REFERENCE &
INFERENCE
PRESENTED TO:
PROF. KASHIF
PRESENTED BY:
SHUMAILA JAN
TAHIRA MUNIR
NOREEN AKHTAR
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
TOPICS TO BE COVERED
LAYER 1: SETTING THE BACKGROUND NOREEN AKHTAR
LAYER 2: REFERENCE SHUMAILA JAN
LAYER 3: INFERENCE TAHIRA MUNIR
LAYER 4: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE
TWO NOREEN AKHTAR
• MICROPRAGMATICS
• RELATION WITH REFERENCE
• RELATION WITH INFERENCE
LAYER 1: Setting The
Background
MICROPRAGMATICS
The term 'micropragmatics' is used by some
pragmaticians to refer to the pragmatics of
lesser units of human language use, such as
questions of deixis, REFERENCE, anaphora,
speech acts, in other words micropragmatic
contexts.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
REFERENCE COMES UNDER MICROPRAGMATICS
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF REFERENCES:
DIRECT REFERENCE
Eg. : “Who is it?”
“it‟s George”
INDIRECT REFERENCE
Eg. : “Who is it?”
“It‟s me.”
INFERENCE COMPLETES THE PURPOSE OF REFERENCE
Eg: “If I had a yatch.”
George
me
Reference: Yatch (direct)
Inference: the speaker has no
yatch/
The speaker wishes to have a
yatch.
ACTIVITY:7
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
LAYER 2: REFERENCE
REFERENCE
According to dictionary .com ,
Reference is a noun which means an act or instance of
referring.
something for which a name or designation
stands; denotation.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
There was an assumption that
the use of words to refer to
people and things was a
relatively straightforward
matter.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Words themselves don’t refer to
anything. People refer. Clearly tied
to the speaker’s goal.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
What is reference then?
Reference is an act in which a
speaker, or writer, uses linguistic
forms to enable a listener, or
reader, to identify something.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Linguistics forms = Referring
expressions13
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Categories of referring
expressions are:14
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Proper Nouns
Definite Nouns
Indefinite Nouns
Pronouns
EXAMPLES:
Proper nouns; example:
Shakespeare, Lahore, Nawaz Sharif
Definite nouns; example: the author, the
city, the prime minister
Indefinite nouns; example: a place, a man
Pronoun; example: it , he, she
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
The choice of one type of referring
expression rather than another
seems to be based, to a large
extent, on what the speaker
assumes the listener already
knows.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
It is important to recognize that not all
referring expressions have identifiable
physical referents.
1. Indefinite noun phrases can be used to
identify a physically present entity,
2. they can also be used to describe entities
that are assumed to exist, but are unknown,
3. or entities that, as far as we know, do not
exist.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
EXAMPLES
a) There’s a man waiting for
you.
b) He wants to marry a woman
with lots of money.
c) We would love to find a nine-
foot-tall basket ball player.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Attributive Use / Referential Use
A man waiting for you
A woman with lots of money
This is sometimes called an attributive use, meaning 'whoever/whatever fits the description'. It would be distinct from a referential use: a specific person is referred to, although his/her name or some other description is not used.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Kinds of Reference
Anaphoric reference
Antecedent
Cataphora
Zero anaphora or Ellipsis
Anaphoric Reference and
Antecedent
Example
In the film ,a man and a woman were trying to
wash a cat. The man was holding the cat while
the woman poured the water on it . He said
something to her and they started laughing .
A man a woman and a cat/initial
expression =antecedent
Subsequent expression =anaphor
Cataphora
Example
I truned the corner and almost stepped on
it.there was a large snake in the middle of the
path .
A cataphoric reference unit refers to another
unit that is introduced later on in the
text/speech.
ZERO ANAPHORA
EXAMPLE: Cook for three minutes.
No linguistic expression like noun pronoun etc
POINT TO PONDER…
For successful reference
to occur, we must also
recognize the role of ???
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
• DEFINITION
LAYER 3: INFERENCE
Elkhart Community Schools28
“Art is so much more
interesting if everything
isn’t in the picture.
And so it is with inferring.”
From: I Read It But I Don’t Get It ~ Cris Tovani
Elkhart Community Schools29
Inference
Background
KnowledgeMaking
Connections
Questioning
Predictions
Imagination/
Visualization
Analysis of
Text/speech:
Interpretation/
Judgment
Drawing
Conclusions
INFERENCE
Inference is just a big word that means a conclusion or judgment.
