THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG

University of Foreign Language Studies

FACULTY OF ENGLISH
DIVISION OF LANGUAGE THEORY

COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Name: INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH PRAGMATICS

Training Program: BACHELOR OF ARTS IN THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
Compiler: Ngu Thien Hung
Date of Issue: 05.2017

1. Course Information

- Course Name : Introduction to English Pragmatics

- Course Code : 4112862
- Course Credit : 2
- Course Type : Elective
- Course Prerequisites : Advanced English Grammar
- Time Allocation : 30 periods
• Theory : 18 periods
• Practice : 12 periods

2. Lecturer Information

- Lecturer Name : Ngu Thien Hung

- Lecturer Title : PhD.
- Working Time : Monday - Friday
- Working Place : Faculty of English
- Mobile Phone : 0983 484 439
- Email : [email protected]
- Co-lecturers : Assoc. Prof Dr. Phan Van Hoa;
Assoc. Prof Dr. Ho Thi Kieu Oanh
Tran Quang Hai, Ph.D

3. Course Objectives

This course aims to

• introduce the basic concepts and analytical techniques in the study of language from
a communicative and pragmatic perspective;
 • help students develop an understanding of different levels of meaning in constative
and performative utterances such as presuposition, entailments, implicatures and
the processes by which these are generated;

• train the students to become sensitive to, and skilful at examining how context and
pragmatic principles affect interpretation and how language is employed to
communicate various types of meaning;

• prepare the students for further studies in applied language studies.

4. Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

N Bloom PLO
Code Upon completing the course, students will be able to
o Taxonomy s
…

IDENTIFY the kinds of speech acts in terms of 1,8

Understandin
1 CLO 1 illocution, explicitness, implied, expressed quality,
g
(non)literal locutions

PRODUCE utterances in certain communicative 1,8

contexts using pragmatic knowledge of the
CLO
2 Applying illocution, locution, constative and performative
2
utterances, presuposition, implicatures, cooperative
maxims and politeness

ANALYZE the pragmatic meanings of different kinds 2,5,8

CLO
3 Analyzing of speech acts in terms of presupposition,
3
implicature and politeness

CONDUCT assignments and research papers on the 2,7,8

CLO
4 Applying contrastive analysis of pragmatic aspects of English
4
and Vietnamese

EVALUATE the appropriateness of different 2,7,8

CLO versions of locutions in terms of fecility conditions
5 Evaluating
5 and maxims of cooperative interaction and
politeness

DEVELOP creative thinking, critical thinking and 8,9

CLO
6 Applying groupwork skills in conducting assignments on
6
issues of English pragmatics

Matrix between Course Learning Outcomes and Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes
CLOs
PLO1 PLO2 PLO3 PLO4 PLO5 PLO6 PLO7 PLO8 PLO9
CLO1 L - - - - - - - -
CLO2 M - - - - - - - -
CLO3 - M - - L - - - -
 CLO4 - M - - - - M M -
CLO5 - M - - - - M M -
CLO6 - - - - - - - M L
Course M M - - L - M M L
H: High M: Medium L: Low

5. Course Description

The course provides third- year students of BA in The English Language with
knowledge and skills to understand how speakers use words and sentences to convey
meaning in context and the principles that lie behind the interpretation of utterances in
specific situations. This course offers a broad overview of the concepts and tools which are
required for analyzing how linguistic communication works such as illocution, locution,
perlocution, performative utterances, felicity conditions, direct vs. indirect speech acts,
cooperative communication, implicature and politeness. Students’ skills of analysis, critical
thinking, discussion and teamwork are also promoted through class activities, such as
lecturing, brainstorming, discussion, questions and answers, Group discussion assignment
on pragmatic analysis, which helps to develop students’ analytical skills introduced in other
courses of language theory.

