Language in communication: How it works

Language in Communication: How it Works addresses selected issues of linguistic pragmatics, dealing with what is going on between the speaker and the addressee in communication. It discusses such problems as mechanisms of interpreting indirect speech acts (deriving implicit meanings), the reasons why people communicate in an implicit way or apply politeness strategies in their linguistic behaviour. It will be shown that most of our everyday communication actually goes beyond what the speaker says explicitly, which can be described in terms of particular communicative rules. Also, some problems of psychology of communication will be discussed, both from the speaker’s and from the addressee’s perspective. It will be demonstrated how possible psychological biases on the part of the addressee can cause her misunderstanding of the message content. Finally, we will approach selected problems of persuasive communication and manipulation.

1. Introduction to pragmatics. Conversational logic by Paul Grice: the principle of communication and communicative maxims. Interpreting implicit content in the Gricean model. The problem of irony and lie.

2. Relevance Theory by D. Sperber & D. Wilson. Interpreting implicit content in the Relevance model.

3. “Politeness” as a principle of conversational cooperation. “Politeness strategies” (G. N. Leech, P. Brown & S. Levinson, M. Marcjanik). Principles of politeness in the light of E. Goffmann’s idea of “social face”.

4. Explicit and implicit communication in a psychological model of communication – the “square” of Schulz von Thun. Four aspects of communication: matter of fact, appeal, relation, self-disclosure. Identifying and correcting communicative dysfunctions/misunderstandings.

5. “Giraffe language” and “jackal language” – R. M. Rosenberg’s idea of non-violent communication (NVC).

6. Persuasive speech acts: discussion, argument, debate. The art of persuading; persuasion <> manipulation. Arguments: logical, factual, ex concessis, ab exemplo. Deduction vs induction. Correct argumentation (following facts and logical rules) vs fallacious argumentation: overgeneralisation, fallacies in reasoning, reversed cause-effect relation, lack of clarity, vicious circle, etc.; domino effect. Supporting logical and matter-of-fact argumentation: parallel argumentation (vs sequential), exemplifying, arguments from authority, ad populum, appealing to emotions.

7. Dishonest argumentative techniques: arguments ad personam, ad baculum, false premises, distracting attention (red herring), biased interpretation (straw man fallacy), etc.

8. Psychological factors in persuasion: “psychologically naïve” persuasion methods –pressure, blackmailing, lying; how to defend against pressure and blackmail; “psychologically advanced” manipulative methods: mechanism of reciprocity and the rule of “big request”, mechanism of consistence and the rule of “small request”, mechanism of conformity, friendliness, reliability and authority, reduced availability, contrast, repetition, compromise, rationalisation, relax. Appealing to the addressee’s psychological “metaprogrammes”.

9. Linguistic means of manipulation: evaluative words, a specific use of the pronouns we, our and the style characteristic of the addressee’s social background vs they, those people (out there); presuppositions, implications, personal vs impersonal forms, euphemisms vs hyperboles, generalised sentences, the addressee-oriented imagery etc.

10. Recapitulation: communication as balancing between an effective expression of one’s views/feelings and effective appeal to the addressee. Final test.

1. Berne E.: Games People Play. The Psychology of Human Relationships. NY: Grove Press 1964. {http://opac.bu.umk.pl/webpac-bin/B_horizonPL/wgbroker.exe?2017082500013005024300+1+scan+select+3+0}

2. Cialdini R. B.: Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion. NY: Harper Business 2006. {http://opac.bu.umk.pl/webpac-bin/B_horizonPL/wgbroker.exe?2017082500013005024300+1+search+select++2+1}

3. Goffman E.: Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behavior. London: Penguin Books.

4. Grice P.: Logic and conversation, [in:] P. Cole, J. L. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and Semantics vol. 3. NY: Academic Press 1975, 41-58. {http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/studypacks/Grice-Logic.pdf}

5. Leary M.: Self-presentation: Impression Management and Interpersonal Behavior. NY: Avalon Publishing 1996.

6. Leech G.: Principles of Pragmatics. London, NY: Longman 1989.

7. Perelman C., Olbrechts-Tyteca L.: The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame 1969. {https://books.google.pl/books?id=dYQlDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Chaim+Perelman&hl=pl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibvtTQ8fDVAhWB6RQKHSs5DisQ6AEIQjAE#v=onepage&q=Chaim%20Perelman&f=false}

8. Rosenberg M. B.: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Encinitas, Ca.: Puddledancer Press 2003.

9. Searle J.: Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge: CUP 2009. {http://opac.bu.umk.pl/webpac-bin/B_horizonPL/wgbroker.exe?2017082500460103993772+1+search+select++2+10}

10. Sperber D., D. Wilson: Relevance. Communication and cognition. Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1996.

Assessment methods:

- participation in lectures

- final test

- activity in class

Assessment criteria:

- active participation (min. 70%) (K_K06, K_U10, K_U09, K_K13);

- passing a final test (K_W01, K_W10, K_W11, K_U03, K_U10) .