Monographic lecture: Theoretical and practical aspects of verbal communication 3301-2ST-WM-JF001
The lecture is an overview of selected issues in pragmatics, whose understanding broadens one’s knowledge about the process of verbal communication and makes social communication more effective. It raises awareness of the potential problems in communication resulting from the distinction between the literal meaning of language and the speaker-intended meaning (implicatures, metaphor, irony, etc.). It introduces the tools indispensable to analyse this meaning, thus improving one’s interpretive and rhetorical skills, and facilitating interpersonal communication. Two models of communication will be introduced: the theory of conversation (Grice) and Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson), which is a development and modification of Grice’s theory from the cognitive point of view. Apart from the classical theory of implicature by Grice, other theories of implicature, both rooted in Grice, will be presented (Horn, Levinson). The lecture presents strategies of verbal manipulation and examines the notion of lying, which results in the ability to resist fake news and propaganda in the media. It also teaches the principles of linguistic politeness understood as a pragmatic strategy employed by a speaker to promote/maintain harmonious relations or avoid a conflict situation, with a special focus on intercultural differences (theories of politeness by G. Leech and by P. Brown and S. Levinson). It also deals with the phenomenon of banter viewed as an instance of phatic communication and with the pragmatic accounts of metaphor and irony. The cognitive strategy of utterance interpretation is applied to analyse everyday speech, political speech, the language of media and advertising.
The lectures will be interactive and accompanied by a group discussion and class assignments (a workshop format).
Topics to be discussed:
1. Introduction - pragmatics (definitions, history), linguistic underdeterminacy, basic notions in semantics and pragmatics (sentence, utterance, proposition, context, truth value, truth condition, entailment).
2. Implicature – classical Gricean theory of conversational implicature (the Co-operative Principle, conversational maxims, observing/flouting/violating/opting out of the maxims, types of implicature).
3. Implicature – two neo-Gricean pragmatic theories of conversational implicature (the Hornian system, the Levinsonian system).
4. Pragmatics and cognition: Relevance Theory (relevance: the Cognitive/Communicative Principle of Relevance, explicature/ implicature, conceptual/procedural meaning).
5. Truth, lying and misleading. Verbal manipulation . The language of propaganda.
6. Models of politeness (Leech – The Politeness Principle and its attendant maxims, Brown and Levinson – positive/negative face, face-threatening acts). Intercultural differences.
7. Banter and phatic communication.
8. Lexical pragmatics and metaphor.
9. The pragmatics of irony.
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
K_W01 The graduate has in-depth familiarity with advanced terminology, theory and research methods corresponding to the state of the art in the discipline of linguistics, in accordance with their chosen specialization (and educational path), with a special focus on pragmatics and verbal communication on the basis of contemporary Anglo-American linguistic literature
Abilities:
K_U01 The graduate is able to apply the advanced terminology, theories and methods of linguistic research to solve complex and original research problems in accordance with his/her chosen specialization (and educational path) within the English studies, with a special focus on issues in pragmatics and verbal communication
Social competences:
K_K01 The graduate is ready to critically appraise their knowledge and content obtained from various sources
Linguistic skills: B2+
The graduate:
1. has in-depth familiarity with advanced terminology in the domain of pragmatics and can apply this knowledge to describe and analyse data;
2. understands verbal communication as a communicative situation going beyond the semantic meaning of language and dependent on context and speaker’s intentions;
3. knows and can compare main theories of verbal communication;
4. knows basic mechanisms of conversational analysis and can illustrate them with examples;
5. knows the difference between the literal and non-literal meaning of linguistic expressions;
6. is prepared to extend his/her knowledge of semantics, pragmatics and verbal communication.
Assessment criteria
Students are assessed on the basis of:
- short written and oral class assignments (verification of outcomes: W, U, K) and
- a final written examination. (verification of outcomes: W, U)
Highly appreciated are:
- exchange of opinions in group discussions, oral contributions (verification of
outcomes: W, U, K)
- pairwork/groupwork with handouts/worksheets (verification of
outcomes: W, U, K)
Bibliography
Bralczyk, J. 2007. O Języku Polskiej Propagandy i Polityki. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Trio.
Brown, P. & S. C. Levinson. "Politeness: some universals in language usage", in: A. Jaworski & N. Coupland (eds). 1999. The Discourse Reader. London and New York: Routledge. 321-335.
Clark, B. 2013. Relevance Theory. Cambridge University Press. (wybrane rozdziały).
Grice, P. "Logic and conversation", in P. Grice. 1989. Studies in the Way of Words. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.
Huang, Y. 2007. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
Kisielewska-Krysiuk, Marta. 2017. “Lying and misleading within the philosophy of language: a relevance-theoretic perspective”. Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies 26.2: 79-100.
Leech, G. 1983: Principles of Pragmatics. Penguin. (wybrane rozdziały).
Leech, G. 2007. ‘‘Is there an East-West divide?’’. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture 3(2): 167–206, ISSN (Online) 1613-4877, ISSN (Print) 1612-5681.
Sperber, D. & D. Wilson. 1998. "Relevance and irony", in: R. Carston & S. Uchida. 1998. Relevance Theory: Applications and Implications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 283-93.
Wilson, D. & Sperber, D. 2004. “Relevance Theory”. In L. Horn & G. Ward (eds.) The Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford, Blackwell. 607-632.
Wilson, D. 2004. "Relevance and lexical pragmatics". UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 16.
Žegarac, V. 1998. “What is phatic communication?”, in: Current Issues in Relevance Theory, edited by V. Rouchota and A. H. Jucker. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 327-361.
Notes
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Term 2025Z:
Attendance is obligatory. 3 absences are allowed. |
Additional information
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