Pragmatic Notion Research Articles

Women’s voices in the public sphere

Abstract As alternative media, suffrage periodicals played an important role in women’s fight for universal suffrage, which marked a milestone on the road to democracy. Opening up a space for women in public discourse, these papers shaped and were shaped by processes of democratisation. This study explores how they balanced informative, propagandistic and commercial functions, and how women positioned themselves and others as social actors in the context of the movement, challenging gender ideologies. In line with Rühlemann and Aijmer’s (2015) notion of corpus pragmatics, the study combines the assets of corpus-linguistic methods, e.g., by drawing on keywords as pointers to relevant areas of interest, with a pronounced qualitative perspective, complementing the search results by features demanding manual analysis and discussing the findings in their socio-historical context.

Audience design and pragmatic conceptions of moves and upvotes during advice-giving on Reddit

Turning to the internet to seek and give advice has become increasingly widespread. One of the most popular online sites where advice interactions routinely occur is Reddit. As a public-oriented site, it is important to understand advice interactions on Reddit not only from a descriptive perspective, but also how other audiences might perceive or interact with the advice, which may be evidenced by the platform's mediated features (e.g. Reddit's upvote system). Thus, this project investigates Reddit advice-giving and its relationship with Reddit's upvote system, and how the suitability of the advice might be perceived, and evidenced, on the platform.I adopt move analysis (c.f. Swales, 1981, 1990) to explore the types of moves used in Reddit advice-giving. I also extend the theoretical conception of the move onto Spencer-Oatey and Kádár's (2021) pragmatic notion of the interactional goal, in addition to exploring the association between moves and upvotes using Poisson regression modeling.My results provide a granular and empirical understanding of both the association between upvotes and moves, along with how different advice-giving moves affect our perceptions of advice. I also advance our understanding of Reddit as a site for computer-mediated communication and our understanding of advice as an interactional process.

Dogs responding to human utterances in embodied ways

This article introduces the notion of interspecies pragmatics and suggests that embodied CA studies can inform such pragmatics. The aim of the study was to investigate how dogs provide embodied responses to human utterances when a human is about to throw a ball for them to catch. Studying dogs' recipiency in interaction requires that multimodal approaches be taken into consideration. The data were collected with GoPro cameras attached to two dogs: each dog brought a first-person camera perspective to the analysis and, when they looked at each other, they also provided a third-person camera angle. The findings based on this multi-camera CA approach demonstrate that when dogs produce embodied responses to human utterances, they can distinguish Goffman's addressed recipient from the unaddressed recipient. Compared to human response production planning time (600–1200 ms), dog response planning time proved much faster (a maximum of 200 ms in this context). Another interesting methodological finding was that the distance between the speaker and recipient influenced the transcription of reaction times in turns-of-talk, as sound travels at only 0.3 m/ms. By contrast, embodied actions observed from video material contained no such transcription-related limitations due to the far higher speed at which light travels.

A Pragmatist Reboot of William Whewell’s Theory of Scientific Progress

Abstract William Whewell’s philosophy of science is often overlooked as a relic of 19th century Whiggism. I argue however that his view – suitably modified – can contribute to contemporary philosophy of science, particularly to debates around scientific progress. The reason Whewell’s view needs modification is that he makes the following problematic claim: as science progresses, it reveals necessarily truths and thereby grants a glimpse of the mind of God. Modifying Whewell’s view will involve reinventing his notion of necessary truth as the pragmatist notion of superassertibility. And, if scientific progress does not uncover necessary truths, then it does not reveal the mind of God. The result is an outline of an account of scientific progress that is piecemeal and fallibilist in nature, yet at the same time maintains key Whewellian themes of consilience and the unity of science.

Common ground management via evidential markers in Turkish

Abstract This paper is a reanalysis of the Turkish evidential markers as Common Ground management tools. Based on conversational data from Turkish National Corpus and a real-life example from the media, I demonstrate how the traditional description of these markers fails to account for their dialogic uses. The data presented in this paper show that Turkish speakers alternate between these markers in order to mark their epistemic relation to the utterance content relative to their addressee. The relevant pragmatic notions marked with the Turkish evidential system are asymmetric and symmetric epistemic relation of the speaker and addressee, resulting in the speaker’s evaluation of epistemic primacy and shared information, respectively. Turkish also has another symmetric position where the speaker abstains from primacy claim without specifying the addressee’s epistemic relation. These observations lead to the conclusion that Turkish evidentiality is in fact an intersubjective epistemic category in the pragmatic component of language where intersubjectivity is defined as the speaker’s evaluation of the interlocutors’ differential perspectives.

