This module focuses on the contemporary field of linguistic pragmatics, and its relevance for Applied Linguistics. Pragmatics emerged as linguistic theories strained to account for the sophistication and complexity of everyday communication, and the dynamics of language in action in its many contexts. How do we regularly and routinely communicate and interpret messages which extend far beyond and sometimes contrary to the actual words that we use? How do we use language to exert power and show solidarity? To display politeness and impoliteness? With its foundations in the philosophy of language, early sociolinguistics, conversation and discourse analysis, pragmatics is now as an independent field of study in its own right, drawing on and feeding into disciplines such as linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics and, increasingly, corpus linguistics. This module gives participants a foundation in pragmatic perspectives on language and engages with its research methods and the interpretive mechanisms pragmatics affords the applied linguist. These help us to explore how meaning is created and interpreted in different contexts of language use, and why.

A general overview of the interdisciplinary origins of pragmatics, which lays the foundations for the micro- and macro-pragmatic topics that are implicated in its study; key micro-pragmatic topics, such as reference and deixis, as well as macro-pragmatic topics, such as implicatures and speech acts; the notion of context; pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic perspectives; applications of pragmatic theories and concepts to language data; substantive areas such as (im)politeness, variational pragmatics, pragmatic markers, and more recent developments in pragmatics, such as corpus pragmatics.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: - Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the scope of pragmatics as an interdisciplinary research field; - Describe and critique foundational and contemporary topics in pragmatics; - Connect and apply pragmatic theories and concepts from macro- and micro-social perspectives; - Explore the pragmatic characteristics of language in specific contexts, using currently available datasets and those of their own devising; - Critically engage with published research and synthesise findings to build coherent descriptions of language use in context.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: - Critically evaluate and articulate the value of the pragmatic perspective on language use in context; - Demonstrate an appreciation of connections between sociocultural norms, the study of pragmatics, and their own personal, professional and academic contexts.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: N/A

The module is taught using a combination of face-to-face and online seminars, which will be occasionally lab-based, where possible and appropriate. A key focus is on interactivity, collaboration and structured discussion as a mode of learning. This is intended to develop participants' confidence in their knowledge as they articulate and explore complex areas and concepts. Limerick is internationally recognised for its research in language varieties, corpus linguistics and pragmatics; and faculty contributing to the module are highly research active in pragmatics, particularly the pragmatics of Irish English, which will be used as a baseline variety for many of the in-class tasks. This is aimed at drawing out and theorising around the tacit knowledge that participants with an Irish English background have, and developing and articulating their pragmatic competence. It also leverages the sociocultural diversity and knowledge that all participants bring to the module and will help international participants understand sometimes opaque elements of the local cultural context. Other faculty contributing are leading experts in fields of research that intersect with pragmatics, and we aim to draw on our extensive academic network to ensure that participants have access to guest speakers who are researching at the cutting edge of pragmatics. Above all, participants in this module develop the reflexivity required to become truly articulate, in the sense of being conscious and empowered language users.