Pragmatic Forms Research Articles

THE ROLE OF PRAGMATIC FACTORS IN THE SOCIALIZATION OF SPEECH

In the article, thoughts about the role of pragmatic factors and forms of manifestation in the social character of speech are expressed through examples. Pragmatic factors in the social character of speech are first of all manifested in intercultural communication.In the multifaceted process of intercultural communication, linguistic and cultural levels of mutual understanding between representatives of different language communities are distinguished, in other words, linguistic and extralinguistic. intercultural communication is a two-way process of foreign language and foreign cultural understanding, and in this regard, the act of speech implies interlinguistic and intercultural translation, the adequacy of which is at the level of pragmatic meaning of language units. It should be noted that sThe object of study of both sociolinguistics and pragmalinguistics is speech phenomena, which cannot be separated from each other in the analysis of speech processes. Both of these areas of linguistics have their own place in the social character of speech. That is why it is impossible to sharply separate them from each other.

A Pragmatic Study of Overstatement in Kurdish Proverbs

Language has been a communication tool from early human history up to date. It is by using this significant tool that events and traditions have remained from the forefathers of every nation. An instance of the remained treasures of history is the items of folklore, in essence, proverbs, which is the subject of the current study. Admittedly, proverbs of any language comprise numerous figures of speech. This paper entitled “A Pragmatic Study of Overstatement in Kurdish Proverbs” is an extract from an MA thesis which pragmatically investigates the trope of overstatement in Kurdish proverbs. Introducing the two items related to the topic, namely, the proverb is an item of folklore inherited by the generations of every nation from their ancestors, which mostly gives a lesson. The trope, which in the current study is to be investigated inside the Kurdish proverbs, overstatement, is said to be, as the word itself suggests, an overly stated statement. Usually what is explained is given coloring and excessive importance or it is embellished more than its normal being. The study aims to investigate the aforementioned trope in some selected proverbs of the Kurdish language from a pragmatic perspective. This is to be conducted by adopting the eclectic model of Braim (2014). In light of the results, the trope was found to be present in seven proverbs from the data provided. The trope's most recurrent pragmatic forms and functions are seen to be adverbs and emphasis. Pragmatically, it is affirmed that overstatement has implicature in every analyzed instance during the analysis of the current study.

The limits of thematization

AbstractA fundamental capacity of language is its reflexivity. But not every aspect of language is equally accessible to being reflected upon. Michael Silverstein's 1981 paper, the “Limits of Awareness,” set the terms of this discussion in linguistic anthropology with his study of speakers' “awareness” of pragmatic forms and their corresponding capacity to talk about them. His notion of differential “awareness” of aspects of language has since been foundational to linguistic‐anthropological understandings of language ideologies. Here we consider Silverstein's argument with reference to our research in Laos, exploring the limits of metalinguistic discourse. We argue that the apparent constraints on our capacity to talk about aspects of language do not evidence limits of awareness of elements of language, but rather constraints on our ability to thematize those elements, that is, to bring them into joint attention. The central issue is thematization, and the relation of interest is a relation of joint attention between speakers. Metalanguage is thus constrained not (only) by psychological limits but by the social and semiotic limits on what people can bring into mutual focus within interactions. To present our framing of the issue and show what it helps us see, we distinguish two kinds of thematization and describe their subtypes, affordances, and constraints. We then demonstrate how social conventions—broadly understood—can circumvent these constraints, allowing people to thematize otherwise difficult to thematize forms.

Corporate social and environmental reporting in the mining sector: seeking pragmatic and moral forms of legitimacy?

