Abstract
In the recent past, considerable value has been given to pragmatic analysis by numerous linguists to
interpret human speech such as Leech (2016), Morini (2016), Steinkrüger (2016) and Martin & Perez
(2014). Relevance, an important element of pragmatic inquiry is a universal function of communication.
From the Pragmatics viewpoint of relevance, two contributions are worth mentioning; Aristotle’s Theory
of syllogism and the Gricean maxim of relevance. Aristotle’s ideology of logic concentrates on the notion
of syllogism: the deduction (Steinkruger, 2015). Grice proposed the principle to probe relevance through
his Maxim of relevance in his Cooperative Principle which suggests that speaker should remain relevant
to the topic during conversation. This paper attempts to explore the effectiveness of Aristotle’s Theory of
syllogism and the Gricean maxim of relevance in determining the relevance of discourse in the classroom.
The outcomes of the research are based on the data collected through recordings of thirty postgraduate
classrooms. The total transcribed data comprised of 126341 words. The study reveals that Gricean maxim
of relevance and Aristotle’s theory of Syllogism are not pertinent in determining relevance in classroom
discourse. Furthermore, this research is an effort to determine relevance in classroom discourse through a
model proposed by us, Relative Relevance Model of Communication. Keeping in view the importance of
context in pragmatic ideology, this study proposes the idea of direct and relative relevance to determine
the relevance of discourse in classrooms.
Tehseen Zahra, Wasima Shehzad. (2017) A Pragmatic Inquiry of Syllogism and Relevance in Academic Discourse, Journal of Research and Reflections in Education, Volume 11, Issue 2.
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