Pragmatics, Context, Attitudes & Style
Pragmatics: The study of how contextual factors influence a speaker’s or writer’s language choices.
Context and attitudes will affect language that is deemed socially acceptable. For example, sexual and lavatorial language have become less taboo in the last 50 years.
Racist language is unacceptable today unlike in earlier generations.
Informal and colloquial styles of language became more tolerated in the later part of the 20th century. Styles of language that would have once been formal, have become more informal.
When looking at the pragmatics of a text, consider:
Context and attitudes will affect language that is deemed socially acceptable. For example, sexual and lavatorial language have become less taboo in the last 50 years.
Racist language is unacceptable today unlike in earlier generations.
Informal and colloquial styles of language became more tolerated in the later part of the 20th century. Styles of language that would have once been formal, have become more informal.
When looking at the pragmatics of a text, consider:
- Standardisation- How is the process reflected throughout the text?
- Prescriptivism- Is there evidence of a prescriptivist nature. How does this relate to the attitudes at the time?
- Informalisation (register)- To what extend does the formality differ from today’s standards?
- Societal roles- How does the text reflect the role of certain genders or classes.?
- Education- What are the educational expectations of the writer for his audience?
- Technology- Technological development have any relevance to the usage in the text?
- Religion/ politics- Does the writer assume that the reader shares religious or political values with him/her? Britain used to be an extremely Christian country.