This course provides you with an introduction to issues in intercultural communication, with a major emphasis on variation in realization of various speech acts. You will leave this course with an understanding of the ways in which our linguistic and cultural backgrounds may influence how we realize social functions using language, or – in other words – how speakers and listeners make meaning, and how they “do things with words.” You are introduced to the theoretical foundations of an applied approach to pragmatics as well as to implications for language teaching.
We will attempt to answer questions such as the following:

• Why does "It’s cold in here" sometimes mean "Please close the window" and other times "I don’t like this room"?
• Why are compliments sometimes interpreted the wrong way?
• Why is it sometimes polite to use formal language and other times offensive?
• What do we do to “read between the lines”?
• Why did the defense attorney object when the prosecutor asked the defendant when he had stopped abusing his wife?

Assessment: Portfolio

Literature: Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. (2012). (3rd Edition). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.