English. Mostly in English, with some key concepts also in Italian.
Course Content
This course aims to cover the basic concepts of pragmatics and its role in communication. Starting from a general overview (definitions, difference between semantics and pragmatics, concept of deixis, entailment/presupposition, implicature etc.), we will concentrate on Politeness and speech act types (apologies, complaints, thanks, compliments). Small talk rules will be dealt with as well as the concept of “face” by Brown and Levinson, and the Politeness Maxims by Leech.
The teacher will provide the students with all the material needed, in photocopy or on the moodle. The reference works are the following:
J. Cutting, 2002, Pragmatics and Discourse, London and New York, Routledge, sezioni A1, A3, A5 e A6; D1, D3 e D6.
S. Harris, 2007, “Politeness and power” in C. Llamas, L. Mullany, P. Stockwell (eds), The Routledge Companion to Sociolinguistics, pp. 122-129
Voci di enciclopedia, dalla Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2006, Amsterdam
‘Politeness’ di B. Pizziconi e ‘Politeness strategies as linguistic variables’ di J. Holmes.
S. Hoebe, 2001, “Predicting politeness strategies in English conversation”, paper available online.
F. Pridham, The language of Conversation, London, Routledge.
Learning Objectives
The course will introduce students to the pragmatic aspects in communication, giving particular attention to Politeness and speech act types.
The level of English that students achieve at the end of the course is B2 (as defined by CEFR)
Prerequisites
The language level of English required at the beginning of the course is B1 (CEFR).
Teaching Methods
The lessons are based on the lecture notes and students are encouraged to interact with the professor and with each other to carry out the exercises. Students will be provided with many activities and examples, video clips and recordings, in order to practice and become familiar with the newly taught concepts.
Further information
No
Type of Assessment
Final written exam on the course contents. The test will consist in multiple-choice questions, T/F and short answers focused on the material uploaded on the Moodle. The students will be asked to complete the test on the exam day and will be allowed 90 minutes. No dictionaries allowed during the test. There will be no distinctions between those who attended the course and those who did not. Students who attended will have the chance of taking a mock exam, which will be checked and commented in class.
Course program
This course aims to cover the basic concepts of pragmatics and its role in communication. Starting from a general overview (definitions, difference between semantics and pragmatics, concept of deixis, entailment/presupposition, implicature etc.), we will concentrate on Politeness and speech act types (apologies, complaints, thanks, compliments). Small talk rules will be dealt with as well as the concept of “face” by Brown and Levinson, and the Politeness Maxims by Leech.