Course Overview
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Course Synopsis
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Semantics and Pragmatics are steadfast to the study of conventionalized and context or use dependent aspects of natural language. Human language as a semiotic system has steered to significant debate about how the semantics/pragmatics distinction should be drawn. To deal with all this complexity, the course is divided into two parts. The first part deals with ‘Semantics’ on both word and sentence level. The second part ‘Pragmatics’ deals with theories of language use. Students of this course will establish an insight into the borderline between Semantics and Pragmatics, Sentences and Utterances, Language and Logic, their analysis in current linguistic theories, and research in Semantics and Pragmatics. The broader contents of this course’s make it exciting for the learners.
The contents of the first part ‘Semantics’ particularly include a comprehensive introduction of Semantics, Semantics and Linguistics, Important Assumptions about Semantics, Theories of Meaning, Lexical Relations, Lexical Semantics, Sentence Relations and Truth, Presupposition, Sentence Semantics, Semantics and Grammar, and Formal Semantics Today along with other topics. The contents of the second part ‘Pragmatics’ particularly include a Comprehensive Introduction to Pragmatics, Cooperative Principle, Relevance Theory, Deixis, Presupposition and Entailment in Pragmatics, Speech Acts Theory, Conversational Analysis, Culture and Language Learning, Computer: Semantics and Pragmatics, Information Structure and Pragmatics, Key Terms in Pragmatics, Interactional Construction of Identity, Language, Gender, and Power, and, Classroom Pragmatic Development along with other topics.
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Course Learning Outcomes
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At the end of this course, the students would be able to:
- understand the relationship between Semantics and Pragmatics at word and sentence level.
- develop an understanding about the important assumptions about semantics and theories of meaning.
- understand various features of meaning in words, how they can be described, and how grammar and syntax contribute to meaning.
- develop their concepts about pragmatic aspects of context, speech acts theory, presuppositions, entailment, information structuring, and conversation analysis.
- get awareness about the usage of computational technology for semantics and pragmatics.
- develop an understanding about the key terms in Pragmatics & Semantics.
- formulate questions and hypotheses over relevant data sets.
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Course Calendar
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Week 01
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1
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Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics
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2
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The borderline between Semantics and Pragmatics
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3
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Sentences and Utterances
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5
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The Explicit and the Implicit
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6
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Semantics and Linguistics
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7
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Semantics in a Model of Grammar
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9
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Semantics in other Disciplines
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10
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Semantics and Semiotics
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11
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Important Assumptions about Semantics
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12
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Utterance, Sentence and Proposition
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13
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Utterance, Sentence and Proposition Activities
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14
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Literal and Non Literal Meaning
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15
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Semantics and Pragmatics
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Week 02
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17
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Meaning Hollism-Meaning within Language
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18
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Idea Theory of Meaning
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19
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Meaning are Put in the World
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20
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Meaning of Sentences and Truth Conditions
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21
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Putting Meaning Togehter from Pieces-Compositional Theory
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23
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Connotative/Referential Meaning
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26
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Reference and Collocative Meaning
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Quiz-I
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28
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Meaning, Thought and Reality
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29
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Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
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32
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The Language of Thought Hypothesis
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Week 03
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34
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Words and Lexical Items
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35
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Problems with Pinning Down Word Meaning
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40
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Causative Verbs and Agentive Nouns
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42
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Core Vocabulary and Universal Lexemes
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43
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Lexical Semantics:Fields and Collocations
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44
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Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations-I
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45
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Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations-II
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Week 04
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49
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Sentence Relations and Truth
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53
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Truth Conditional Semantics
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55
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Two Approaches to Presupposition
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56
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Presupposition Failure
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57
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Presupposition Triggers
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58
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Presupposition and Context
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59
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Sentence Semantics-I: Situations
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Week 05
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64
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Sentence Semantics-II,Participants
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65
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Thematic Roles-I (Agent, Patient, Theme, Experiencer)
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66
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Thematic Roles-II (Beneficiary, Instrument, Location, Goal, Source, Stimulus)
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67
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Identifying Thematic Roles
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68
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Problems with Thematic Roles
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Assignment
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71
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Grammatical and Lexicon
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74
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Formal Semantics Today
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75
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Relationship with other Varieties of Semantics
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76
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Relationship with other Fields
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77
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Semantics and Society- I
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78
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Semantics and Society- II
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Week 06
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79
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Semantics and Dictionary
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80
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Theoretical Dictionary
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81
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Lexical Rules (Graded Accessibility)
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82
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Types of Lexical Rules
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83
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Other Observations about Lexical Rules
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Quiz-II
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84
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Introduction to Pragmatics
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86
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What Does Pragmatics Study?
