Dr. Pawel Sickinger

Pragmatic Profiling:
Against the background of research in Variational Pragmatics with Professor Klaus P. Schneider, we developed a method for contrastively comparing varieties of English based on their tendencies and expectation for pragmatic behavior in specific communicative contexts. Measurements of these tendencies and norms is then used to determine the characteristics of a given variety in contrast with others. This, however, requires access to directly comparable, quantative data on pragmatic language use, which we have traditionally been gathering via DCT questionnaires. Further development of this method further introduced semantic lexeme analysis, perception judgments by native speakers and, as the latest addition, qualitative data gathered via an ethnographic approach.
Together with Professor Anne Schröder, I am currently preparing a large scale application of this method to the case of Namibian English in the context of the DFG funded research project "A Pragmatic Profile of Namibian English" (PraProNE).

Other research interests:
Pragmatic competence (development and measurement)
Cognitive semantics, embodiment and simulation theory
Cognitive translation studies
Experimental psycholinguistics