Pragmatic is a philosophical approach to language that takes into account pragmatic features of communication and interaction, rather than focusing on reference, truth, grammar or semantics. Pragmatics is an approach that has gained traction in many language classrooms because of its ability to focus on the real-world uses of words and sentences, as opposed to abstract concepts such as meaning and truth. Pragmatics is also closely related to the more formal discipline of semantics, which studies how word meanings are derived from context and meaning systems.
The pragmatic approach is rooted in the philosophy of American philosopher William James. He believed that something is true only if it produces the desired result. For example, if you pray to God and feel better afterward, this may be enough evidence for you to believe that your prayers are heard. However, this type of pragmatism does not necessarily imply a denial of the ontological claims of religions.
In the field of language study, pragmatism is most commonly applied in pragmatics and discourse analysis. In the latter discipline, it is a method of understanding how speakers communicate in different situations and cultures. Pragmatic analysis often involves analyzing utterances, or sentences, from a particular conversation, or dialog, to determine what the speaker meant by a given statement. This type of analysis is usually done with recorded data, but can be done in the classroom with written texts as well.
Pragmatism has become a major focus in the study of second languages as well. In the study of foreign language acquisition, pragmatics can help teachers identify how to instruct learners to adapt their native tongue to fit a new cultural context. Specifically, a teacher can teach pragmatic features such as appropriate greetings, polite requests, apologizing in a new culture, or closing a conversation.
Practicing pragmatics in everyday life can be difficult for some people. It can take a while to get into the habit of acting on impulse and trusting your instincts, but the more you do it, the easier it will become. Try starting with smaller decisions and working your way up to the more important ones.
In the linguistic world, there is a growing trend for researchers to apply formal techniques used in semantics and discourse analysis to pragmatics as well. This is because, like semantics, pragmatics is a discipline that is highly sensitive to context. As such, the results of an experiment in pragmatics will differ from the results of another study with the same experimental conditions and participants. This is part of a much larger issue in science, known as the replication crisis. These issues are causing some to call into question the validity of many experimental results.
