Review of Anne O'Keeffe, Brian Clancy and Svenja Adolphs, Introducing Pragmatics in Use, London and New York: Routledge, 2011; viii + 188 pp., £19.99 (pbk)

Abstract

Introducing Pragmatics in Use is a reader-friendly introduction book. Pragmatics is a notoriously difficult linguistic concept: Ariel (2010) wrote a whole book on defining pragmatics. Instead of providing a thorough literature review on the definitions of pragmatics, which would remain inconclusive, authors of this book adopted a 'user-friendly definition' (p. 1) by Fasold (1990: 119): 'the study of the use of context to make inferences about meaning'. Difficulty in understanding this abstract concept has been further eased by examples of language data (pp. 1-2) and through detailed explanation of the difference between content meaning of a particular sentence and meaning in context. Useful information is helpfully presented in information boxes in each chapter, and further readings are recommended at the end of each chapter.