In this introduction to the study of pragmatics, the author discusses typical features of pragmatic language use, such as indirectness, indeterminacy, inference, appropriacy, relevance and the relationship of language and context. These features are used as the key to a thorough, detailed and accessible account of what have been called the ostensive areas of pragmatics, deixis, implicature, presupposition and speech-act theory. Each of these areas is discussed at two levels, enabling students to progress from an initial understanding of the concept to a more detailed examination of the critical issues involved. The author then considers more extended examples of talk and suggests several ways in which students can undertake pragmatically-based project work. This book is written as an interactive coursebook and readers are given the opportunity to supply their own data and examples.