General Instruction: This question booklet contains two major parts. Part One requires
you provide short answers or write a paragraph as per each instruction. Under Part Two,
you need to write an assay following the instruction. Answer ALL the questions. Read all
the questions carefully before answering. Number the answers clearly.
PART ONE: SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND QUESTIONS
CAREFULLY...........................................................................................................
(50%]
1. In Linguistics, there are three distinguishable stages of interpretation. Briefly describe
each stage of interpretation and provide examples for each stage and substantiate
your argument. Give short answers only .................................................... (10 Marks]
2. Name the conversational implicature in each of the following sentences specifying
the type of implicature you see embedded in the sentence ........................ [10 Marks]
1. He gave her the key and she unlocked the safe in the bank.
2. The egg is warm.
3. It is possible that we are related.
4. Some of the girls in this went to the showground.
5. Loide has most of the money.
6. That man is either Saara's uncle or her husband.
7. I walked into a mosque.
8. Saara is meeting the old sugar daddy tonight.
9. I broke a fingernail this morning.
10. In public, she kissed her professor.
3. Briefly explain the current relevance of Speech Act Theory (SAT) in the study of
problems in Pragmatics. What are the major tenets of the theory? How can SAT be
applied to solve language problems? Write an expository paragraph . .......... [30 Marks]
PART TWO: WRITING AN EXPOSITORY ESSAY
4. Interaction Analysis ......................................................................................... (50 Marks]
According to Brown and Levinson (1987) politeness can be defined as "showing awareness
and consideration of another person's face " (pp. 311-312). Politeness means to know how
to be nice, tactful, and modest to other people. People, therefore, avoid face threatening acts
with politeness strategies. Linguistic politeness can be defined as the ways in which language
is employed in conversation to show consideration for the feelings and desires of one's
interlocutors to create and uphold interpersonal relationships and to comply with the rules
for what society or one's culture considers appropriate behaviour. The major purpose of
Politeness Principle (PP) according to Leech is to establish and maintain feelings of comity
within social group. In line with Geofrey Leech's Politeness Principles, analyse the
conversation between a medical doctor and a patient below. Write an expository essay.
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