Pragmatics and Language Use Flashcards
7 cards from real Language Proficiency practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Pragmatics and Language Use flashcards as text
Which of the following best illustrates the concept of deixis?
Answer: Using 'this book here' to indicate a nearby object
Deixis involves expressions whose interpretation depends on contextual factors like location, time, or participant, as with 'this,' 'here,' and 'now.'
A speaker flouts Grice's maxim of Quality by saying 'Oh sure, he's a real genius' about someone who just made a mistake. This is an example of:
Answer: Irony
Deliberately saying the opposite of what one means, expecting the listener to detect the irony, is a classic flouting of the maxim of Quality.
Conversation analysts use the term 'adjacency pair' to describe:
Answer: A sequence of two turns where the first creates an expectation for the second
Adjacency pairs are paired conversational turns (e.g., question–answer, greeting–greeting) where the first part sets up an expected response.
Which scenario best demonstrates the pragmatic concept of 'common ground'?
Answer: Colleagues sharing background knowledge that allows them to use shorthand references
Common ground refers to the mutual knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions shared by conversational participants that facilitate efficient communication.
When an English speaker says 'It's cold in here' to a roommate sitting near an open window, and the roommate closes the window, the roommate has interpreted the utterance as:
Answer: An indirect request to close the window
The roommate correctly inferred the indirect speech act—a request disguised as a statement about environmental conditions.
In cross-cultural pragmatics, a Japanese speaker remaining silent after a proposal is made might pragmatically signal:
Answer: Discomfort or a polite way of declining
In many Japanese communicative norms, extended silence can signal reluctance or a face-saving indirect refusal rather than agreement.
Which of the following is an example of a 'hedge' in pragmatics?
Answer: 'Sort of, kind of, to some extent, I agree.'
Hedges are linguistic devices that reduce the force or certainty of an utterance, softening commitment to a proposition.