"Written" Communicative Acts

Considerations for Pragmatic Performance

This module is designed as a resource module for you as you expand your knowledge and learn more about Spanish pragmatics.

As more and more technology becomes available for communication, the means by which we interact are constantly changing. Therefore, one especially important area to consider in terms of your own pragmatic development is that of electronic means of communication such as e-mails, chat rooms, and text messages. Research has shown that these means of communication carry many similar characteristics of spoken speech and can lead to intercultural learning and pragmatic development. As you perfect your pragmatic skills, this is an area you should also work on.

"Written" communicative acts refer to the acts that occur in written form, but behave much like they are spoken. These are very common in electronic means of communication.

Research has shown that "written" communicative acts also carry important pragmatic implications. If you are looking for practice, chat rooms in Spanish are a great way to start. You can even enter and observe people interacting without participating at first. What you learn through electronic interactions can be very helpful and will likely help you perfect your own pragmatic abilities in Spanish. We do, however, suggest that you use this knowledge with caution in face-to-face communications. Electronic mediums are contexts in and of themselves. Therefore, they also carry their own pragmatic rules. You should constantly be observing the importance of context in pragmatic behavior.

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