6. Course Assessment

Assessme
Assessme Weigh
Assessment Component CLOs nt
nt code t
Metrics
Attendance and
In-class participation
(Asking and 1,2,3,4, AL1
Rubric 20%
On-going answering questions, 5,6 AL5
Assessment individual and group
class exercises)
Group assignment & AL3, AL4,
3,4,5 Rubric 30%
group presentation AL6
Final Written test MCQ; Marking
2,3,4,5 AL5 50%
Assessment 35-40 mins) Scheme

7. Course Schedule
7.1. Lesson outline

Teaching and Learning CLO Assessmen

Week Unit Content
Activities s t Code
1 1 What is 1,6 AL1, AL5
INTRODUCT pragmatics? Introductory session:
ION: WHAT Pragmatics vs. Teacher introduces Course
IS Syntax syllabus to students.
PRAGMATIC Pragmatics vs. Brainstorming:
S? Semantics Teacher poses a question or a
problem, or by introducing a
topic.
Students in groups express
possible answers, relevant words
and ideas, which encourage
students to focus on a topic and
contribute to the free flow of
ideas.
The use of the verb mean
Group discussion:
Students in groups discuss
definitions of terms.
Group representative report
their discussion results to class.
• sentence meaning vs. speaker
meaning
• informativeness vs.
meaningfulness
Lecture: Teacher walks
students through terms and
examples using slides.
Teacher asks students to solve
mini-exercises for each part of
the lesson and check their
understanding.
• A 2-level analysis of utterance
meaning
• literal meaning vs.
communicative meaning
• Syntax vs. Pragmatics
• Semantics vs. Pragmatics
Think-pair share:
Teacher poses a topic or
question or exercises.
Students think privately about
the question for a given amount
 of time (1-3 minutes)
Each student then pairs with a
partner to discuss the question,
allowing students to clarify
their thoughts. Next, each pair
has an opportunity to share
their answers with the whole
class.
Self-study: Students are asked
to read textbook about
Introducing Language in Use
(Bloomer, 2005, pp.78-84)
2 Group discussion: 1,6 AL1, AL5
2 Act of Assertion Students in groups discuss
ASSERTION Descriptive definitions of terms based on
& Fallacy their reading at home.
DESCRIPTIV
Group representative report
E FALLACIES
their discussion results to class.
Lecture:
Teacher walks students through
terms and examples using
slides.
• Act of assertion
Descriptive Fallacy
• Overemphasis on semantic
relationships between language
and state-of-affairs (world)
Teacher-student interaction:
Teacher asks students to give
their own examples and/or
solve mini-exercises for each
part of the lesson to check
understanding.
• Main purposes of making an
assertion in examples of
utterances
• Possible contexts for an
utterance
Self-study:
Speech act (Bloomer, 2005,
pp.84-85)
3 Structure of Group discussion: 1,2,6 AL1, AL5
a speech act Students in groups discuss
definitions of terms based on
Performative their reading at home.
utterance vs.
Group representative to report
Constative
their discussion results to class.
utterance
Lecture:
Teacher walks students through
3 terms and examples using
SPEECH slides.
ACTS
Notions
• Locutionary act vs.
Illocutionary act
• Illocutionary force vs.
Proposition
Teacher-student interaction:
Teacher asks students to give
their own examples and/or
solve mini-exercises for each
part of the lesson to check
understanding.
• Pointing out referring act &
predicating act
• Brainstorming different
illocutionary forces for a
proposition (particular context)
Think-pair share:
Students complete textbook
exercises and give answers
Ex 4,6,7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 27, 28
p:.29-33
Self-study:
Felicity condition (Bloomer,
2005, pp.83-87)
4 4 Preparatory Group discussion: 1,5,6 AL1, AL5
FELICITY condition Felicity condition
CONDITION Sincerity
Lecture:
S condition
• Infelicities
Essential
• Misfires – abuses
condition
Propositional • Misinvocation - misexecution
 condition Teacher-student interaction:
Teacher asks students to give
their own examples and/or
solve mini-exercises for each
part of the lesson to check
understanding.
Think-pair share:
Students complete textbook
exercises and give answers.
Ex 5,19,20,21,22,23,24 pp: 29 -33
- Teacher introduces
project (group assignment and
presentation), provides website
for reading references for given
research topics.
Self-study:
Explicit vs. Implicit
performatives (Bloomer, 2005,
pp.87-94)
5 Direction of fit Group discussion: AL1, AL5
Explicit vs Non- Explicit vs Non- 1,2,5,6
Explicit Explicit
illocutionary illocutionary Acts
5 Acts
Lecture:
TYPES OF
Teacher explains and illustrates
ILLOCUTION
terms using slides.
ARY ACTS
Teacher asks students to revise
their understanding of terms
after listening to lecture to
check understanding.
• Introduction & explanation of
6 groups of illocutions
• Word-to-world direction of fit
• State-of-affairs fit Proposition
content