A Critical Pragmatic Analytical Framework of Sectarian Discourse

This paper is concerned with developing a model of analysis of sectarianism in terms of critical pragmatics. It aims to introduce a critical pragmatic approach to the sectarian discourse. Based on critical discourse analysis of relevant approaches, pragmatic notions and domains, critical pragmatic analyses and linguistic realizations of sectarianism as a social practice within the speech event of preaching, the model is structured and introduced. Certain observations and comments on the models are raised as a matter of setting an adequate model for the analysis of sectarian discourse under critical pragmatics. Using the model, the paper has come up with certain conclusions such as that pragmatics plays a key role in manifesting and uncovering sectarian discourse as a hidden ideology, and that sectarianism is revealed by preachers only through critical pragmatic strategies, for which the present approach can be f use to de-sectarianize such discourse.

Enduring inequalities: Fifty years of gender equality talk in the media and cultural industries

This article provides a critical overview of gender equality talk within the media, arts and cultural industries, focusing on a case study of Australian cultural policy discourse from the 1970s to 2020s. It aims to expand on existing understandings of postfeminism and popular feminism by exploring how these sensibilities have been taken up and expressed within arts and cultural policy discourse. How has the problem of the cultural gender gap previously been understood? And how has that changed in light of increased public attention to feminist concerns? While there are important differences across the decades there are also recurring notions of pragmatism, self-empowerment, resilience, vigilance and trickle-down logics – which cultivate a sense of movement without progress. By looking at policy discourses and gender equality talk through a longer lens, considering situations of feminist visibility and invisibility, acceptance and repudiation, and inequalities that are speakable and unspeakable, we see how inequalities in the creative and cultural industries come to be both enduring and endurable.

Gender Subversion in Kurdish language

The research sheds light on “Gender Subversion in Kurdish language”, which highlights the dominance of male over language. For this purpose, the research is divided into two chapters; the first covers the theory of genderizing and imposition of male over language: this chapter consists of three sections. In the first section talks about the reasons that lead to linguistic distinction. Then, the second section sex is brought to light as a social/cultural composition, which shows gender is a social and cultural phenomenon and not a biological and genetical one. In the last section of this chapter, linguistic subversion of gender is explained for how the male gender imposes his dominance over speaking and writing in language. As for the second chapter, which is the practical part of this research, illuminates examples of the four linguistic levels; they elucidate the power of male in Kurdish language. For this reason, this chapter comes in four sections. In the first part we pinpoint the dominance of male over language on lexical and dictional level with examples. The second section is dedicated to the dominance of men over language phrases and the cases they appear in with examples. The power of men over sentences and utterances are illustrated in some dominance or subversion circumstances. In the fourth and last section, male dominance over the pragmatic notions is portrayed in the fields they appear in. In the end, we reveal the results we have achieved through the research and then highlighted the references used in the research.

What I Think about When I Think about Teaching Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration in Pedagogy

What I Think about When I Think about Teaching Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration in Pedagogy

A comparative semantic analysis of personal names in Igbo and Tiv

The study entitled ’A comparative semantic analysis of personal names in Igbo and Tiv’ is relevant because the available literature at the disposal of the researchers do not treat the semantics of Igbo and Tiv personal names from the comparative perspective. Hence, the present study is designed to examine the personal names in Igbo and Tiv with the aim of discovering the similarities and differences between Igbo and Tiv personal naming systems. The study is predicated on LoCatsro (2012) notion of Anthropological Pragmatics. LoCatsro notion holds that the interpretation of semantic elements and properties are based on cultural peculiarities that can only be understood using the link between culture and contextual meaning of words. The conceptual framework supports the present study because it accounts for the existing personal names in Igbo and Tiv. The personal names in Igbo and Tiv, which are means of group and individual identities, usually reflect the experiences, wishes, religious beliefs, expectations, opinions, advice and caution among the peoples. The findings of the study show that the naming systems for the Igbo and Tiv personal names share some similarities based on the belief in God Almighty, philosophy about life, importance of children, circumstances surrounding the birth of a baby or the parents at the time of the childbirth. On the contrary, the naming systems of Igbo and Tiv differ due to certain beliefs that are peculiar to the Igbo and the Tiv peoples respectively.

