This book provides positive evidence regarding the validity of the language used in sitcom and drama audiovisual genres and its possible applicability to the teaching of pragmatics in English as second and foreign language contexts. The first part of the text includes a description of pragmatics and its components, speech act theories development, and the use of audiovisual input for the teaching of pragmatic aspects. The second section is devoted to the sitcom and drama transcripts analysis of direct and indirect realisations of multiple speech acts as pragmalinguistic resources, sociopragmatic variables that may influence conversation, such as politeness needs and context, and interactional patterns, including turn-taking, sequences and adjacency pairs. The book provides insightful quantitative and qualitative results which will serve to confirm, along with previous research, the usefulness and validity of this type of input, not only for teaching pragmatics, but also for the development of tasks and activities with different pedagogical outcomes and students’ needs. As such, this volume is a useful resource for pragmaticians and discourse analysis scholars since its complete analysis of transcripts justifies the validity of audiovisual input and its different applications.

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Flensburg, course: Selected Areas of English Linguistics for TEFL Teachers, language: English, abstract: In this paper, I will analyze the animated sitcom Family Guy in terms of three linguistic features and how they relate to creating humor. The sitcom is an example of (scripted) authentic English language. The paper is divided into five sections. After this introduction, I will provide relevant theoretical background knowledge. I will start by reminding the reader of the concept of pragmatics and then introduce three pragmatic theories. First, I will present Speech Act Theory with its differentiation of the locutionary act, the illocutionary act and perlocutionary act as well as the differentiation between direct and indirect speech acts. Second, I will depict the Cooperative Principle with its four maxims (quantity, quality, relation and manner), the four types of non-observance of these maxims (flouting, violating, opting out and infringing) and the notion of implicature. Third, I will introduce the concept of politeness including positive and negative face and the idea of face-threatening acts that need to be compensated by politeness strategies. In section three, I will present Family Guy and its characters and state why using a sitcom is beneficial for my analysis. In section four, I will present and analyze eleven excerpts from various episodes in terms of the creation of humor based on pragmatic features. I will end this paper with a conclusion, in which I will present thirteen ‘humor formulas’ that I was able to deduce from the analysis.

With speech act theory assuming a renewed importance in the field of literary studies and philosophy, Foundations of Speech Act Theoryoffers a timely, thorough and, above all, compelling examination of the complexities of illocutionary acts, performatives, and their phenomenological basis. Savas Tsohatzidis has collected an impressive range of international scholars on the subject. Clearly demonstrating the relevance of speech act theory to semantic theory, the collection further interrogates the inability of pragmatic theories of illocution to properly locate such speech acts within the logic of phenomenology and intersubjectivity. Extending this analysis to the related discipline of philosophy, Tsohatzidis's contributors provide an elucidating investigation of problems lying outside the field of the philosophy of language, while also offering other alternative and rigorous perspectives for linguistic and philosophical inquiry.

Speech Acts In Argumentative Discussions: A Theoretical Model For The Analysis Of Discussions Directed Towards Solving Conflicts Of Opinion (Studies ... In Pragmatics And Discourse Analysis (Pda)).

This work consists of an examination and revision of some of the main theses of Speech Act Theory in relation to the problem of ideology and action-guiding language. Starting from the idea that linguistic philosophy must take into account how the social structure of the linguistic community may influence and direct the way its language is used, a critical method of analysis is proposed, developing Speech Act Theory in a way suitable for this purpose. The main guideline of this proposal is the consideration that a theory of action rather than a theory of meaning should be taken as central in the analysis of language. The notion of illocutionary force, the problem of intentions and conventions in the constitution of speech acts, the definition of context, and the classification of speech acts, are then discussed. Based on the conclusions of this discussion a pragmatic method for the analysis of language is formulated.

The author of the Essays that are republished here has worked on speech acts and other topics in pragmatics taking as her point of departure John L. Austin's philosophy of language. The main focus of the volume is on illocution, including issues such as illocutionary act classification, the role of the hearer's uptake and the interlocutor's responses, the accommodation of speaker-related preconditions, and the relationship of illocution with knowledge and power. Austin's way of distinguishing classes of illocutionary acts is defended and is shown to be useful in the analysis of discourse and conversation. The illocutionary act is described as bringing about effects on the deontic aspects of the relationship among the participants: such effects are defeasible, and conventional too, since their coming into being depends on the participants' agreement. This agreement, in many informal situations at least, is made manifest by the response of the addressee or other participant to the speaker's utterance and may be implicitly negotiated in conversation. Particular attention is paid to Verdictives and Exercitives. The collection also touches upon presupposition (considered in its communicative and persuasive functions), implicature and other aspects of Paul Grice's philosophy, and philosophical approaches to gender issues, always in the light of the author's view of speech as action.

