Amfo, N.A.A.2019-05-142019-05-142019-04-11http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/30003Linguistic structures like words, phrases, sentences, and longer utterances, whether spoken or written, are carefully chosen by speakers to reflect their intent and to direct the addressee in such a way that misinterpretation is minimised. Additionally, it has long been recognised that language is inextricably linked to culture and thought. Pragmatics, a sub-discipline of Linguistics, is defined by the International Pragmatics Association as “the science of language use, in its widest interdisciplinary sense as a functional (i.e. cognitive, social, and cultural) perspective on language and communication”. Studies within this sub-discipline allow practitioners to interrogate linguistic strategies at different levels and examine how these influence the behaviour and practices of the language user. In this lecture, I provide an overview of how Pragmatics can be done at both ‘formal’ and social levels within a multilingual African context, such as Ghana. Drawing on my past and on-going research, I demonstrate that the study of language use in context is not restricted to the ‘formal’ level of language study. Thus, in addition to presenting work that has been done in ‘formal’ pragmatics, I consider the use of language in two domains which have engaged my attention in the past few years. The first is Language and gender, where I examine how language is used to create and sustain gender roles, while legitimising these roles within specified cultural contexts. The second is Language and health, where I examine how language reflects societal views of some medical conditions and how that is likely to affect the management of such conditions. In both domains, I demonstrate that language reflects human thought, and that our cultural and behavioural practices emanate from there. A study of linguistic strategies employed in specific domains provides the basis for an appreciation of the thoughts of particular communities in specific contexts. Especially intriguing is the multiplicity of languages that African communities, such as ours, have to contend with, in addition to (non-indigenous) official languages. I interrogate how we have managed that process so far and conclude that this aspect of our national and continental reality should not be overlooked as we seek to modernise, develop and globalise.enBabelContextDomainsOther