Teacher-student interaction:
• Proposition content fit State-
of-affairs
• The world-to-word direction of
fit
Think-Pair-Share:
 Ex
10,25,26,27,28,39,40,41,42,43,44,
45,46,47,48,49,50 pp: 29 -36
Self-study:
A closer look at constatives
(Bloomer, 2005, pp.89-90)
Group Assignment: Im sorry vs. I
apologize (to be submitted to the
Moodle)
6 5 Direct vs Indirect Group discussion: 1,2,4, AL1, AL5
TYPES OF Illocutionary 5,6
Students in groups present &
ILLOCUTION Acts
discuss the difference between
-ARY ACTS I’m sorry vs. I apologize
Group representative report
their discussion results to class.
Lecture:
Teacher walks students through
terms and examples using
slides.
• Syntactic form & Illocution
• Mood & Speech function
Teacher-student interaction:
Pointing out indication of literal
reading of grammatical form &
vocabulary of sentences
• Pointing out further illocution
of the same sentence
• Helpful/unhelpful reply
Think-Pair-Share:
Ex
7,10,29,30,31,32,33,39,41,42,43,44
45,46,47
Self-study:
Speech act (Bloomer, 2005,
pp.84-85)
Assignment: Indirect vs. Direct
Illocutionary act (Groupwork)
Group discussion: AL1, AL5
7 5 Expressed vs 1,2,4,
Students in groups discuss main
TYPES OF Implied 5,6
features of the phrases (they
ILLOCUTION Locutionary Acts
 -ARY ACTS Literal vs read at home).
Nonliteral Group representative report
Locutionary their discussion results to class.
Acts Expressed vs Implied
Locutionary Acts
Lecture:
Teacher walks students through
terms and examples using
slides.
• Propositional content of a
directive speech act
Precondition
Teacher-student interaction:
Teacher asks students to give
their own examples and/or
solve mini-exercises for each
part of the lesson to check
understanding.
Think-Pair-Share:
Students complete textbook
exercises and give answers.
Ex Expressed vs. Implied
ocutions
8,10,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43
,44,45,46,47,48,49,50 pp: 29 -36
Think-Pair-Share:
Literal vs. Non-literal locutions
Ex
9,10,34,35,36,37,3839,41,42,43,44
45,46,47,48,49,50 pp: 29 - 36
Self-study:
Students are asked to review
lessons in units 1-5 and
exercises, and practice
knowledge with exercises in
recommended references by
teacher to prepare for the mid-
course test.
Feedback on mid-course test: 2,3 AL1, AL5
8 6 Maxim of quality Teacher returns test papers to
COORPERAT students and give keys with
IVE
 PRINCIPLE Maxim of explanations.
IN quantity Lecture:
CONVERSA- Maxim of Teacher walks students through
TION relevance/relatio terms and examples using
n slides.
Maxim of Cooperative principles
manner
Grice’s maxims
Conversational
Implicature
Implicature:
Grice Teacher-student interaction:
Conversational Teacher asks students to give
maxims their own examples and/or
solve mini-exercises for each
part of the lesson to check
understanding.
• Identification of cases of
flouting maxims of cooperation
• Analyzing the speaker’s
implicature in conversations
Think-Pair-Share:
Students complete textbook
exercises and give answers.
Ex 1,2,3 (p.29),
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,910,11 pp: 29 -32
Self-study:
How language works (Bloomer,
2005, pp.95-101)
9 6 Maxim of quality Teacher-student interaction: 1,3,5 AL1, AL5
COORPERAT Maxim of Identification of cases of flouting
IVE quantity maxims of cooperation
PRINCIPLE Maxim of
Analyzing the speaker’s
IN relevance/relatio implicature in conversations
CONVERSA- n
TION Lecture:
Maxim of
Teacher walks students through
manner
terms and examples using
Conversational slides.
Implicature:
Cases of implicature in view of
Grice
Relevance theory
Conversational
maxims Teacher-student interaction:
 Identifying cases of flouting
maxims of cooperation
• Analyzing the speaker’s
implicature in conversations in
view of Relevance theory
Think-Pair-Share:
Students complete textbook
exercises and give answers.
Self-study:
How language works (Bloomer,
2005, pp.95-101)
10 7 Kinds of Group discussion: 1,3,5 AL1, AL5
PRESUPPOSI Prespposition Students in groups discuss main
-TION, features of the phrases they
ENTAILMEN Implicature vs. read at home.
T AND Entailment
Group representative report
IMPLICATUR
Presupposition their discussion results to class.
E
vs. Implicature Lecture:
& Entailment Teacher walks students through
terms and examples using
slides.
• Stated & unstated proposition
• Truth condition of proposition
• Diagnostic Test of Constancy
under negation
Teacher-student interaction:
Teacher asks students to give
their own examples and/or
solve mini-exercises for each
part of the lesson to check
understanding.
• Indicating presuppositions of a
sentence
• distinguishing entailment and
presupposition
• distinguishing implicature and
presupposition
Think-Pair-Share:
Students complete textbook
exercises and give answers.
Self-study:
 Useful knowledge (Bloomer,
2005, pp.92-95)

