跨文化交际教程 课件 Unit 5 Pragmatic Principles in Intercultural Communication

PragmaticPrinciples

inInterculturalCommunication

UnitFiveContents:01 PragmaticPrinciples02TheCommunicativePrinciple03TheCooperativePrinciple04ThePolitenessPrinciple01

PragmaticPrinciples

Pragmaticsisthestudyoflanguagefromthepointofviewofusers,especiallyofthechoicestheymake,theconstraintstheyencounterinusinglanguageinsocialinteractionandtheeffectstheiruseoflanguagehasonotherparticipantsintheactofcommunication.WhatisPragmatics?Thatistosay,pragmaticsisthestudyofhowcontextinfluenceshowweinterpretandmakemeaningofcommunication.Itisoftendescribedasthestudyof“languageinuse”.Example1:Georgeandhiswifeplannedtogoouttodinner,butitwasrainingheavilyjustbeforetheywereleaving.Georgesaidtohiswife,“Greatweather,isn’tit?”WhatdidGeorgemean?Hedidn’tactuallymeantheweatherwaspleasant.Rather,hewasimplyingthattheweatherwasterrible.Thelistenerunderstandsthisinversionnotfromthewordsthemselvesbutfromthecontext(thefactit’sraining),aswellasthespeaker’stoneofvoiceandpossiblytheirfacialexpressionsorbodylanguage.Here,pragmaticsenablesustointerpretsarcasmcorrectly.Considerahabitualprocrastinatorwhoannounces,“I’llstartmyprojectrightaway.”Ifweknowthisperson’shistoryofputtingthingsoff,wemightinterprettheirstatementasironic.Theysaythey’llstartimmediately,butweunderstand,basedonourknowledgeoftheirusualbehavior,thattheyprobablywon’t.Pragmaticsallowsustomakethesekindsofinterpretationsbasedonoursharedbackgroundknowledgeaboutthespeaker(Kecskes,2020;Sperber&Wilson,1995).Example2:Ifsomeoneinaroomsays,“It’scoldinhere.”Whatdoesthespeakermean?Thespeakercouldbeimplyingthathe/shewantsthewindowclosedortheheatingturnedup.Thespeakerhasn’texplicitlystatedthisrequest,butthecontextandourunderstandingofsocialnorms(e.g.,thatpeopletypicallywanttobewarm)leadustothisinterpretation(Kecskes,2020).Example3:Rulesarefrequentlyencounteredinmoderngrammaticalwriting.Grammarsarethoughtofassimplyconsistingofrules.Therulesofthegrammarcontainalltheinformationtoestablishcorrectsentencesofalanguage.Asfarassyntaxisconcernedlanguageisrule-governed.Insemantics,theconceptofwell-formednessiscontroversial.Semantic‘rules’onlymakesenseoutsideofactuallanguageuse(suchasinadictionaryorinconstructedexamples)forwhatapersonissaying,andwhatthispersonmeansbywhatheorshesays,areclearlyanexclusiveconcernofthatperson.Whenitcomestopragmatics,thepointofviewoftheuserisparamount.02TheCommunicativePrincipleWhatisthecommunicativeprincipleofpragmatics?Peopletalkwiththeintentiontocommunicatesomethingtosomebody,andthisisthefoundationofalllinguisticbehavior.JacobL.MeycallthistheCommunicativePrinciple.02TheCommunicativePrinciple02TheCommunicativePrincipleQ:WhoisJacobL.Mey

andwhatarehiswritings?JacobL.Mey,alinguisticsprofessorattheUniversityofCopenhagen,madesignificantcontributionstopragmatics,focusingonlanguageuseinsocialcontextsandthedynamicnatureoflanguageadaptation.HiskeyworksarePragmatics:AnIntroduction.Thisisanintroductorytextbooktopragmatics.02TheCommunicativePrinciple

“Nomatterhowonemaytry,onecannotnotcommunicate(PaulWatzlawick).”Itisnottosaythatusersactuallyalwayscommunicatewhattheysetouttodo,orwhattheythinktheydo.Itistosay,asLeech[1]

putsit,speakersoften“meanmorethantheysay”.