You make inferences everyday. Most of the time you do so without thinking about it. Suppose you are sitting in your car stopped at a red signal light. You hear screeching tires, then a loud crash and breaking glass. You see nothing, but you infer that there has been a car accident. We all know the sounds of screeching tires and a crash. We know that these sounds almost alwaysmean a car accident. But there could be some other reason, and therefore another explanation, for the sounds.
Making inferences means choosing the most likely explanation from the facts that referenceprovides.
ACTIVITY
TASK:
DRAW INFERENCES FROM THE TV
COMMERCIAL.
SOCIAL DIMENSION
The social dimension of reference may also be
tied to the effect of collaboration.
The immediate recognition of an intended
referent, even when a minimal referring
expression like a pronoun, represents
something shared, something in common and
hence, social closeness.
Successful reference means that an intention
was recognized, via inference, indicating a
kind of shared knowledge and hence, social
connection.
Example:33
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
SOCIAL DIMENSION
INTENTION TO IDENTIFY follows
RECOGNITION OF THE INTENTION
Eg. : Q. Can I borrow your Shakespeare?
A. Yeah, it‟s there on the table.
Here, thing and person are being identified on
the base of recognition of the intention.
Social Dimension
Referents are cultural and situation specific
Eg. :
Q. Where is the cheese sandwich sitting?
A. He‟s is over there by the window.
(waiters‟ conversation in a restaurant)
SOCIAL DIMENSION
Works by artists and writers are referred to by
their names.
Eg.
1. Shakespeare takes the whole bottom shelf.
2. Picasso‟s on the far wall.
3. My Rolling Stone is missing.
THE ANAPHORIC
CONNECTION
Anaphoric connection requires inference to
make sense
Eg. : I just rented a house. The kitchen is really
big.
Here, inference is: if x has a house, then x has a
kitchen.
Inference depends on assumed knowledge
Eg. : We had Chardonnay last night. The wine
was the best part.
Here, inference is that Chardonnay is a kind of
wine.
THE ANAPHORIC
CONNECTION----------------------------------------( CONTINUED)
Anaphor and antecedent need not be in
grammatical agreement if the inference is
logically made.
Eg. : The bus came on time, but he didn‟t stop.
Here, „he‟ stands for the bus driver in connection to
the word „bus‟.
DRAW INFERENCE FROM THE
FOLLOWING FUNNY
HEADLINES:
MINERS REFUSE TO WORK AFTER DEATH
BLIND BISHOP APPOINTED TO SEE
MARCH PLANNED FOR NEXT AUGUST
POLICE CAN’T STOP GAMBLING
SQUAD HELPS DOG BITE VICTIM
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Reference is an act in which a speaker, or
writer, uses linguistic forms to enable a
listener, or reader, to identify something.
Inferring is connecting prior knowledge to
text based information to create meaning
beyond what is directly stated.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Reference:It is the symbolic relationship that a linguistic
expression has with the concrete object or
abstraction it represent.
Inference:
It is the conclusion you draw from what you have observed.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
EXAMPLE 43
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
The choice of one type of referring expression
rather than another seems to be based, to a large
extent, on what the speaker assumes the listener
already knows.
Inferring is to conclude / to guess and to understand the situation after observation.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
“It is important to recognize that not all referring expressions have identifiable physicalreferents. Indefinite noun phrases can be used to identify a physically present entity, but they can also be used to describe entities that are assumed to exist, but are unknown, or entities that, as far as we know, do not exist".
In inference, we must have the object / situation so that we are able to draw conclusion and understanding.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Examples of Reference:
a) There's a child calling his mom.
b) He wants to get a job with a flat and
car.
c) She wishes to meet the tooth fairy her
mother keeps talking about.
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
Example of Inference:a)You may observe that a person is running
from a shop that may cause you to infer
that he robbed it and is trying to get away.
It is easy to infer incorrectly so we need to
get all the facts.
ACTIVITY48
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
ANY QUESTIONS?
PLEASE DRAW SOME
INFERENCES Bill was reading about the sun, the moon, and Mars. It
was a book about . . .
At recess the students got their gloves, bats and balls. What were they likely to do?
During a very severe storm, the electricity went off. Dad lit a match. What did he probably want to find.
Maria had a day off school. She looked in the newspaper to find the best sales. Then she left the house. Where did she probably go?
Jess and his father went walking on a warm spring day. There was a nice breeze in the air. What might Jesse and his father do to have fun? Rake leaves, fly a kit or watch TV?
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REFERENCE & INFERENCE
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