11 8 Brainstorming: 1,3,5 AL1, AL5

CONVERSA- Notions of politeness, face, face
TION AND Face want and wants
FACE SAVING politeness
strategies Lecture:
• Notions of power
• negative face
• positive face
• Face-threatening acts
Facework
Think-Pair-Share:
Students read article Face and
Politeness Theories by Mark V.
Redmond and ready to share the
ideas
Teacher-student interaction:
Teacher invites students to
share their understanding of
• face by different views
• Self-rating as Fellowship face,
Competence Face or Autonomy
Face using a rating scale
Self-study:
Power & Politeness (Bloomer,
2005,108-123)
12 8 Teacher-student interaction: 1,3,5 AL1, AL5
CONVERSATI Teacher invites students to
ON AND Lakoff Theory
share their understanding of
FACE SAVING Leech Theory Robin Lakoff’s Politeness
Brown &
Principles by Virna Margetan
Levinson
with class, and gives feedback
Theory
Lecture:
Teacher walks students through
terms and examples using
slides.
• Guiding principles
 • Cost & Benefit
• On-record vs. Off-record
• Redress
Think-Pair-Share:
Students complete some
textbook exercises, and give
answers, then gives feedback.
Teacher-student interaction:
Teacher asks students to give
their own examples and/or
solve mini-exercises for each
part of the lesson to check
understanding.
Self-study:
Students are asked to finish
remaining exercises and read
textbook about Hedging
Patterns Used as Mitigation and
Politeness Strategies Annals of
the University of Craiova
13 9 Teacher-student interaction: 1,3,4,5 AL1, AL5
HEDGING Teacher invites some
AND Kinds of
individuals to share with class
MITIGATORS Hedging their understanding of terms
Kinds of (based on their reading at
Mitigators home).
Hedging Patterns Used as
Mitigation and Politeness
Strategies
Lecture:
Teacher walks students through
terms and examples using
slides.
Teacher asks students to solve
mini-exercises for each part of
the lesson to check
understanding.
• Hedging
• Mitigator
• Distance/stance
• Epistemic modality
 • Evidentiality
Self-study:
Students are asked to review the
lessons and do the sample test
14&15 Revision & Questions for -Revision 1,3,4,5 AL1, AL3,
presentation revision & AL4, AL6
-Group project content
presentation fulfilment and group
presentation and discussion in
class