Speakersunconsciouslyorsubconsciouslyexpressthoughtsorfeelingsthattheyconsciouslywouldliketosuppress.02TheCommunicativePrinciple[1]Leech:

In1983,Leech,afamousBritishscholar,elaboratedontheimportantroleofpolitenessinlinguisticcommunicationinhisbookPrinciplesofPragmatics.Communicationisnotamatteroflogicortruth,butofcooperation.IfIwanttocommunicateconsideringmycircumstances,whatIdocommunicatedependsonwhatIcan

communicate;consideringmypartner’sexpectation,whatldocommunicatedependonwhatImustcommunicate.02TheCommunicativePrincipleForexample,imaginethatIamapartywhipandresponsibleforgettingmyparty’svoterstovoteagainstamotion.SupposefurtherthatI’mlesssuccessfulinkeepingmyvotersinline;thenlmightwanttode-emphasizethisfactbystating,inmyreporttoheadquartersthat:whenthequestionwasasked,manyofourpeoplevotedagainst.02TheCommunicativePrinciple1)TheCooperativePrinciple2)Threeareaswhereproblemsmayarise3)Flouting4)Hedges03TheCooperativePrincipleTheCooperativePrinciple(CP)wasproposedbyGricein1975.CPconsistsoffoursub-principles:themaximofquality,quantity,relevanceandmanner.ThereisasuperordinateCooperativePrinciple:Makeyourcontributionsuchasisrequired,atthestageatwhichitoccurs,bytheacceptedpurposeofthetalkexchangeinwhichyouareengaged.03TheCooperativePrinciple[1]HerbertPaulGrice(March13,1913–August28,1988):HewasafamousBritishphilosopherwhobelongedtotheschoolofanalyticphilosophyandwrotemainlyonthephilosophyoflanguage.HerbertPaulGrice[1](1913-1988)03TheCooperativePrincipleWhatarethefourareasoftheprincipleofcooperation?①Maximofquality⁕Donotsaywhatyoubelievetobefalse;⁕Donotsaythatforwhichyoulackadequateevidence.

②Maximofquantity⁕Makeyourcontributionsasinformativeasisrequired(forthecurrentpurposesoftheexchange);⁕Donotmakeyourcontributionsmoreinformativethanisrequired.03TheCooperativePrinciple③Maximofrelevance⁕Makeyourcontributionsrelevant.④Maximofmanner⁕Avoidobscurity;⁕Avoidambiguity;⁕Bebrief;⁕Beorderly.03TheCooperativePrinciple1.Thereiscooperationitself,takenasageneral,inviolableandindisputableruleofbehavior.Thisassumptionissimplytoobroadandsweeping.2.Therearesignificantinterculturaldifferencesincooperativebehavior.3.Ifexpectedcooperativebehaviorisnotforthcoming,wedonotnecessarilyassumethatsomekindofgeneral‘exception’totheruleofconversationalcooperationisineffect;rather,weinfer,byconversationalimplicature,thatsomethingelseisgoingon.03TheCooperative

PrincipleThreeareaswhereproblemsmayarise:Whenpeople“blatantlyfailtoobserveoneorseveralmaxims”(Thomas1996),wespeakof“flouting”

amaxim,eithersemanticallyorpragmatically.ThefirsthappenswhenIuseawordinasensethatiscontrarytowhatiscommonlyaccepted,andIknowthatmyinterlocutorisnotawareofthis.Forexample,“Therearetwobadmenintheworld.TheRussianwhitemanandtheAmericanwhiteman.Theyarethetwoworstmenintheworld.”(MuhammadAli)03TheCooperativePrincipleFloutingAstopragmatickindoffloutingamaxim,wemustconsidertheeffectpeoplewanttoobtainbytheirlinguisticbehavior.

Forexample:

A:Whatareyoudoing?

