German Linguistics - Pragmatics
News & Events
![[Translate to English:] Foto: Colourbox](/fileadmin/_processed_/a/b/csm_Ironie_Kinder_Colourbox_bcd1ac2542.jpg "[Translate to English:] Foto: Colourbox")
Team
Research
Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that deals with the use of language for the purposes of social interaction. Acquiring pragmatic abilities means being able to produce and understand utterances adequately in context in order to communicate effectively with others.
The working group brings together expertise on pragmatic development in German-speaking children. The members are in close professional exchange and work together on research projects.
Members
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Fuchs
Anton Gerasimovich
Dr. Cornelia Schulze
Projects
PragIro – Acquisition of pragmatics in German. Child irony comprehension revisited
Understanding irony presents a challenging pragmatic ability, as it involves conveying a meaning opposite or at least substantially different to the literal words used. Irony plays an important role in everyday communication and impairments in irony comprehension can have negative consequences in social interaction.
PragIro systematically investigates children’s irony comprehension in German using the innovative research method LEIRO (Leipzig Kit for Testing Irony Comprehension), which we developed specifically for this project. LEIRO combines eye-tracking (eye movements and pupillometry) with child-friendly object choice tasks.
Across two sub-projects, we will examine the developmental trajectory of irony acquisition from initial, implicit comprehension to fully-developed, explicit irony comprehension in German. In addition, the relevant individual socio-cognitive and environmental factors in irony comprehension at different ages will be investigated.
- Subproject A focuses on typical acquisition, putting the widely accepted thesis of very late irony comprehension to the test.
- Subproject B addresses irony comprehension in children with ADHD. Initial findings from previous studies indicate that children with ADHD show impairments in irony comprehension, although questions regarding the exact circumstances (delayed acquisition or completely deviant acquisition) and their potential causes are still unresolved.
Events
The international conference “Investigating children’s irony comprehension. Current trends, challenges, and perspectives”, organised by Julia Fuchs and funded by Fritz Thyssen Foundation, took place at Leipzig University on 7 June 2024. The conference results will be published in 2026 in a Special Issue of Pragmatics & Cognition, edited by Julia Fuchs as Guest Editor.
Another research focus is on theoretical and empirical aspects of Easy Language. In this context, Julia Fuchs, together with Emmanuelle Canut and Juliette Delahaie of the Université de Lille and with Magali Husianycia, has founded the "Communication without Borders" Franco-German research group on Easy Language in the context of linguistic integration. Further information can be found on the research group's website.
Hate speech is an interdisciplinary research topic. The interface between linguistics and the justice system lies primarily in the fact that both areas deal with the interpretation of utterances, whether they are written or spoken: The justice system examines whether an utterance is criminally relevant, for example, whether it constitutes an insult (Section 185 of the German Criminal Code). Linguistics, on the other hand, describes and analyses the linguistic characteristics of hate speech and possesses a broad theoretical and methodological repertoire for investigating meaning. Despite this shared interface, there has been very little exchange and transfer between linguistics and the judiciary in the context of interpreting hate speech. Against this background, the event “Hate speech at the interface of linguistics and the judiciary" took place on 13 September 2024: A workshop for exchange and networking with linguists and members of the judiciary was followed by a public panel discussion. The event was financed by the Transfer Prize 2023 of Leipzig University. The event was a catalyst for joint research and transfer projects at the interface of linguistics and the judiciary.
Teaching
Teaching research projects
Transfer
We transfer our knowledge from research and teaching to society.
Exchange and networking workshop “Hate speech at the interface of linguistics and the judiciary”
On 13 September 2024, linguists and members of the judiciary met at Leipzig University for an exchange and networking workshop on hate speech. The workshop focused on the question of how the two fields, linguistics and the judiciary, could benefit from each other, i.e., to what extent exchanging knowledge could further standardise and substantiate the interpretation of hate speech. The event was financed with the 2023 Transfer Prize of Leipzig University.
Public panel discussion “Hate speech at the interface of linguistics and justice. Challenges, desiderata, perspectives”
On 13 September 2024, members from the fields of linguistics and justice discussed the topic of hate speech at the Bibliotheca Albertina: legal scholar Hannah Heuser, linguist Prof. Dr. Jörg Meibauer, and senior public prosecutor Dr. Benjamin Krause. The event was organised and moderated by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Fuchs. On the one hand, the discussion revolved around challenges: Which forms of hate speech are really punishable? Where do prosecutors encounter limits? On the other hand, the event also examined desiderata and perspectives: What is needed to consistently stop hate speakers? How can linguistics help to make implicit forms of hate speech tangible? And do we want to punish all forms of hate speech – or would that limit freedom of expression!? The event was financed with the 2023 Transfer Prize of Leipzig University.
Roundtable on hate speech at the t.e.a.m. UP networking event on 26 September 2024
As part of the t.e.a.m. UP networking event in 2024, Julia Fuchs offered a roundtable on hate speech.
Interview in the Leipzig University Magazine (in German) (Link)
In the context of the call for proposals „Élysée-Vertrag – Zusammen den Blick in die Zukunft richten”, the Franco-German University (FGU) funded the project „Let's keep it simple! Participatory workshops on Easy Language in France (Lille) and Germany (Leipzig)”. Together with professors Emmanuelle Canut and Juliette Delahaie from the Université de Lille and Magali Husianycia from the Association AsFoRel in Nancy, Julia Fuchs organised participatory transfer workshops in Leipzig (9 October 2023) and in Lille (20 October 2023) for professionals from the field.
At the conference on communication organised by the „Werkstätten für behinderte Menschen Sachsen” on 20.06.2023, Julia Fuchs gave a workshop on Easy Language for target groups of this form of barrier-free communication.
Interactive station “Irony detectives. On the trail of what is meant!” as part of the HumanKind Family Day on 28 September 2024
As part of the Family Day of the Humboldt Science Center for Child Development (HumanKind), the Pragmatic Development Working Group offered the interactive station “Irony detectives: On the trail of what is meant!”. This station was thematically based on the research project “PragIro” on children’s irony comprehension. In a playful setting, the children determined whether utterances in a picture story were meant literally or ironically and reflected on how this can be recognised.
