The Role of Pragmatics in Social Cohesion and Nation Building in Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/gjl.v10i1.325Keywords:
pragmatics, social-pragmatics, politeness, speech/pragmatics acts, linguistic routines, intercultural communicationAbstract
This paper navigates into some areas covered under pragmatics as one of the newest areas in linguistic studies in African universities. We will discuss the theories and practices paying attention to speech acts, pragmatics Gricean cooperative principles, linguistic routines, (im)politeness and face, and socio-pragmatics. The other areas to be covered include lexical pragmatics, discourse markers, pragmatics and politics; looking at political discourse, pragmatics and the media, pragmatics and pedagogy, and pragmatics and culture with emphasis on ethnopragmatics. Other areas of interest are pragmatics and literature, intercultural communication, health, agriculture, trade, religion, performing arts pragmatics and all forms of speeches and interactional contexts. The method for investigation I purely based on library studies and secondary data from works by African pragmaticists. We have suggested some recommendations for the expansion of teaching, research and publication of pragmatics in Africa.
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