A thirteen-year-old student with a language disorder phones her mother who works in a factory with over a thousand employees. When the factory receptionist answers the phone, the student says, "I want to talk to my mother," and gives no other identifying information. This student is exhibiting a problem in which of the five components of language?
A)Morphology
B)Pragmatics
C)Semantics
D)Syntax

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The student's language difficulty lies in pragmatics, which is the component of language concerned with how people use language in context to communicate effectively. In this situation, the student does not provide enough information to allow the receptionist to locate her mother, which is an issue of pragmatics and social language use.

A Thirteen-Year-Old Student with a Language Disorder Phones Her Mother