PROJECT TOPICS
a. Complementing strategies in English vs. Vietnamese
b. Thanking strategies in English vs. Vietnamese
c. Greeting strategies in English vs. Vietnamese
d. Complaining strategies in English vs. Vietnamese
e. Dispraising strategies in English vs. Vietnamese
f. Offering strategies in English vs. Vietnamese

7.2. Practice

7.2.1. Think-Pair-Share
Assigned readings (textbook and/or additional materials)
Questions and answers
Individual in-class exercises
7.2.2. Group discussion
Group discussion
Group in-class exercises

8. Time allocation for 2 credits (1 credit = 15 periods)

No of Periods
Week Unit Content Theor Practic Tota
y e l
1 1 Introduction: What is pragmatics? 1 0 1
2 2 Speech Acts 2 1 3
3 3 Assertion & Descriptive Fallacies 1 1 2
4 4 Types of Illocutionary Acts: Direction of fit 1 1 2
5 4 Types of Illocutionary Acts: Explicit vs Non- 1 1 2
explicit illocutionary Acts; Direct vs Indirect
Illocutionary Acts
6 4 Types of Illocutionary Acts: Expressed vs Implied 1 1 2
Locutionary Acts Literal vs Nonliteral Locutionary
Acts
7 5 Felicity conditions 1 1 2
 8 Mid CourseTest 2 0 2
9 6 Coorperative Principle in conversation 1 1 2
Conversational Implicature: Grice Conversational
maxims
10 6 Coorperative Principle in conversation 1 1 2
Conversational Implicature: Grice Conversational
maxims
11 7 Presupposition, Entailment and Implicature 1 1 2
12 8 Conversation and Face saving 1 1 2
Lakoff, Leech, Brown & Levinson
13 8 Conversation and Face saving 1 1 2
Lakoff, Leech, Brown & Levinson
14 9 Hedging and Mitigators 1 1 2
15 REVISION 2 0 2
TOTAL 18 12 30

9. Teaching strategies & Classroom activities

- Lectures (to be combined with Q&A)
- Question & Answer
- Group discussion (Group work), Brainstorming, Group assignment
- Cooperative learning, Think–pair–share (in cooperative learning)
- Peer Review/feedback
- Forum (P) (to be executed on Moodle platform)
- Practice Exercise (to be combined with Think-Pair-Share)

10. Students Responsibilities

For this course, students are required to
- organize self-study hours actively;
- complete mandatory hours of class attendance (students are allowed to be absent
up to 20% only of the course time which means 3 absences);
- complete reading assignments (textbook and/or materials/references recommended
by the lecturer);
- finish individual and group assignments;
- attend the mid-course test and the final exam;
- be honest, focused, no cheating or using google search tools while taking the mid-
course test and the final exam.

11. Course Readings

11.1. Required textbooks
 Parker, Frank & Kathryn Riley (2005) Linguistics for Non-Linguists: A Primer with
Exercises, Pearson
11.2. References
Bloomer, A. & Patrick Griffiths (2005) Introducing Language in Use Routledge, Taylor &
Francis Group, London and New York

12. Assessment Scheme

With reference to the credit-based training system as specified in UFLS-UD study guide.

Approved by Approved by Prepared by

(Faculty/University) (Head of Division) (Lecturer)

Ngu Thien Hung, Vo Thi Thao Ly, M.A. Ngu Thien Hung,
Ph.D. Ph.D.