“Making Education Possible Again”: Pragmatist Experiments for a Troubled and Down‐to‐Earth Pedagogy

AbstractIn this article, Bianca Thoilliez draws on pragmatist notions of fallibilism and pluralism to develop proposals for possible educational interventions to address the problem of “post‐truth” conditions. Post‐truth, she contends, is not only a political danger for liberal democracies, but it also poses a serious threat of extinction for our educational practices. With the help of some of Bruno Latour's and Danna Haraway's categories, and with the narrative intervention of Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals, Thoilliez attempts to adapt both Charles Peirce's and William James's classic pragmatist ideas in order to experiment with new horizons of thought capable of overcoming the exhausted pedagogical divides of docility/indocility, conserve/discard, and optimism/pessimism that often seem woven into the definition of educational relationships, the establishment of curriculum content, and the orientation of pedagogical actions. As an alternative, she recommends building communitarian alliances of fallibilistic inquiry and promoting practices of pluralistic cultural provision as more useful educational ends‐in‐view that embody a down‐to‐earth pedagogy capable of reinstating trust, taking care of truths, looking for ways of keeping our lives together, and making education possible again. Thus, here Thoilliez proposes a pedagogy that neither fixes nor evades our troubles, but one that stays with them.

On Problematic Situations and Problematizations: Study Practices and the Pragmatics of a World to‐Be‐Made

AbstractIn this article, Hans Schildermans suggests practices of study as a way for universities to respond to socio‐ecological questions, issues, and problems related to the Anthropocene. He elaborates the concept of study practices by drawing on traditional pragmatic notions, such as problematic situation and problematization, as these are articulated in John Dewey's theory of inquiry. Prompted by concerns about the closed problem–solution nexus, as well as questions concerning the (egological) worldview underlying this theory, Schildermans aims to reread these ideas through the lens of contemporary authors such as Isabelle Stengers. In doing so, he articulates the educational dynamics of practices of study that address problematic situations, with specific attention to matters of educational futurity. In other words, centrally important to this analysis is the question of how these practices of study participate in a world in‐the‐making by activating possible futures — or, to formulate it somewhat differently, how practices of study give shape to a pragmatics of a world to‐be‐made

Am I trolling?: A CA-informed approach to Gangjing in a Chinese online forum

Because digital affordances of the Internet have provided spaces for linguistic creativity, a large number of popular terms derive from the Internet. Analyses of these forms serve as a lens through which essential aspects of social realities can be analyzed. This study focuses on the use of a trolling label Gangjing popularized in Chinese digital interaction. Collecting data from interactional threads in Baidu Post Bar, the CA-informed study investigates what communicative actions netizens perform in using the term and what responsive behaviors it triggers. Pragmatic notions such as identity construction and relational acts are adopted to interpret its use. Results show that Gangjing is used to show disagreements, delegitimize others as irrational participants, express negative emotional stances, and invite people for entertainment. Different responsive behaviors, including resisting, criticizing, mocking, attacking, and playing, are triggered. Overall, the creative trolling label can function as an interactional resource accomplishing interpersonal functions. By nuanced analyses of the dynamics of a popular reference term rooted in Chinese language and culture, the study adds to the current interactional approach to creative language use in online communication while providing new insight on interpretations of online trolling discourse.

The Writing of university students in a Venezuela in crisis

The goal of this investigation is to present the writing competence of Venezuelan college students considering the particular academic and extra-academic situations it is going through and surrounded by. This is a qualitative and descriptive study, based on a field research that took place in Caracas at the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) during 2018. 37 students enrolled in the first semester of either the Mass Communication, Psychology, or Education majors were the subjects of the mentioned groundwork. This investigation was realized in a period of 15 weeks total, divided in three phases: diagnostic, intervention and verification of changes in writing. In conclusion, there were advances in pragmatic notions or factors that must be considered in moments prior to writing and during the process itself, referring to metacognitive, cognitive and axiological aspects. It is suggested to continue working on all these aspects in order to achieve the consolidation of what has been achieved, preventing or reducing the chances of regression.

Hyperbole: A Pragmatic Perspective

Unlike most previous studies which investigate hyperbole in literary contexts, the present review tries to portray it as an interactional pragmatic phenomenon occurring in everyday conversations. The listener’s awareness that there is a difference between what is said and what is meant is essential for the recognition of hyperbole. Therefore, context is crucial for interpreting hyperbolic utterances. As a pragmatic notion, hyperbole has not been given its due attention. Hence, this review attempts to bridge this gap in the literature through answering the following questions: What are the functions, types, and forms of hyperbole? What is the relationship between hyperbole and other notions such as irony? And how it can be used as persuasive device?

