Accessibility statement

Language as action

Aims

What do we do with language? When we use language we perform actions in the world. We ask questions, report good news and bad, complain and compliment, agree and disagree, express our surprise, disbelief, and disgust, request assistance and offer it, among a multitude of other everyday acts. In this module, students will explore the topic of language as action both theoretically and empirically. Students will learn how speakers use linguistic resources (e.g., syntactic constructions) to form actions and how the interactional context facilitates their recognition. Students will read and discuss journal articles on linguistic actions (e.g., offers and requests) and will learn to apply methods for the analysis of language and action, using data from naturally-occurring conversation.

At the end of this module you will be able to:

  • analyze the grammatical structure of utterances in conversational data;
  • use contemporary methods in interactional analysis to analyze linguistic actions;
  • work with datasets of actions drawn from conversation;
  • read, understand, and discuss academic journal articles.
At the end of this you will know:
  • the theoretical questions that motivate research on language as action;
  • the historical development of research on action in linguistics;
  • how linguistic form and interactional context contribute to the recognizability of linguistic actions.

This module will be capped at 35.

About this module

  • Module name
    Language as action
  • Course code
    E/L64H (LAN00064H)
  • Teacher
    Kobin Kendrick
  • Term(s) taught
    Autumn
  • Credits
    20