Students

APPL7110 – Advanced Topics in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication

2020 – Session 1, Weekday attendance, North Ryde

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, any references to assessment tasks and on-campus delivery may no longer be up-to-date on this page.

Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.

Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students

General Information

Download as PDF
Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Jill Murray
jill.murray@mq.edu.au
Margaret Wood
margaret.wood@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MRes
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit explores linguistic pragmatics, with a focus on intercultural communication and prepares students to conduct research in pragmatics. The unit equips participants with the tools for analysis of how meaning is constructed in context through spoken and written language. The content includes speech act theory; politeness and face; the co-operative principle and implicature; relevance theory; cultural scripts; and metaphor. There is an emphasis on how communication operates in different cultural contexts and on accessing and interpreting current research. Communication in social and institutional contexts, language in the media, and practical implications for learning and teaching and interpreting and translating are explored.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: 1 Identify examples of successful and unsuccessful cross-cultural communication and use pragmatic theories to explain the reasons.
  • ULO2: 2 Analyse examples of authentic discourse using speech act theory, politeness theory and theories of implicature.
  • ULO3: 3 Make judgements about the types of analysis that are most suitable for researching particular types of discourse.
  • ULO4: 4 Evaluate current research in pragmatics in an area of personal or professional interest.
  • ULO5: 5. Plan research in an area of personal or professional interest.

Assessment Tasks

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Assessment details are no longer provided here as a result of changes due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.

Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students

General Assessment Information

Late assignments The policy regarding late assignments has now been standardised across postgraduate Linguistics units but there may be some minor differences in how they are applied, submission times etc. Please read this carefully and ask the convenor if you have any questions. 

For this unit: 

  • Assignments to be submitted through turnitin are due at 11.59pm Sydney time on the due date.  Late submissions without an extension will receive a penalty of 5% of the mark achieved for the assignment for each day after the due date. This will be calculated on a pro-rata basis for the first day, which means that if you have issues uploading your work and you submit shortly after the due time you may not be penalised at all.  From the second day onwards the full 5% will apply. 
  • Late submission of an assignment without an extension will not be permitted after marks have been released to the rest of the class.
  • Extensions will only be given in special circumstances, and can be requested by completing the Special Consideration request at ask.mq.edu.au and providing the requisite supporting documentation. The discretion of the convenor to grant extensions is limited. 
  • For more information on Special Consideration, see the university website https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration
  • Assignments submitted after the deadline, regardless of the reason, will be marked and returned at a date determined by the unit convenor.

Extensions cannot continue beyond the start of the following semester, and students should be aware that long extensions may impact graduation dates.

Delivery and Resources

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19.

Please check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status

APPL7110 students will have 2 ilearn spaces - the dedicated APPL7110 site where your assignments will be submitted and specific information about assessment is to be found, and the APPL8110 where the  course materials and announcements can be accessed. Although you are not required to take part in the online web discussions on the APPL8110 site you are very welcome to do so, and to post any questions or comments that you wish to contribute

Unit Schedule

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

The unit schedule/topics and any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19. Please consult iLearn for latest details, and check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status

Week Lecture Date Topic TASKS

1

WEDNESDAY

26 Feb

Introduction to pragmatics.

 

2

4 Mar

Implicature and the co-operative theory

Tutorial 1 ( date to be arranged) 

3

11 Mar

Speech act theory

 

4

18 Mar

Linguistic politeness

 

5

25 Mar

Applying  linguistic pragmatics to intercultural communication

6

1 Apr

Prosody and communication

 

7

8 Apr

Conducting research in pragmatics

                                BREAK

 

Assignment 1 - Text analysis due 20/4 (40%) 

8

29 April

Review and extension: informational and interpersonal pragmatics

Tutorial 2 ( date to be arranged) 

9

6 May

Pragmatics and discourse

 

10

13 May 

Critical Discourse Analysis:  Pragmatics and power

 

11

20 May

Figurative language, metaphor and culture

Tutorial 3 ( date to be arranged) 

12

27 May

Acquiring, teaching and learning pragmatic  competence

 

13

3 June

Review: Applications and directions.

 Assignment 2 - Research planning due 8/6 (60%) 

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

Details of  module timetable and assignment dates added.Information about use of the ilearn sites added. 

Changes since First Published

Date Description
12/02/2020 Details of module timetable and assignment dates added. Details of use of ilearn sites added.