What aspect does pragmatics focus on?

Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that deals with the social aspects of language use, emphasizing how context influences the interpretation of meaning. This includes understanding how language functions in different social situations, the intentions behind utterances, and how meaning can change based on factors like the speaker's and listener's relationship, cultural norms, and situational context.

In this way, pragmatics involves recognizing that spoken and signed language is not just about the words or sentences themselves but also about how they are used and understood in interaction. This understanding is particularly significant when working with deaf and hard of hearing students, as it influences their communication strategies and social interactions.

The other options focus on different components of language. Phonetics examines the sounds of speech, while morphology looks at the structure of words, and syntax is concerned with sentence structure. Each of these areas plays a critical role in language development but does not encapsulate the social nuances that pragmatics addresses.