Pragmatics and Society

Pragmatics and Society puts the spotlight on societal aspects of language use, while incorporating many other facets of society-oriented pragmatic studies. It brings together a variety of approaches to the study of language in context, inspired by different research perspectives and drawing on various disciplines, for instance, sociology, psychology, developmental and cognitive science, anthropology, media research, and computer-related social studies. It is concerned with how language use and social normativity influence and shape each other, for instance, in education (the teaching and acquisition of first and second languages), in political discourse (with its manipulative language use), in the discourse of business and the workplace, and in all kinds of discriminatory uses of language (gender- and class-based or other). Finally, it pays special attention to the impact that our increased dependency on the computer is having on communication and interaction (especially as seen in the social media), as well as to the role of pragmatics in guiding social and racial emancipatory developments.