Why we study pragmatics

Become our insider now! Toggle navigation. What is pragmatics? Why is pragmatics important when teaching? How to teach pragmatic language: Firstly, I would start with observing and analysing the language that you, your friends and your colleagues use, why you use certain phrases in one context, how you understand hidden meanings and when it is appropriate to use certain phrases when talking to your manager at work.

Written by Kinga Macalla. Ngozi Nwarunta says:. It looks beyond the literal meaning of an utterance and considers how meaning is constructed as well as focusing on implied meanings. It considers language as an instrument of interaction, what people mean when they use language and how we communicate and understand each other. Pragmatics acts as the basis for all language interactions and contact.

It is a key feature to the understanding of language and the responses that follow this. Therefore, without the fucntion of Pragmatics, there would be very little understanding of intention and meaning.

Adapting language according to the needs of a listener or situation. Deaf children can find it more difficult than their hearing peers to use pragmatics. Research has shown that deaf children can be up to three to five years behind hearing children in how they use language socially.

This means that a deaf child aged six or seven will probably have developed some pragmatic skills, but a hearing child would have had these skills at the age of three or four. Even when a child has an age-appropriate knowledge of words and their meaning, they might not have learned how to use this knowledge in a socially appropriate manner.

A good understanding of pragmatics is also important later in life. Some of these difficulties are easier to spot than others. Obvious difficulties include not:.

There are lots of simple things you can do help your child develop their pragmatics, especially in the early years. Plenty of high quality, two-way communication between a parent and child is extremely important, and you can build on this in two main ways:.

In the early years, children learn quickly when the words they hear match the thoughts in their heads. Many of the above suggestions can be used with your child as they get older. For example, if your child is a teenager, you can practice a range of role-play scenarios such as job interviews or going to the doctor on their own for the first time.

We have always read to her and broken down stories in terms of feelings and what will happen next and I think this has helped her be more socially aware. Your Community turns one! See what families are saying on Your Community, a new online forum for families of deaf children and young people.