Interpreting the Non-Literal Meaning in Selected Scenes of "The Family Plan" Movie
Abstract
Pragmatics is that filed of language that studies the intended meaning behind words and sentences. It studies the non-literal meaning of words and sentences which does not exist in the dictionary, otherwise it depends on the context and cultural knowledge of the listener. Many English learners confront difficulties in interpreting the non-literal meaning behind idioms, metaphor, irony, or indirect speech. The researcher attempts to investigate how such meanings are employed in real-life like contexts and how learners can get benefit from it in developing proficiency in language use. The aim of this study is to analyze the non-literal language in selected scenes of the "The Family Plan" movie. Since this analysis can help to improve the pragmatic competence among EFL learners. It is hypothesized that non-literal expressions are more frequently used in scenes involving conflict or humor. The researcher conducts a qualitative-content analysis to (15) selected scenes from "The Family Plan" movie. Scenes are selected depending on the existence of idioms, metaphor, irony, or indirect speech. The researcher has adopted Grice's maxims of conversational implicature and Searle's taxonomy of speech acts. The findings of the analysis reveal that non-literal language expressions are more frequent in scenes involving humor
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https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/family-plan-2023-transcript/ [accessed Dec. 3, 2025]
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