Pragmatics is an optional subject in the fourth year of the English Studies degree at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Students in this subject are introduced to main theories in sociocultural pragmatics, including Speech Act Theory, Politeness Theory, Conversation Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis, which they apply to English-language oral and written productions.
Gender is a common concern in these theories, ranging from Butler’s appropriation of Austin’s performative hypothesis, gendered stereotypes of excessive politeness in Lakoff’s “women’s language”, conversational analysis of gossip in same-gender groups and critical studies of the discursive representation of transgender people in British tabloids. Throughout the semester, students participate in specific sessions about approaches to gender in sociopragmatics and discuss various articles reporting on gender-related studies. This subject has a closing unit about language and gender leading up to a final project on the representations of parenthood in English-language (social) media. These projects draw on our selection of gender theory texts and key concepts therein.