PurposeThe study examines the social and environmental responsibility indicators disclosed by three International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) corporate mining members in their social and environmental reporting (SER) from 2006 to 2014. To achieve this aim, the author limits the data two years before (i.e. from 2006 to 2007) and six years after (i.e. from 2009 to 2014) the implementation of the Sustainable Development Framework in the mining sector in 2008.Design/methodology/approachUsing the techniques of content analysis and interpretive textual analysis, this study examines 27 social and environmental responsibility reports published between 2006 and 2014 by three ICMM corporate mining members. The study develops a disclosure index based on the earlier work of Hackston and Milne (1996), together with other disclosure items suggested in the extant literature and considered appropriate for this work. The disclosure index for this study comprised six disclosure categories (“employee”, “environment”, “community involvement”, “energy”, “governance” and “general”). In each of the six disclosure categories, only 10 disclosure items were chosen and that results in 60 disclosure items.FindingsA total of 830 out of a maximum of 1,620 social and environmental responsibility indicators, representing 51% (168 employees, 151 environmental, 145 community involvement, 128 energy, 127 governance and 111 general) were identified and examined in company SER. The study showed that the sample companies relied on multiple strategies for managing pragmatic legitimacy and moral legitimacy via disclosures. Such practices raise questions regarding company-specific disclosure policies and their possible links to the quality/quantity of their disclosures. The findings suggest that managers of mining companies may opt for “cherry-picking” and/or capitalise on events for reporting purposes as well as refocus on company-specific issues of priority in their disclosures. While such practices may appear appropriate and/or timely to meet stakeholders’ needs and interests, they may work against the development of comprehensive reports due to the multiple strategies adopted to manage pragmatic and moral legitimacy.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this research is that the author relied on self-reported corporate disclosures, as opposed to verifying the activities associated with the claims by the sample mining companies.Practical implicationsThe findings from this research will help future social and environmental accounting researchers to operationalise Suchman’s typology of legitimacy in other contexts.Social implicationsWith growing large-scale mining activity, potential social and environmental footprints are obviously far from being socially acceptable. Powerful and legitimacy-conferring stakeholders are likely to disapprove such mining activity and reconsider their support, which may threaten the survival of the mining company and also create a legitimacy threat for the whole mining industry.Originality/valueThis study innovates by focusing on Suchman’s (1995) typology of legitimacy framework to interpret SER in an industry characterised by potential social and environmental footprints – the mining industry.

Speech Acts of Apology and Request by Arab Postgraduates with Malaysian Supervisors

This study investigates the pragmatic and linguistic competencies of Arab postgraduate students and native English-speaking postgraduate students in Malaysian universities, focusing on their speech act strategies for requests and apologies. Using qualitative methods such as Discourse Completion Tests and conversations, the study addresses three research questions related to pragmatic and linguistic forms, gender differences, and cultural norms in English-speaking settings. The participants consisted of 95 individuals, including an equal number of males and females from four universities in Malaysia during the academic year 2022-2023. Of the participants, 32 were of Arab origin, and 63 were native English speakers. The study found significant differences in response rates between the two groups and emphasized the importance of understanding cultural norms for effective communication. The findings suggest that learners from Arab countries must comprehend the differences between cultural norms and conventions in English-speaking environments to communicate efficiently. The study has implications for assisting Arab-speaking graduate students in improving their communication abilities and promoting cross-cultural understanding in academic settings in Malaysia.

Multilingual cyberpragmatics in instructional settings. Exploring gender and age effects in Catalan, Spanish and English email requests

ABSTRACT The present study focuses on email communication in the multilingual university setting. Previous studies dealing with similar settings point to the lack of politeness markers in students’ email messages [Bjorge, A. (2007). Power distance in English lingua franca email communication. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(1), 60–80], requests tend to be more direct and they may not match with the degree of imposition or social distance involved. Students’ lack of netiquette and the lack of physical presence on the Internet may influence their pragmatic behaviour. In addition to that, other studies [Barón, J., & Ortega, M. (2018). Investigating age differences in e-mail pragmatic performance. System, 78, 148–178] point to age effects and further confirm the preference for direct pragmatic forms. Nevertheless, very few studies have adopted a multilingual perspective. For this reason, we have examined 250 email requests to faculty. Openings and requests produced in Catalan, Spanish or English were analysed. Our main goal was to confirm whether students’ requests would devoid politeness markers and whether openings would show a lack of netiquette. We were also interested in identifying age and gender effects and in finding out if the pragmatic forms chosen would be in line with the politeness orientation of the language involved. Results are in line with previous studies but they also contradict them adding interesting information on the way multilingualism is displayed in email interaction.

Pragmatic Transnationalism: Sri Lankan-British Retired Migrants’ Negotiations of Transnational Citizenship and (Un)Belonging

Scholarly work on transnational migration has attended to migrants’ notions of (un)belonging to their settled country, where experiences of discrimination motivate migrants to foster stronger connections with the natal country as a form of reactive and protective transnationalism. Less attention, however, is given to the ways in which migrants negotiate simultaneous exclusions and inclusions in relation to their natal and settled countries. I examine this crucial intersection through the case of retired British citizens who are first-generation, highly skilled Sri Lankan ethnic minority migrants. The article reveals how the migrants’ racial identity in the predominantly White United Kingdom and their ethnic minority status within Sri Lanka undergird their transnational citizenship negotiations. The findings convey that the migrants adopt pragmatic forms of transnational practices and mobilities to maneuver the benefits and risks attached to their dual affiliations and align with their subjective notions of (un)belonging.

