The purpose of this course is to provide some indication of the scope of pragmatics which deals with the question of how utterances have variable meanings in specific situations, i.e., in language usage. It will, therefore, examine utterances not in isolation from the co-text, context, and other factors, as might be done in semantics, but within their co-text and context, and in relation to a number of factors contributing to variability of meaning. Areas which will be dealt with will include speech-acts, various topics relating to presupposition and implicatures, an introduction to the principles governing conversation, and Relevance theory. This course is of immediate relevance to literary studies, linguistic stylistics, jurisprudence, language in the media, but, primarily, pragmatics constitutes the cornerstone of methodologies in language teaching. This course is both logically and methodologically dependent on prior knowledge of the fundamentals of semantics. Therefore, it is greatly urged that only students who have already passed Semantics take this course. This course should also be taken before 4-420 (Discourse Analysis)
Learning outcomes:
Assessment: Final exam, hand in short exercises.
Recommended reading:
Is there a course textbook? Yes
Is there a list of readings? Yes, electronic
This course is at the University’s electronic platform https://blackboard.lib.auth.gr/. Students to consult weekly.
