actively use digital tools and web resources for the analysis of data.

Office hours

See the website of Caterina Mauri