The sociopragmatic nature of interjections in Early Modern English drama comedy

Abstract Interjections have been studied for all periods in the history of English, ranging from the study of Old English exclamations such as hwaet (Brinton 2017) to the pragmatic functions of forms such as oops in Present Day English (Lutzky and Kehoe 2017). The Early Modern English (EModE) period represents a turning point as it witnessed an increase in dialogic and speech-related text types, including drama comedy and trial proceedings. Nevertheless, despite recent advances in the compilation and especially the sociopragmatic annotation of corpora, EModE pragmatic markers have not been studied extensively over the last decade. This article addresses this gap by offering an investigation into the sociopragmatic nature of interjections in EModE drama comedy. It is based on the sociopragmatically annotated Drama Corpus which includes a total of 242,561 words from the period 1500 to 1760. Taking a data-driven, form-to-function mapping approach, this study explores the use of interjections in the Drama Corpus with a focus on their distribution according to sociopragmatic variables. The aim of this study is to contribute to reaching a more comprehensive understanding of pragmatic marker use in EModE.

Social Enterprise Places: A Place-Based Initiative Facilitating Syntactic, Semantic and Pragmatic Constructions of Legitimacy

Social Enterprises are becoming a significant force of social as well as economic good despite facing many difficulties that are brought about by their unique characteristics. Chief among these is the question of their perceived legitimacy that impinges upon their ability to gain funding, acquire contracts and appear as capable organisations to potential partnering institutions. This study explores the means by which Social Enterprises are legitimized through participation in the Social Enterprise Place (SEP) programme in the UK. By examining the Boundary Objects (BO) that span the intersections of the incumbent social groups it identifies three pillars upon which SEPs have facilitated SE legitimacy. These pillars comprise (i) the place-based language (syntactic BO), that enables the identification of (ii) common social goals (semantic BOs), and thereby enables the (iii) mobilization of resources toward their resolution (pragmatic BOs). This research provides insight into the facilitation of legitimacy for Social Enterprises that are engaged in a place-based initiative. By responding to Peterson’s (2016) call for macromarketers to take more note of meso level marketing dynamics in different industries the paper highlights the potential for place to facilitate the legitimacy of SEs. In addition, it reveals a further macromarketing dimension to Boundary Object plasticity whereby they may evolve through syntactic, semantic and pragmatic forms over time.

“Acoustic wallpaper” under control – the case of musique d’ameublement and Muzak


 
 
 Attention is one of the most important cognitive processes. Its functioning and key characteristics play a vital role in the perception of music, especially in everyday situations when music becomes an acoustical background. Thanks to selectiveness, shift and division of attention, the listener can balance between an active and a passive act of listening, however, the results of auditory perception may be difficult to determine.
 Can the sender, in the process of musical communication, manage the listener’s attention in such a way as to achieve the effect of “acoustic wallpaper” understood as a perception-based effect of background music, where music, in line with the sender’s intentions, is located in the peripheral zone of the listener’s attention, within extensive attention? What function, from the perspective of the sender, is performed by “acoustic wallpaper”? Is it a target result or a mechanism leading to cer- tain reactions in an indirect way? What factors play a decisive role for the efficiency of an adopted strategy?
 The main aim of this article is to answer the above questions by the analysis of two exemplary concepts of background music (musique d’ameublement by Erik Satie and Muzak) through the prism of the author’s theoretical model of “acoustic wallpaper” (Makomaska, 2021). This novel ap- proach derives from the psychologically-based reciprocal feedback model of musical response (hargreaves, et al., 2005) and socio-musicological studies on pragmatic forms of musical communication (brown, 2006). It assumes that the effectiveness of “acoustic wallpaper” being under control of the sender (the composer or a professional company) is conditioned by correlations between structural characteristics of music, the listener, and historical-social context. The analysis shows that the intended functions of background music (seen from the perspective of the sender) can differ from the real ones and in the case of particular concepts can be moderated by various groups of factors. The results provoke further discussion on the application potential of the proposed model in psychologically, historically and/or marketing-oriented studies on such concepts as e.g. ambient music and contemporary audiomarketing strategies implemented in commercial environments, where music located on the periphery of the listener’s attention can become an effective tool of mani- pulation.
 
