语用学新透视（英文） .doc

New Perspectives of Pragmatics 语用学新透视 Shaozhong Liu College of Foreign Studies, Guangxi Normal University Abstract: Redefines pragmatics, outlines the timeline of its development, scope of study, presents some big names in the discipline, discusses possible topics for course projects or degree papers, and prescribes reading packages to help the readers capture the basics and status quo of the field. Keywords: new perspectives, pragmatics, status quo 1. What is pragmatics? Pragmatics is a relatively late comer in linguistics. It enters the linguistic scene at the end of the 1970s. However, to many people, this is a rather new area. As a point of departure, this section gives a briefing of the new discipline and discusses some of the topics of general concerns. 1.1 A new branch of linguistics? Is pragmatics a new branch of linguistics? The answer is both “yes” and “no”. “Yes”, because to some people, the term pragmatics is a branch of linguistics, and like many other branches of linguistics, the term becomes increasingly popular through researchers’ explorations of linguistic facts. That’s why some linguistics books include it as a separate and growing discipline under the umbrella term linguistics. “No”, because to some other people, pragmatics involves social as well as individual norms in language production and comprehension. In other words, social, cultural and psychological factors play important roles in language use. Since pragmatics is related to multi-dimensions or plural disciplines, it is better seen as an interdisciplinary study of language in use. “No”, also because some other linguists think otherwise. For Verschueren, for instance, pragmatics, as well as linguistics, is but a perspective into language use. To him, language use, seen either from the speaker or hearer’s point of view, is simply an adaptation. An adaptation to topics, interlocutors, situations, purposes, in one word, to contexts. Hence, pragmatics is a theory or perspecti