These examples are taken from two different aspects of pragmatics-the study of what communication achiever for us. The first aspect concerns relationships-how appropriate to their communication partners are the forms of speech, writing, gesture or other behavior which people use in acts of communication ? The second aspect concerns purpose – how effective are acts of communication for achieving what people wish to achieve? There are many ways of trying to make sense of pragmatics in communication , but these two areas recur in different guises throughout a vast literature, and will form the basis of this chapter.
There is a detailed discussion of this tow – sided view of pragmatics in sources such as van Dijk (1977) and Bachman (1990). Here, we shall look at how relationships and purpose develop in children’s activity from their earliest days. Knowledge of this development gives insight into pragmatic difficulties which may cause concern in the school years and beyond. It should give teachers and therapists a clearer of how they may help children’s communication to become more useful – more pragmatic, in fact. The next section of the chapter discusses the development of relationships in communication. Difficulties with the relationships that form and reform in acts of communication are probably the most striking evidence of pragmatic problems. After that, the chapter will outline the purposes which communication achieves, as these too have practical implications for work with children. The final sections of the chapter deal with attempts to find a useful framework for understanding pragmatics as a whole.