 

Pragmatic markers and events on social media in new habit era of COVID-19 outbreak

The phenomenon of language use in social media is interesting and important because it can describe positive or negative language use. The purpose of the study was to analyze the pragmatic markers and forms of language use on social media in the era of new habits during the COVID 19 outbreak. The research method used a qualitative approach. The results of the study are: (1) religious markers, (2) pronoun markers, (3) interjection markers, and (4) appreciation markers. The form of pragmatics consists of, (1) the form of syntax, (2) the form of discourse, and (3) the form of strategy. Conclusion (1). Positive utterances from speakers are responded to by positive and negative utterances from speech partners, while (2). Negative speech from the speaker is responded to by negative speech from the speech partner. (3). The pragmatic markers and forms of speech by speakers are 50% positive and 50% negative, while the pragmatic markers and forms of speech partners are 30% positive and 70% negative. (4). Positive pragmatic markers and forms are important to be used by speakers and speech partners so that they will have an impact on positive and healthy social media.

The myth of medical multiculturalism: how social closure marginalises traditional Chinese medicine in New Zealand

ABSTRACT This article uses neo-Weberian social closure theory and Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic violence to examine the epistemic tension between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), a country that aspires to a multicultural model of healthcare. Drawing on interviews with TCM practitioners and analysis of TCM practitioners’ attempt to become a regulated profession, we argue that a multicultural health model remains a myth as biomedical stakeholders deploy material and symbolic forms of social closure that limit the scope of TCM practice. Discourses of the need for scientific evidence, public safety, qualification standards and English language fluency undermine the culturally distinctive but pragmatic forms of medicine that TCM practitioners utilise. This has implications for TCM as practitioners are denied public funding, their scope of practice is limited, and the expectations for TCM to conform to a biomedical model of healthcare have created tensions within the TCM community.

When Doctors strike: Making Sense of Professional Organizing in Kenya

Little is known about how the health professions organize in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This is particularly troubling as health worker strikes in LMICs appear to be growing more frequent and severe. While some research has been conducted on the impact of strikes, little has explored their social etiology. This article draws on theory from organization and management studies to situate strike behavior in a historical process of sensemaking in Kenya. In this way, doctors seek to expand pragmatic, moral, and cognitive forms of legitimacy in response to sociopolitical change. During the first period (1963-2000), the legacy of colonial biomedicine shaped medical professionalism and tensions with a changing state following independence. The next period (2000-2010) was marked by the rise of corporate medicine as an organized form of resistance to state control. The most recent period (2010-2015) saw a new constitution and devolution of health services cause a fractured medical community to strike as a form of symbolic resistance in its quest for legitimacy. In this way, strike behavior is positioned as a form of legitimation among doctors competing over the identity of medicine in Kenya and is complicating the path to universal health coverage.

IMPERATIVE PRAGMATIC LANGUAGE STUDY IN DAKWAH CONTENT VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

This paper aims to describe the forms of imperative pragmatic language used by preachers in propaganda content videos. Especially YouTube, this social media is loved by all circles. YouTube social media offers a variety of content, one of which is updated, the video which contains propaganda content. This research method uses descriptive qualitative, data collection is done by listening and recording methods. Data obtained through the method of refer and note then analyzed by classifying and grouping. In the grouping steps are used, namely 1) Data Collection, 2) Data Reduction, 3) Data Display, 4) Data Verification. The results of this study found that there are several forms of imperative pragmatic language contained in the video content of propaganda on YouTube. The imperative pragmatic forms found in the video content of preaching on YouTube, namely, a) pragmatic imperative invitation b) pragmatic imperative petition; c) pragmatic imperative demand; d) imperative pragmatic appeal, e) imperative pragmatic expectation, f) imperative pragmatic recommendation, and g) imperative pragmatic prohibition.

A Crisis in Leadership: Transforming Opportunistic Leaders into Leaders that can be Trusted

Business leaders often rely on the power of their authority to influence their employees. Recent workplace surveys however have found a growing distrust in a business leader’s authority. While such distrust has been increasingly associated with abuses in a leader’s authority, leadership research has primarily focused on the positive outcomes of leadership. The task of this study is to develop a conceptual model of leadership to address this shortcoming. In drawing Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), a concept of opportunistic authority was developed to explain employees’ distrust in their leader’s authority. This opportunistic authority is defined by a legal and moral opportunism in which a leader in a position of authority seeks to beguile, cloak and / or deceive employees of their legal and moral responsibilities. Legitimacy is identified as a solution to overcoming this opportunistic authority. Specifically, a leader’s efforts to develop pragmatic and moral forms of legitimacy develop normative expectations in upholding a leader’s legal and moral responsibilities. These normative expectations reduce a leader’s legal and moral opportunism and develop employees’ trust in the leader’s authority. A contribution of this study is that it not only offers a “darker side” explanation of leadership, but it also introduces a legitimizing process that can transform “ass**le” leaders into leaders that can be trusted.

