Pragmatics
Pragmatics is the study of language in use and the contexts in which it is used. It looks beyond the literal meaning of an utterance and considers how meaning is constructed as well as focusing on implied meanings. It considers language as an instrument of interaction, what people mean when they use language and how they communicate and understand each other.
Method of Teaching
A middle school drama teacher starts a lesson on nonverbal communication by writing on the whiteboard the definition of nonverbal communication. The teacher then explains the seven different types of nonverbal communication and what they are and how they communicate different meaning for different cultures. Those seven types are eye contact, personal space, gestures, tone of voice, facial expressions, touch and body language.
After the students understand the seven different kinds of nonverbal communication, the teacher hands out a worksheet with each of the seven possible nonverbal communications in an empty box. Then, students are instructed to watch a quick video of a woman yelling in an angry tone at her dog, "I LOVE YOU! YOUR PRETTY DOG!" Next, the teacher prompts the students to describe the reaction of the dog when the woman was raising her voice at him. Once students respond by agreeing that the dog looked noticeably scared, the teacher instructs students to write a description on their worksheet in the empty box for 'tone of voice.' Finally, students share with the class their description and why the tone of the woman's voice was contradicting what she said.
