ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute OBJECTIVES You will understand: 1. The terminology and concepts of semantics, pragmatics and discourse analysis, which are fields of linguistics that deal with how meaning is represented. You will be able to: 1. Apply your general understanding of semantics, pragmatics and discourse analysis to your teaching.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, word combinations and sentences. It includes looking at features that complete a meaning, at the roles that different words play within sentences, and at the different types of relationships that exist between words.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Pragmatics is the study of how meaning is transmitted or conveyed through utterances that take place in a particular context. Pragmatics looks at the meaning that is intended, given all of the contextual information that may or may not be shared by the people communicating, including the knowledge and beliefs of the speaker and the relationship between the speaker and the receiver.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Discourse analysis is the study of how language is used within specific spoken or written texts. It looks at the meaning that is conveyed when sentences are put together to form larger texts beyond the sentence level, (e.g. spoken dialogues, conversations or speeches, and different written documents).

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Pragmatics refers to intended, sometimes hidden meaning often communicated in non-linguistic ways. This includes background beliefs and attitudes of speaker and audience, as well as the understanding of the context of an utterance and knowledge of how language can be used for various purposes, (O’Grady, p. 626).

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Context contributes to comprehension in different ways. With linguistic context, surrounding words give clues to meaning. Physical context also aids comprehension, while time and place provide clues about a speaker’s intended meaning. Speech acts are actions like asking questions, commanding, requesting and informing. A direct speech act is an utterance whose intended meaning corresponds to its form. For instance, “Can you speak German?” is an interrogative form requesting information about ability. Compare this with an indirect speech act. “Can you answer the phone?” appears to be a question of ability but is simply a polite way of issuing an imperative. *What does the following mean? “You left your dishes in the sink.”

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Deixis refers to the words in a language that cannot be understood unless the context of the utterance is known. Pronouns are deictic, as are words like this, that, here, there, tomorrow, etc. In order to understand what specifically is being spoken about, the listener needs to know who the speaker is and what his or her terms of reference are. The sentence “We will finish it next week, because he wasn’t here today” has no pragmatic meaning unless the listener knows the physical context. Deixis demonstrates the difference between semantics and pragmatics: in the sentence above, we may know what each word means (semantics), but we will not understand who is finishing what, and when, unless we know the context.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Pragmatics places a lot of importance on the context within which something is said. For each sentence, think of at least two different meanings the sentence could have, depending upon the context in which it is said. 1. Nice. 2. He is a real winner. 3. It’s way too hot for me. 4. Here is the change.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Inference is the process by which listeners use supplementary information to link what was said to what was meant. Consider Yule’s examples of inference, (p.131). A waiter might ask his coworker, “Where’s the salad sitting?”, and a linguistics student might ask his classmate, “Can I look at your Chomsky?” In these examples the listeners understand that the names of things can refer to people, and the names of people can refer to things. Presupposition refers to something that the speaker believes is either true or already known by the audience.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Discourse analysis is a study of how meaning is communicated beyond the sentence level: when two or more sentences are put together into a conversation, a speech or a piece of writing. Two concepts are important to an understanding of discourse analysis: cohesion and coherence.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Cohesion refers to language that is used to tie the conversation, speech or writing together so that it flows smoothly. Cohesion provides clues about the structure of the discourse. Examples of tools for cohesion include: the use of pronouns to refer to nouns already mentioned in a previous sentence; the use of connecting words such as ‘next’, ‘then’, and ‘so’; and the repetition of key words.

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Coherence refers to how the unity of a piece of discourse is produced by its underlying structure. For example, a recipe that clearly follows the accepted format or structure of a recipe will be coherent. A recipe written in a way that does NOT follow the accepted format or structure of a recipe will be Incoherent. Part of discourse analysis involves analyzing conversations. A key point of analysis is how the people in the conversation take turns speaking. There are different linguistic and non-linguistic cues that can be used for the speakers to take turns. These cues are understood by the speakers. *What can happen if these cues are unknown, misunderstood, or ignored?

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Discourse analysis makes use of scripts to outline accepted actions that will be taken at specific points in time within the discourse. For example, a script for inviting someone to a party might look something like this: Person A: Are you doing anything on Saturday night? I am having a get together at my house. It would be great if you could come. (issuing the invitation) Person B: That sounds like fun. What time? (asking for more information) Person A: Eight o’clock. (providing more information) Person B: Who else is coming? (asking for more information) Person A: About ten people from our class (providing more information) Person B: Can I bring anything? (offering to contribute) Person A: If you could bring a salad that would be great. (suggesting a contribution) Person B: I’ll see you on Saturday then! Thanks again! (closing off the conversation) *What would you include in a script for ordering food in a restaurant? What accepted actions would you note, and when?

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute What is a strategy you might use in order to teach your students how to have a cohesive conversation with a friend to catch up on news? What is a strategy you might use in order to teach your students how to write a coherent paragraph to introduce themselves?

ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Complete Question 2 - submit via to (preferred) or printed and handed in.