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87
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Pragmatics and Linguistics
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88
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The Emergence of Pragmatics as a Distinct Field
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90
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Pragmatics and Ordinary Language
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92
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The Prehistory of Pragmatics
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Week 07
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94
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context and Pragmatics
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96
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Background Knowledge Context
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99
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Language in Context: Reference
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100
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Referring to the context Outside: Exophora
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101
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Referring to the context inside: Endophora
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Mid Term Examination
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104
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Cooperative Principle
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108
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Limitations of the Cooperative Principle
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Week 08
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110
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Principles of Relevance Theory
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111
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Explicatures and Implicatures
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112
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Conceptual and Procedural Meaning
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113
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Accessibility and Limitations of Relevance Theory
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115
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Conversational Implicature
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116
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Generalized Conversational Implicatur
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118
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Particularized Conversational Implicature
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120
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Conventional Implicature
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121
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Properties of conventional Implicature
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Quiz-III
Week 09
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132
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The Limits of Indexicality
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133
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Raising Pragmatic Awareness
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134
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Presupposition and Entailment in Pragmatics
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135
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Types of Presupposition
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136
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The Projection Problem
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138
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Presupposition in the Real World
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Week 10
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140
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Austin’s Speech Act Theory
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141
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Searle’s Speech Act Theory
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143
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Direct and Indirect Speech Acts
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144
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Speech Acts and Society
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146
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Limitations of Speech Act Theory
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148
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Exploring Speech Acts
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151
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Negative and Positive Face
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152
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Say something: Off and On Record
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153
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Positive and Negative Politeness
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154
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Politeness Strategies
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Week 11
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155
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Politeness and Context
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Graded Discussion Board
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160
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Conversational Analysis
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162
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Pauses, Overlaps, and Backchannels
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166
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Culture and Language Learning
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167
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Intercultural Pragmatics
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168
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Inter-language Pragmatics
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169
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Listener Behaviour in CCP
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170
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Referential Communication
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Week 12
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171
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Computers, Semantics, and Pragmatics
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172
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Computers,Corpora and Semantics
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173
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Computers and the Study of Translation
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174
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Computers and Pragmatics
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175
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Computers, Speech Acts, and Conversation
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176
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Information Structure and Pragmatics
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177
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Given and New Information
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179
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Definite and Referential Expression
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180
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Generic and Specific Expressions
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181
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Research in Pragmatics
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182
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Collecting Data for Pragmatic Analysis
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183
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Transcription of Conversation
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Week 13
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186
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Key Terms in Pragmatics
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187
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Attributive Concept and Argumentation Theory, Referential Attributive Distinction
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189
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Communicative Competence
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192
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Key Terms in Pragmatics-II
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193
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Formal and Experimental Pragmatics
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196
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Metaphor and Synecdoche
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Quiz-IV
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198
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Key Terms in Pragmatics-III
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199
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Q-principle and R-principle
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200
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Linguistic Underdeterminancy Thesis
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201
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Manifestness and Markedness
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203
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Prosody and Tautology
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Week 14
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204
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Key Thinkers in Pragmatics
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209
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Interactional Construction of Identity
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210
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Role of Sociocultural Factors in Identity
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212
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Studies of Identities
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213
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Occasioning Identity Work
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214
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Identity Work in an Educational Context
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215
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Language, Gender, and Power
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216
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Language and Gender: Western and Non-Western Perspectives
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217
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Power: Language and Gender
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218
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Working of Language and Power: Political Discourse
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219
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Gender and Power Interactions
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Week 15
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220
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Classroom Pragmatic Development
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221
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Why is Pragmatic Competence Important for Second/Foreign Language Learners?
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222
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Can Pragmatic Competence be Taught and Learned in Instructed Contexts?
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223
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Difficulty in the Development of Pragmatic Competence in a Classroom
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224
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What can be Done to Facilitate the Teaching and Learning of Pragmatic Competence?
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225
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Training in Pragmatics Outside the Traditional Language Classroom
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Final Term Examination
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