This document discusses sociocultural norms and pragmatics. It explains that sociocultural norms guide pragmatic expression, such as using "please" after making a request. It also discusses speech acts, which are communicative acts like requests, apologies, suggestions, and offers. Speakers must understand speech acts for successful communication. Pragmatics examines how sociocultural norms influence language use and how speakers convey intended meanings while maintaining politeness and each other's public self-image, known as "face."

1. PRAGMATICS
AND
SOCIOCUTURAL
NORMS

2. Sociocultural norms, such as how to express
politeness in a given context, guide pragmatic
expression. For example, if someone asked you
why we should say "Please" after making a
request, what would you say? Your answer would
be based on the sociocultural rules you are
familiar with in Western societies and cultures.

3. Person A: You have just invited your friend to a
special dinner given by your company and you want
to say very gently that he/she must act more
formally than normal (not use so much foul
language).
Person B: Your dear friend is somewhat of a
"stuffed shirt" who always worries about others'
opinions. You want to go to this dinner and make
him/her relax and adopt a more colorful and casual
outlook on life.

4. 
What problems of communication did you observe in the interaction
between the two students?

What kinds of sociocultural norms do you think might have been
operating in the role play?

What kinds of things did each person have to keep in mind as they
spoke?

What kinds of things guided the way the speakers said things, so they
wouldn’t offend each other?

Did anybody say anything that you think would had been considered
rude or inappropriate?

5. One important area of pragmatics is that of speech
acts, which are communicative acts that convey an
intended language function. Speech acts include
functions such as requests, apologies,
suggestions, commands, of fers , and
appropriate responses to those acts.
Of course, speakers of these acts are not truly
successful until the intended meaning they convey
are understood by listeners.

6. Can you identify what kind of speech acts are
the following?:
Can
you lend me your pencil?
Gimme your pencil.
Would you like to use this pencil?
How about using a red pencil?

7. Can you identify which of the following speech
acts intends to convey: a request, an apology, a
suggestion, an offer, a rebuke or an invitation?
Speaker / listener
Speech act
Mother to daughter
“Your rom is a mess”
Incoming traveler to hotel clerk
“Can I have a room on the top floor?
One student to another
“You can use my eraser. Yours is
almost gone.”
Student 1 to student 2, just after
1 tells 2 she failed the exam
“Do you want to study together for the
next test?”
Student 2 to student 1, just after
1 tells her that she failed the
exam
“Do you want to study together for the
next test?”
A young woman to her boyfriend
“You know, they have a sale on
diamond rings at the mall this
weekend.”

8. Speech acts occur in everyday talk in every
society, with various ranges of explicitness. For
second language learners, it is important to know
which speech acts are different in the first and
target language, how they are different, and what
is not appropriate to say

9. Learners of all languages tend to have difficulty
understanding the intended meaning
communicated by a speech act, or producing a
speech act using appropriate language and
manner in the language being learned. Research
has found that classroom instruction on speech
acts can help learners to improve their
performance of speech acts and thus their
interactions with native speakers.

10. Examples:
Speaker/listene Text book
r
Real life
A teenager
greeting his friend
at the airport
"Hello, Harvey. How "Hey, man — what’s happening? I
was the flight? I see like your bag. It’s awesome!“
you got a new bag"
Someone
complimenting us
A: What a beautiful
dress!
B: Thank you. I’m
glad you like it.
A: That’s a cute dress you’re
wearing.
B: Really? This old rag? I got it at
the Salvation Army for $2.00!
or
B: You’re the third person today
who’s complimented me on it. I
must have done something right!

11. As a technical term, face means the public self
image of a person. It refers to that emotional and
social sense of self that everyone has and
expects everyone else to recognize.

12. In an interaction, it can be defined as the
means employed to show awareness of
another person’s face. In this sense,
politeness can be accomplished in situations
of social distance or closeness.

13. (A student to the teacher)
Excuse me, Mr. Bean, but can I talk to you for a
minute?
(A friend to the same person)
Hey, B, got a minute?

14. People in all cultures have an awareness of selfimage, or "face", as they communicate. Protecting
face is important for communicating and
behaving successfully with others, even though it
may not be accomplished consciously by talk
participants. A "face-threatening act" (FTA) is one
that would make someone possibly lose face, or
damage it in some way.

15. (A student to the teacher)
Mr. Charles, I know you are terribly busy, but
could you sign this form for me, please?

16. A person’s negative face is the need to be
independent, to have freedom of action, and
not to be imposed by others.
Negative ≠ Bad

17. A person’s positive face is the need to be
accepted, even liked, by others, to be treated as a
member of the same group, and to know that
his/her wants are shared by others.

18. FTAs, which occur regularly in everyday
interaction, are often softened by means of
politeness. Politeness can be expressed through
positive politeness to try to make the other
person like you: e.g. "please"
or negative politeness to try to give the other
person some space and not impose:
e.g. "I know this is a terrible imposition"

19. Of the following three choices that could occur when a
guest came to your home to visit, which would you
believe would be most likely to cause a threat to your
face or that of your guest?
a. Can I have a glass of water?
b. Could you take your feet off my table?
c. Make yourself at home.

20. 


B, because it is most likely to offend someone
or make them feel uncomfortable or
embarrassed (Their face is threatened)
A, poses little threat. A glass of water is not a
great imposition, and it is requested, not
demanded.
C, poses no threat to the listener; it is an offer
of hospitality.

21. 


Emphasizes on closeness between
speaker and listener.
Leads the requester to appeal to a common goal,
and even friendship. Hey buddy, I’d appreciate if
you let me use your pen.
For not to suffer a refusal, the speaker may opt for
a “getting to know you talk”: Hi. How is it going?
OK if I sit here? You take a lot of note too huh? Do
me a favour and let me use one of your pens.

22. Linguistically this strategy would include:
-Personal information
-Use of nicknames
-Abusive terms (particularly among males)
-Dialect / slang expressions
-Marked solidarity with terms like: “we” and
“let’s”.

23. In English-speaking contexts this strategy is more
commonly used as a face saving act. The most
typical form is using a question containing a modal
verb such as:
Could you lend me a pen?
I’m sorry to bother you, but can I ask you for a pen
or something?
I know you are busy, but might I ask you if you –emif you happen to have an extra pen that I could, you
know – eh – maybe borrow?

24. Negative politeness forms emphasizes on “formal
politeness”.
-It is impersonal
-Can include expressions that refer neither the
speaker not the listener: customers may not
smoke here, sir.
-Absence of personal claims
“There is going to be a party, if you can make it. It
will be fun”

25. SELF AND OTHERS