A new method of teaching drama: The pragmatic approach

Abstract

Pragmatics is defined in Jack Richards, et al., Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (London, Longman, 1985) as follows: The study of the use of language in communication, particularly the relationship between sentences and the contexts and situations in which they are used. Pragmatics includes the study of:(a)how the interpretation and use of utterances depends on knowledge of the real world(b)how speakers use and understand speech acts(c)how the structure of sentences is influenced by the relationship between the speaker and the hearer.Accordingly, this paper aims at applying a pragmatic analysis to dramatic texts to find out whether it is possible for teachers to teach, and students to learn, dramatic texts more effectively by using pragmatic approaches. The pragmatic model used in this study is Leech's Cooperative Principle (CP), together with its maxims and submaxims (Principles of Pragmatics, 1983). This model is applied to Oscar Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan (1980) to understand how language is used and understood in communication. The model proves to be a satisfactory mechanism for a pragmatic analysis of dramatic texts. It proves that there is a relation between the linguistic structures of utterances and their intended meanings. It is also responsible for indirectness of utterances.