Imperative Order on The Micro Teaching Class

This study aims to describe imperative speech in the micro teaching subject. The type of research used is descriptive with a qualitative research form. The study population was 8 semester students of the sixth semester. The data collection technique uses note taking and documentary techniques in the form of video recordings. The data collection tool is in the form of the researcher himself as a key instrument assisted by writing instruments. The data analysis technique used is the interactive analysis technique with the stages of collecting data, reducing data, presenting data, and making conclusions. The research result obtained is that the use of imperative speech in the micro teaching subject has sixteen imperative pragmatic forms.

Language Ideology and Its Manifestations: Exploring Implications for Japanese Language Teaching

Language teaching is often seen as an ideologically neutral activity. Linguists have traditionally believed that what people say about language use or structure does not represent ‘real’ linguistic data (Schieffelin, et al, 1998:11). However, it is precisely this dismissal that modern linguistic anthropologists hope to dispel. This paper attempts to lay bare the workings of language ideology and how it impacts language teaching in general and Japanese language pedagogy in particular.The ideological orientation of what constitutes ‘standard’ Japanese language involves inclusion of certain components that are motivated by Nihonjinron discourses of ‘identity, aesthetics, morality and epistemology’ and processes of exclusion that ‘erase’ deviations from the ‘norm’ (Schieffelin, et al, 1998:3). Ideas about ‘native speaker’ understanding, selection of language materials, inclusion and exclusion of syntactical, lexical, and pragmatic forms in teaching manuals, etc., are all affected by these perspectives, some of which this paper will hope to enumerate. With concrete examples it will be demonstrated how flawed these processes are and how a critical pedagogical approach may help solve these issues.

Covid-19, China and the future of global development

Tensions between the United States and China have been escalating in recent years, and the Covid-19 pandemic has intensified their competition. If sustained, China's more effective public health response and economic restart will burnish its leadership credentials in the field of global development. This article lays out the origins and distinctive features of China's development policies and vision, and argues that in a post-Covid world these may constitute an appealing alternative to the US-led development paradigm for many developing countries. We contrast the universalism and rigidity of contemporary development orthodoxy with China's emphasis on bilateral and pragmatic forms of development cooperation borne out of its domestic experience. While Chinese development assistance and loans enhance its soft power, partner countries are offered significant autonomy and flexibility. We conclude by outlining three factors which may impact the future of Chinese leadership in the field of global development; a reconciliation of global financial governance and China's development lending, the outcome of the upcoming American presidential election and domestic discontent within China over the Belt and Road Initiative.

Rebel governance, rebel legitimacy, and external intervention: assessing three phases of Taliban rule in Afghanistan

ABSTRACT This article focuses on rebel governance and rebel legitimacy during civil war. It investigates how external intervention in support of an incumbent government and withdrawal of external forces shape rebel legitimacy dynamics and rebels’ opportunities to govern. It adopts a longitudinal perspective on Afghanistan’s Taliban, analyzing three phases of the movement’s existence. Moral forms of legitimacy resonated particularly during instances of external intervention, whereas pragmatic forms of legitimacy became more relevant after the withdrawal of external forces and during periods of the Taliban’s opponents’ ineffective governance. The article is based on a literature review and fieldwork in Afghanistan.

The contingent character of interest groups–political parties’ interaction

AbstractThis article examines the conditions under which interest groups interact with political parties. Existing research finds that interest group–political party interactions in most western democracies have become more open and contingent over time. The close ideological and formal organisational ties that once characterised these relations have gradually been replaced by alternative, more pragmatic forms of cooperation. However, most of this research stresses the importance of the structural factors underpinning these links over time and across countries, but sheds little light on the factors driving short-term interest group–party interactions. Here, by drawing on survey data on Spanish interest groups obtained between December 2016 and May 2017, this article seeks to fill this gap by taking into account party status, issue salience and a group’s resources as explanatory variables. It shows that mainstream parties are the primary targets of interest groups, that groups dealing with salient issues are more likely to contact political parties and that the groups with most resources interact with a larger number of parties.