Language Proficiency Pragmatics and Language Use 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When someone says 'Could you pass the salt?' at the dinner table, this is best described as a:
- Direct request
- Indirect speech act (Correct answer)
- Rhetorical question
- Presupposition
Correct answer: Indirect speech act
This is an indirect speech act because the grammatical form (a yes/no question about ability) differs from the intended communicative function (a request).
Question 2: The principle that speakers should say neither more nor less than is required for the current conversational purpose is called Grice's maxim of:
- Manner
- Quality
- Relation
- Quantity (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Quantity
The maxim of Quantity states that contributions should be as informative as required but not more so.
Question 3: A customer says 'I've been waiting here for twenty minutes' to a store clerk. The implied meaning is most likely:
- A factual report of elapsed time
- A complaint and implicit request for service (Correct answer)
- An expression of satisfaction
- A question about store policy
Correct answer: A complaint and implicit request for service
The statement functions as an indirect complaint and request for attention, going beyond its literal informational content.
Question 4: Which concept describes the background assumptions that must be true for an utterance to make sense, such as 'Have you stopped smoking?' assuming the person once smoked?
- Entailment
- Implicature
- Presupposition (Correct answer)
- Deixis
Correct answer: Presupposition
Presupposition refers to background assumptions embedded in an utterance that must hold for the utterance to be felicitous.
Question 5: In which situation would using highly formal language most likely violate pragmatic norms?
- Addressing a judge in court
- Writing a legal contract
- Chatting with a close friend at lunch (Correct answer)
- Giving a commencement speech
Correct answer: Chatting with a close friend at lunch
Using formal register with close friends violates the pragmatic expectation of informal, relaxed language in casual social settings.
Question 6: When a professor says 'It would be nice if all papers were submitted on time,' the speech act being performed is most accurately:
- A sincere expression of preference
- An indirect directive to submit on time (Correct answer)
- A commissive promising future action
- A declarative changing institutional status
Correct answer: An indirect directive to submit on time
Despite its expressive form, the utterance functions as an indirect directive, communicating an expectation or requirement.
Question 7: The term 'face-threatening act' in politeness theory refers to:
- Aggressive facial expressions during conversation
- An utterance that risks damaging someone's public self-image (Correct answer)
- Speaking louder than the context warrants
- Correcting a grammar mistake in public
Correct answer: An utterance that risks damaging someone's public self-image
Face-threatening acts (FTAs) are communicative actions that potentially damage the positive or negative face wants of the speaker or hearer.
Language Proficiency Pragmatics and Language Use 4
When someone says 'Could you pass the salt?' at the dinner table, this is best described as a: