Pragmatic is the ability to weigh options and take action based on what is practical. It’s a trait that makes pragmatic people good business leaders, since they make smart decisions and are not afraid to act even if the outcome is unknown. Pragmatic people can also be realistic about their circumstances, and they are able to see the benefits of their situation as well as its limitations.
Pragmatism was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Charles S. Peirce, William James and other American philosophers. It’s a philosophical viewpoint that considers the theory of inquiry, meaning and the nature of truth. Peirce emphasized that an idea is meaningful in relation to its effects, and James put this view to work exploring truth in religion. James’ metaphysical position was essentially neutral regarding the ontological claims of various religious faiths. He was agnostic but left open the possibility that transcendent realities exist.
A pragmatist will compromise between a theoretically ideal outcome and the useful, practical actions they can take. For example, if a person is rejected for a job they applied for but was offered a lower position, a pragmatist will accept the job with the rationale that it could eventually lead to a better one. Often, pragmatic people are willing to do things that they would not have dreamed of doing as idealists.
It is important to teach pragmatic language skills to children, as they will need to understand how to interact with others in order to be a successful adult. Pragmatic communication is the use of speech and non-verbal behaviors that are appropriate for the context, culture and social situation.
Teaching pragmatics can be done through activities like request scenarios, in which the teacher presents a scenario and students decide what they would say to a potential interlocutor. This is a great way to practice pragmatic language and give students the opportunity to evaluate how their responses fit the situation and how they may differ from those of other people.
Another way to teach pragmatics is through critical pragmatics. This philosophy is a reconstruction of traditional pragmatism. It emphasizes the importance of contextual features in interpreting meaning, and it rejects dichotomies such as fact/value, mind/body and analytic/synthetic.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a detailed article on Pragmatism, which includes a history of the movement, its central tenets and a discussion of the different types of pragmatics. These include formal and computational pragmatics; theoretical, experimental and clinical pragmatics; neuropragmatics, game-theoretic and intercultural pragmatics. There is also a pragmatics of education and an historical pragmatics. A book on the subject is The Oxford Handbook of Pragmatism, edited by Joseph Siegel. It is available from Oxford University Press. The website of the journal Pragmatics has additional resources and information. You can also find books on pragmatics on Amazon.com and at your local library. There are also many websites dedicated to pragmatics and related topics. If you are interested in learning more about pragmatics, it is a good idea to speak with a speech therapist. They can help you determine if your child is pragmatic and provide strategies for improving their pragmatic abilities.