This volume provides extensive critical information about current discussions in the study of speech actions. Its central reference point is classic speech act theory, but attention is also paid to nonstandard developments and other approaches that study speech as action. The first part of the volume deals with main concepts, methodological issues and phenomena common to different kinds of speech action. The second part deals with specific kinds of speech actions, including types of illocutionary acts and some discourse and conversational phenomena.

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2006 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Linguistik, Note: 1,7, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Index I. Introduction II. Clause as Exchange- The Nature of Dialogue III. Discourse Analysis According to Michael Stubbs IV. Surface Cohesion and Underlying Coherence - Indirection in Speech Acts according to John R. Austin 4.1 Utterances as Actions 4.2 Discourse Acts and Speech Acts 4.3 Identifying Speech Acts 4.4 Speech Acts and Social Roles V. Speech Act Analysis according to John R. Searle VI. Conclusion VII. Bibliography I. Introduction Discourse analysis is the general term for a number of approaches to analyze written or spoken language. Discourse Analysis began to develop in the late 1960s and 1970s in most of the humanities and social sciences and in relation with semiotics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics. The object of discourse analysis is defined in terms coherent sequences of sentences, propositions, speech acts or turns-at-talk. In opposite to traditional linguistics, discourse analysts not only study language use beyond the sentence boundary, but also prefer to analyze naturally occurring language use, and not invented examples. Whereas earlier studies of discourse mainly focused on the abstract structures of written texts, many contemporary approaches, especially those influenced by the social sciences, favour a more dynamic study of spoken talk in interaction. Often a distinction is made between local structures of discourse, such as relations between sentences, and global structures, such as the overall topics and the schematic organization of the discourse or conversation as a whole. This term paper will first of all deal with the nature of dialogue and show how interaction functions. In my second chapter I will have a closer look on discourse according to how Michael Stubbs, who teaches courses in general and applied linguistics, lexicology, grammar; semantics and pragmatics, text and corpus analysis, varieties of English, stylistics, sociolinguistics, the sociology of language in Britain and language and thought, approaches it. In the following chapter I will deal with the indirection in speech acts. Regarding this I will focus on John Austin’s theories of constantives and performatives as well as his distinction between locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts. Thereupon I will focus on John R. Searle’s view which contrasts Austin’s characterization of speech acts. In my conclusion I will summarize my chapters as well as compare Austin’s and Searle’s point of views. [...]

The book Power of Slurs in Othello: Speech Acts Explained delves into the complex relationship between language, power dynamics, and societal structures portrayed in Shakespeare's renowned tragedy. Through the lens of Speech Act Theory, this scholarly analysis explores how the use of derogatory language in character dialogues influences their interactions and drives the narrative forward. By meticulously examining these linguistic choices, the text reveals how slurs are wielded to assert authority, manipulate emotions, and perpetuate biases. This study offers a profound examination of how language serves as a tool of power, providing readers with valuable insights into the intricacies of communication and social hierarchies. Essential for those interested in understanding how language shapes interpersonal dynamics and conflicts in both literature and society.

This cutting-edge collection of articles provides the first organised reflection on the language of films and television series across British, American and Italian cultures. The volume suggests new directions for research and applications, and offers a variety of methodologies and perspectives on the complexities of "telecinematic" discourse – a hitherto virtually unexplored area of investigation in linguistics. The papers share a common vision of the big and small screen: the belief that the discourses of film and television offer a re-presentation of our world. As such, telecinematic texts reorganise and recreate language (together with time and space) in their own way and with respect to specific socio-cultural conventions and media logic. The volume provides a multifaceted, yet coherent insight into the diegetic – as it revolves around narrative – as opposed to mimetic – as referring to other non-narrative and non-fictional genres – discourses of fictional media. The collection will be of interest to researchers, tutors and students in pragmatics, stylistics, discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, communication studies and related fields.