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Pragmatics: context and inference

Total questions: 17

Worksheet time: 9mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Pragmatics is NOT concerned with:

a)

the use of language in social contexts

b)

the relations between signs and the referents

c)

he choice of language in social interaction and

the effect of this choice on others

2.

A stretch of speech preceded and followed by silence or a change of speaker is called

a)

a sentence

b)

an utterance

c)

discourse

3.

Discourse that surrounds a language unit and helps to determine its interpretation is called

a)

linguistic context

b)

situational context

c)

speech event

4.

Ambiguity means a type of meaning in which a phrase or statement is not explicitly defined, leading to several interpretations.

a)

True

b)

False

5.

Deixis refers to expressions which

a)

are used to point to someone or something through language

b)

mention someone or something in speech or writing

c)

show a relation between a referent and thought

6.

"SHE wanted to borrow some money." SHE is:

a)

Person deixis

b)

Spacial deixis

c)

Temporal deixis

7.

"I will join you THIS EVENING". THIS EVENING is:

a)

Person deixis

b)

Temporal deixis

c)

Spacial deixis

8.

" I am going to buy a present THERE". THERE is:

a)

Spacial deixis

b)

Person deixis

c)

Temporal deixis

9.

"Let's meet on MONDAY." MONDAY is:

a)

Person deixis

b)

Spacial deixis

c)

Temporal deixis

10.

What kind of reference do these pronouns have? "Michael went to the bank. HE was annoyed because IT was closed."

a)

anaphora

b)

cataphora

11.

What kind of reference do this pronoun have? "Although I phone HER every week, my mother still complains that I don’t keep in touch often enough."

a)

anaphora

b)

cataphora

12.

What is INFERENCE?

a)

The concept of producing utterances

b)

The process of deriving implied meanings

c)

The process of using deixis

13.

What inference can the hearer draw from “Some of the students passed the exam”

a)

Not all of the students passed the exam

b)

All of the students passed the exam

14.

Listeners make inferences when they

a)

use background knowledge to make a conclusion about a meaning that the speaker didn't say

b)

want the speaker to refer to something

15.

What inference can the hearer draw from "John likes listening to Mozart."

a)

John likes this guy called Mozart

b)

John likes the music composed by Mozart

16.

The process of using additional information by the hearer to connect what was said with what must be meant is

a)

reference

b)

inference

17.

Using language to enable the hearer to identify something is called

a)

reference

b)

inference