xxxviii Things t hat are involved in pragm atics according t o him are people’s int ended
m eanings, purposes or goals, or assum pt ions t hat are said w hen t hey speak.
D. Context
Cont ext is an im port ant aspect in int erpret ing t he m eaning of an ut t erance. According t o Leech 1983:13 cont ext deals w it h relevant aspect of physical or social
set t ing of an ut t erance. It is t he background knowledge w hich is shared by t he speaker and t he hearer in underst anding t heir ut t erance. Therefore, cont ext has m any
cont ribut ions in spoken and w rit t en language. It funct ions t o help t he speaker and t he hearer deliver and underst anding t he m eaning of ut t er ance.
M eanw hile, Levinson point s out t he im port ance of cont ext , w hich is included in t he definit ion of pragm at ics, as a st udy of t he abilit y of language user t o pair sent ences
w it h t he cont ext in w hich t hey w ould be appropriat e 1983:24. M alinow sky in Halliday and Hasan, 1985 st at es t hat t here are t w o not ions of
cont ext . They are cont ext of sit uat ion and cont ext of cult ure t hat have an im port ant role in t he int erpret at ion m eaning of language. Cont ext of sit uat ion is t he sit uat ion
w hen speech is ut t ered, including part icipant , t im e, place, and social environm ent . Cont ext of cult ure is cult ure background or hist ory of t he part icipant s. In st udying
language, w e should know and underst and t he cult ural background of language. It includes part icipant s or people w ho are involved in speech, t im e, place, social
environm ent , and polit ical condit ion Halliday and Hasan, 1985:6.
E. Communicative Competence
xxxix According t o Canale and Sw ain 1980 in Schmidt , 1996:5 com m unicat ive
com pet ence w as underst ood as t he underlying syst em s of know ledge and skill required for com m unicat ion. Comm unicat ive com pet ence refers t o bot h know ledge and skill in
using t his know ledge w hen int eract ing in act ual com m unicat ion. Know ledge refers t o w hat one know s consciously and unconsciously about t he language and about ot her
aspect s of com m unicat ive language use, w hile skill refers t o how w ell one can perform t his know ledge in act ual com m unicat ion.
According t o Canale, t here are at least 4 areas of know ledge and skill com pet ence:
1. Gram m at ical Com pet ence
This t ype of com pet ence rem ains concerned w it h m ast ery of language code verbal or non- verbal it self. It includes feat ures and rules of t he language
such as vocabulary, w ord form at ion, sent ence form at ion, pronunciat ion, spelling and linguist ic sem ant ics. This com pet ence focuses direct ly on t he
know ledge and skill required t o underst and and express accurat ely t he lit eral meaning of ut t erance.
2. Sociolinguist ic Com pet ence
Sociolinguist ic com pet ence addresses t he ext ent t o w hich ut t erances are produced and underst ood appropriat ely in different sociolinguist ic cont ext
depending on cont ext ual fact ors such as st at us of par t icipant s, purposes of t he int eract ion, and norm s or convent ions of int eract ion. Appropriat eness
of ut t erances refers t o bot h appropriat eness of m eaning and
xl appropriat eness of form. Appropriat eness of m eaning concerns t he ext ent
t o w hich
part icular com m unicat ive
funct ions e.g.
com m anding, com plaining, and invit ing, at t it udes including polit eness and form alit y and
ideas are judged t o be proper in a given sit uat ion. Appropriat eness of form concerns t he ext ent t o w hich a given meaning including com m unicat ive
funct ions, at t it udes, and proposit ions ideas is represent ed in a verbal and or non- verbal form t hat is proper in a given sociolinguist ic cont ext .
3. Discourse Com pet ence
This t ype of com pet ence concerns m ast ery of how t o com bine gramm at ical form s and m eanings t o achieve a unified spoken or writ t en t ext in different
genres. The unit y of a t ext is achieved t hrough cohesion in form and coherence in m eaning. Cohesion deals w it h how ut t erances are linked
st ruct urally and facilit at es int erpret at ion of a t ext . For exam ple, t he use of cohesion devices such as pronouns, synonym s, ellipsis, conjunct ions, and
parallel st ruct ures serves t o relat e individual ut t erances and indicat e how a genre of ut t erances is t o be underst ood as a t ext . Coherence refers t o t he
relat ionships am ong t he different m eanings in a t ext , w here t hese m eanings m ay be lit eral m eanings, com m unicat ive funct ions, and at t it udes. This is t he
exam ple from Widdow son 1978 in Schm idt , 1996. Speaker A: That ’s t he t elephone.
Speaker B: I’m in t he bat h. Speaker A: OK.
xli There is no overt signal of cohesion am ong t hese ut t erances. They do form
coherent discourse t o t he ext ent t hat A’s first ut t erance funct ions as a request , t hat B’s reply funct ions as an excuse for not com plying w it h A’s
request , and t hat A’s final rem ark is an accept ance of B’s excuse. 4.
St rat egic Com pet ence This com ponent is com posed of m ast ery of ver bal and non- verbal
com m unicat ion st rat egies t hat m ay be called int o act ion for t w o m ain reasons: a t o com pensat e for breakdow ns in com m unicat ion due t o
limit ing condit ions in act ual com m unicat ion e.g. mom ent ary inabilit y t o recall an idea or gram m at ical form or t o insufficient com pet ence in one or
m ore of t he ot her areas of com m unicat ive com pet ence; and b t o enhance t he effect iveness of com m unicat ion e.g. deliberat ely slow and soft speech
for rhet orical effect .
F. Speech Acts
