German Linguistics: Linguistic Pragmatics

LGERM2815  2016-2017  Louvain-la-Neuve

German Linguistics: Linguistic Pragmatics
5.0 credits
15.0 h
1q

Teacher(s)
Sabel Joachim ;
Language
Allemand
Prerequisites

Good knowledge of German (bachelor).

Main themes

Study of the use and meaning of utterances in communication and conversation. The role of pragmatic knowledge and (word and sentence) semantic knowledge in understanding language.

Aims

At the end of the course, the students should: have developed a knowledge of German linguistics, especially a knowledge of the specific problems of linguistic pragmatics, have developed a knowledge in theoretical and applied linguistics, have acquired the competence in linguistic argumentation, be able to present competently one of the topics of this course.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Evaluation methods

Presentation of one of the topics of the course and a written exam.

Teaching methods

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Content

We will study speech act theory, especially the theories of J. L. Austin and J. R. Searle.

The topics are: the classification of speech acts, the difference between perfomative and constative utterances, indirect speech acts. Then we will discuss the theory of conversational implicatures (P. Grice), i.e. the cooperation principle and the conversational maxims and Grices' further developed model of conversation in Sperber and Wilson's book "Relevance." Finally, we will look at the role of word and sentence semantics, in contrast to pragmatics, for a theory of meaning in language. All topics will pay special attention to spoken German. The course is a lecture that requires the student's active participation in discussions, in dealing with exercises, and in reading scientific texts. Furthermore, every student has to give a short presentation on one of the discussed topics at the end of the course.

Bibliography

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Other information

Support. 1. Syllabus, 2. scientific articles/chapters in books, 3. a written guideline for " how to present a linguistic work ", 4. to aid the students with the workout of their presentations (content, structuring, ') during office hours.

Faculty or entity<


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Program title
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [120] in Modern Languages and Letters : German, Dutch and English
5
-

Master [60] in Modern Languages and Letters : General
5
-

Master [120] in Linguistics
5
-

Master [60] in Modern Languages and Letters : German, Dutch and English
5
-

Master [120] in Modern Languages and Letters : General
5
-