PRAGMATICS: PERMISSION TO SPEAK

(all successful conversation requires a willingness to listen)

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The philosophical perspective taken in this course is that the people we want to communicate with, literally all human beings, live out their daily lives in a self-contained bubble of their own making. Each of us creates our own private "bubble;" a protective, safe environment which we jealously strive to secure from unwanted intrusions.  We try to maintain familiar surroundings within our private "bubbles" so that it is easy for us to access comfortable, non-judgmental relationships and proceed through our chosen activities with as little disruption as possible.

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The important point of the above graphic is that attentive listening is the major pragmatic characteristic of communicative competence. 

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Other pragmatic characteristics of communicative competence include:​

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~ General Extenders

THE USE OF CERTAIN PHRASES SUCH AS "STUFF" OR "STUFF LIKE THAT"  TO FACILITATE, "EXTEND," OR ENHANCE THE ELABORATION OF A STATEMENT WITH AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF PROBABILITIES THAT PRAGMATICALLY AVOIDS ANY FORM OF EXCLUSION.

 

 

 

Researchers have found that little phrases such as
and stuff or
and
stuff like that,
and everything and
or something (usually termed
‘general extenders’ or ‘set marking tags’) have important discourse
functions in spoken English.
They have also found that they seem to be losing their literal meaning,
probably because their discourse functions have become more
important.

 

1) Research has found that general extenders are often used by young
people between the ages of about 14 and 18, and that they often occur
in interviews.

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~ Implications

The course is primarily intended for

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~ Intentions

The course is primarily intended for

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~ Interactions

The course is primarily intended for

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~ Small Words

The course is primarily intended for

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~ Vague Language 

The course is primarily intended for

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