Hope at the Height of Covid-19 Crisis in Hendrick’s Poem: A Pragmatic Study

Though defining literariness is problematic, literary works are definitely known for making special use of language. Their main aim is to convey certain messages. In relation to pragmatics, the implied messages in literary works are shaped and interpreted by the collaborative utilization of pragmatic notions, such as relevance theory and others, by both writers and readers. Concerning poems, literary devices play a central role in the processes of their writing and interpreting. Hendrick , a priest and a poet, has had a message of hope to convey by a piece of literature, his “lockdown” poem. The intended message for him is to give hope on the current issue of COVID-19. COVID-19 is one of the highly effective global disasters of the age. It has made people depressed and hopeless. For its unprecedented fame and influence on people, the poem is chosen for investigation. Also, though it is possible that readers generally may fail in interpreting literary works, it seems that people could reach the intentions of the poet successfully and, thus, react deeply to it. The study, therefore, aims at showing the poetic effect of Hendrick’s poem and how the audience could reach the intended meaning. It investigates how the pragmatic theory of relevance contributes in shaping messages and directing people to grasp them. The study also tries to raise the awareness of people on the different literary devices that convey implied meaning and contribute in guiding readers to grasp the optimal relevant interpretation of literary works.

A Pragmatic Study of Sarcasm in Selected TV Shows

Sarcasm as a linguistic strategy is a universal property of all languages which means it can be found in any language. However, this research proposes a pragmatic study of sarcasm in the English Language, American TV shows. Sarcasm could also be pragmatically defined by linking it to Grice's Maxims which means that the utterance is violating one of Grice's maxims to communicate something indirectly. This approach suggests that sarcasm is a vital notion in spoken and written language. It shows that the utterance is used to achieve another purpose that is not literal. The research paper contains five sections. Section one deals with the definition of sarcasm pragmatically. Section two shows sarcasm as a pragmatic notion or phenomenon. Section three discusses Grice's Maxims and how they are considered a model that speakers should follow for successful communication. Section four talks about the types of violations of the maxims. Section five tackles how the utterances from a TV show under investigation are violating the maxims to carry out the indirect meaning. The research closes off with the conclusion reached which is followed by the bibliography.

Truth and Discursive Activism: The Promise and Perils of Hashtag Feminism

Abstract I explore both the potential and the perils of Twitter as a space for constituting a Deweyan public aimed at transforming how “we” (here, I mean not only citizens of the United States but global citizens) affectively receive and thereby respond to and resist sexual violation. In the course of this brief exploration, I operate with a pragmatic notion of “truth,” namely, as democratically formulating a hypothesis concerning the nature of a social problem that enables fruitful amelioration of the problem. I specifically focus on the viral #WhyIDidntReport Twitter campaign provoked by Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court hearing.

Adversarial argumentation and common ground in Aristotle’s Sophistical Refutations

In this paper I provide support for the view that at least some forms of adversariality in argumentation are legitimate. The support comes from Aristotle’s theory of illegitimate adversarial argumentation in dialectical contexts: his theory of eristic in his work On Sophistical Refutations. Here Aristotle develops non-epistemic standards for evaluating the legitimacy of dialectical procedures, standards which I propose can be understood in terms of the pragmatic notion of context as common ground. Put briefly, Aristotle makes the answerer’s meaning in giving assent in dialectical contexts the basis for further moves in the game of dialectic. Moves which subvert the answerer’s meaning or do not solicit the answerer’s consent are marked as eristic, i.e. adversarial in a problematic sense. I conclude with remarks on what Aristotle’s theory may teach us about how semantic features relate to the normative evaluation of argumentation.

CONTINUING PHANTOM INFLUX OF ENGLISH LEXIS VIA LOCALIZATION: AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH COMPUTER TERMINOLOGY LOCALIZED IN SERBIAN

The paper analyzes the English computer terminology localized into Serbian between 2010 to 2020 both from the purely lexical stand-point (type and status of borrowings, as per Prćić (2005)), and from the viewpoint of pragmatic borrowings (Andersen 2014), but in a narrower set of pragmatic borrowings limited to written modes of communication: direct and indirect borrowing of interjections, discourse markers, expletives, vocatives, and paralinguistic phenomena. The chosen period saw a rapid expansion of instant communication applications with rich sets of emoticons, proliferation of cloud services and replace- ment of traditional software with software as a service. The research aims to shed light on how much the new lexis from computer-mediated forms of communication, as well as pragmatic notions stemming from the emerging trend of IT companies crafting their content to adhere to strict stylistic and audience accommodation guidelines, have been taken over into Serbian. Preliminary findings indicate that there is a huge number of both lexical and pragmatic borrowings, including interjections and paralinguistic phenomena such as names of emoticons and short codes used to insert emoticons. This influx of new, raw and, due to style guides, conditionally justified English borrowings provides a new form of evidence of English having become a nativized foreign language (Prćić 2014) of online communication, which, as a knock-on effect, leads translators and localization teams to consider raw and normally unjustified borrowings as acceptable and appropriate for the target audience that consists of more and more digital natives. The research applies a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods by means of annotating the 2020 version of Microsoft English-Serbian Bilingual Terminology Database.