When 14-year-old tatiana's friends call her name, she responds with, "what?!" when her teacher calls her name, she responds by saying, "yes, ma'am?" tatiana's responses indicate her understanding of syntax. semantics. grammar. pragmatics?
This is an example of pragmatics. Pragmatics is a form of linguistics that suggests people use different words to mean the same thing depending upon the situation or other factors, including cultural influences. In this case, cultural norms tell Tatiana she can be casual with her young friends but needs to be more respectful when speaking to an elder or authority figure.
