Toward Multimodal Pragmatics: A Study of Illocutionary Force in Chinese Situated Discourse

Classic pragmatic theories emphasize the linguistic aspect of illocutionary acts and forces. However, as multimodality has gained importance and popularity, multimodal pragmatics has quickly become a frontier of pragmatic studies. This book adds to this new research trend by offering a perspective of situated discourse in the Chinese context.

Using the multimodal corpus approach, this study examines how speakers use multiple devices to perform illocutionary acts and express illocutionary for...