PragmaticsFromTheorytoPractice(Handout3).docVIP

Pragmatics: From Theory to Practice (Handout 3) Lecture 3 Communications in Social Situation 3.1 Saying is doing, given appropriate circumstances An anatomy of saying something When John said to Bob, “Hello, I’m John. Nice to see you”, Psychological John was introducing himself to Bob. John wanted to attract Bob’s attention. John intended to be polite. Vocal He used his vocal tract to produce meaningful English pronunciations of words. He vocalized the sounds in such a way that they became English words. He put words in such an order that they formed a meaningful utterance: “Hello, I’m John! Nice to see you.” Exercise 3-1 When Lao Zhang said to Qian Jun: “今晚到我家吃顿便饭” Psychological: He is inviting his old friend Qian Jun to have dinner with him He wants to be hospitable to Qian Jun. He wants to reinforce their existing friendship He wants Qian Jun to do something for him later. 3.2 Speech Act Theory John Austin: How to Do Things with Words (Published in 1962) has laid a foundation for Speech acts research Speech act theory: shifts our attention from what language is to what it does and sees a social and psychological process of language use. Saying is doing, given appropriate circumstances. Basic ideas about Austin’s Speech Act Theory In making an utterance a speaker can perform three acts simultaneously. The locutionary act (说话行为): The act of saying something The illocutionary act (言外之力，以言行事): The act the speaker intends to do in saying something. The perlocutionary act (取效行为，言后之果): The result or effect that is produced by the utterance in that given context. e.g.: “Hello, I’m John! Nice to see you.” The locutionary act: The utterance: “Hello, I’m John! Nice to see you.” With correct English pronunciation and the sentences are grammatically correct. The illocutionary act: What the speaker intends to do: introducing himself, attracting Bob’s attention, being polite, making more friends, … The perlocutionary act: The result or effect of the u