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The linguistic frameworks toolkit
Quick questions on Pragmatics and implicature: analysing implied meaning - Eduqas A-Level English Language
7short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the pragmatic toolkit?Show answer
A set of concepts covers most pragmatic analysis, and naming them precisely is the AO1 and AO2 foundation.
What is move from feature to effect?Show answer
As with every framework, the marks come from the move from feature to effect. Naming a pragmatic feature ("the speaker flouts the maxim of quantity") earns AO1 and AO2; reading what it does ("implying criticism without stating it, which lets the speaker stay deniable") earns AO3.
What is a model pragmatics paragraph?Show answer
"When the manager says 'you might want to take another look at that report', the modal hedging ('might want to') and the indirect framing mitigate a face-threatening act: it is in effect a directive to redo the work, but the negative-politeness phrasing protects the employee's face and the manager's, softening an imposition into a suggestion. The indirectness lets the manager exercise power while preserving a collegial relationship." This names the politeness strategy and speech act and reads the effect against the workplace context.
What is a weak paragraph upgraded?Show answer
A surface reading writes "The speaker is being polite and asks a question." Upgraded: the utterance is grammatically an interrogative but pragmatically a directive, and the speaker flouts the maxim of manner by phrasing the instruction indirectly, which implies the request while leaving the hearer the face-saving fiction of a choice, a strategy typical of an asymmetrical workplace exchange.
What is q1?Show answer
What is an implicature, and how is one generated? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What is the difference between positive face and negative face? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Analyse how speakers use pragmatic strategies to manage power and face in an interaction. [10 marks]
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