Pragmatic is a word often used to describe people who are practical and reasonable in their approach to things. The word is also used to refer to certain types of decisions or actions that are based on real-world considerations rather than theoretical ideals or principles. People who are described as pragmatic tend to prioritize results and effectiveness, being willing to make compromises in order to achieve desired outcomes.
Pragmatic is rooted in the Latin pragma, meaning “practical,” and it is sometimes contrasted with idealism. People who are described as pragmatic tend to be more centered on the reality of situations and circumstances, focusing on the most likely or realistic options for action. In the context of language, pragmatics is the study of the meaning of words in their specific use in a particular discourse and situation, the meaning that speakers intend to communicate with those words, and how the particular linguistic resources they employ can help them succeed in communicating those intended meanings to their hearers.
The field of Pragmatics is often seen as a subfield of Semantics, with some scholars treating it as a formalized aspect of semantics that deals specifically with context dependency. Other scholars view it as a separate discipline, with its own distinct theories and methodologies. The field of Pragmatics includes the theory of how one and the same word can convey different meanings or propositions in context owing to ambiguity, indexicals, or turn-taking norms in conversation, as well as the theory of speech act theory, and the theory of lexical implicature.
Teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) can benefit from an understanding of the concept of pragmatics when developing lesson plans for their students. Joseph Siegel offers some useful information about teaching pragmatics in his Forum article, “Pragmatic Activities for the Speaking Classroom.” He describes an activity he uses where he gives students a variety of scenarios in which a request might be made and asks them to decide how they would respond. Siegel suggests that it is important for teachers to explain why certain responses are appropriate in a given scenario and why other responses are not.
Other pragmatic activities that can be used in ESL classes include having students discuss how to politely hedge a request, how to cleverly read between the lines in a conversation, and the ways that ambiguity in a given phrase can affect its interpretation. This type of learning is incredibly valuable for students because it is often the knowledge of pragmatics that allows people to communicate successfully in a variety of social situations.
Some examples of pragmatic learning can be seen in the classroom, for example, when a child with pragmatic language difficulties KNOWS what he or she is supposed to do in a given social situation but cannot carry out that task without assistance (receptive pragmatic language deficit). Other pragmatic challenges can be seen when a student does not understand what is being asked of him or her in a particular classroom context and cannot answer (expressive pragmatic language deficit). These kinds of situations demonstrate that pragmatics has relevance to all learners.