B:Nothing03TheCooperativePrincipleFloutingLeechandThomas(1988)observesthat“wecanmakeablatantshowofbreakingoneofthemaximsinordertoleadtheaddresseetolookforacover,impliedmeaning.”Goodjoke-tellersandauthorsalwaysfloutthemaximstomaketheirjokesfunnyandtheirstoriesintriguing.Theymayallowthemselvesdeliberateomissions,misleadingstatements,uninformativeordis-informativeremarksandallsortsofnarrativetricksinordertobetterdeveloptheplot.03TheCooperativePrincipleFloutingTherearecertainkindsofexpressionsspeakersusetomarkthattheymaybeindangerofnotfullyadheringtotheprinciples.Thesekindsofexpressionsarecalledhedges.Examples:1.I’mnotsureifthisisright,butIhearditwasasecretceremonyinHawaii.2.Hecouldn’tlivewithouther,Iguess.3.So,tocutalongstoryshort,wegrabbedourstuffandran.4.Iwon’tboreyouwithallthedetails,butitwasanexcitingtrip.03TheCooperativePrincipleHedges5.Idon’tknowifthisisimportant,butsomeofthefilesaremissing.6.Bytheway,areyoucomingtomorrow?7.Thismaybeabitconfused,butIrememberbeinginacar.8.Idon’tknowifthisisclearatall,butIthinktheotherwasreversing.Hedgesaregoodindicationsthatthespeakersarenotonlyawareofthemaxims,butthattheywanttoshowthattheyaretryingtoobservethem.03TheCooperativePrincipleHedges04ThePolitenessPrinciple

1)Faceandpoliteness2)Languageandpoliteness3)ThePolitenessPrinciple4)Strategies5)Pre-sequencesDefinition:Politeness,inaninteraction,canbedefinedasthemeansemployedtoshowawarenessofanotherperson’sface.Face

meansthepublicself-imageofaperson.Itreferstothatemotionalandsocialsenseofselfthateveryonehasandexpectseveryoneelsetorecognize.04ThePolitenessPrinciple1)Faceandpoliteness

Aboutface:Withintheireverydaysocialinteractions,peoplegenerallybehaveasiftheirexpectationsconcerningtheirpublicselfimage,orfacewants,willberespected.Ifaspeakersayssomethingthatrepresentsathreattoanotherindividual’sexpectationsregardingself-image,itisdescribedasafacethreateningact.Alternatively,giventhepossibilitythatsomeactionmightbeinterpretedasathreattoanother’sface,thespeakercansaysomethingtolessenthepossiblethreat.Thisiscalledfacesavingact.04ThePolitenessPrinciple1)FaceandpolitenessNegative:Negativeface:aperson’sneedtobeindependent,tohavefreedomofaction,andnottobeimposedonbyothers.Negativepoliteness:Afacesavingactwhichisorientedtotheperson’snegativeface,andtendstoshowdeference,emphasizestheimportanceoftheother'stimeorconcerns,andevenincludesanapologyfortheimpositionorinterruption.04ThePolitenessPrinciple1)FaceandpolitenessPositive:Positiveface:aperson’sneedtobeaccepted,evenliked,byothers,tobetreatedasamemberofthesamegroup,andtoknowthathisorherwantsaresharedbyothers.Positivepoliteness:Afacesavingactwhichisorientedtotheperson’spositiveface,andtendstoshowsolidarity,emphasizesthatbothspeakerswantthesamething,andtheyhaveacommongoal.04ThePolitenessPrinciple1)Faceandpoliteness04ThePolitenessPrinciple2)Languageandpolitenesssaynothing(butsearchinone’sbag)saysomethingHowtogetapenfromsomeoneelse?onrecordoffrecord‘Iforgotmypen’facesavingactbaldonrecord‘Givemeapen’positivepoliteness(‘Howaboutlettingmeuseyourpen?’)negativepoliteness(‘Couldyoulendmeapen?’)statementsdirectelyaddressedtotheotherasameaningtoexpressyourneedsstatementsnotdirectlyaddressedtotheother.themostdirectstatement,usingimperativeformsBoldonrecordformsmaybefollowedbyexpressionslike‘please’

and‘wouldyou?’

whichservetosoftenthedemandandarecalled

mitigatingdevices.

Definition:ThePolitenessPrincipleisaseriesofmaxims,whichGeoffLeech(1983)hasproposedasawayofexplaininghowpolitenessoperatesinconversationalexchanges.Leechdefinespolitenessasformsofbehaviourthatestablishandmaintaincomity.04ThePolitenessPrinciple3)ThePolitenessPrinciple1.Tactmaxim:

minimisecosttoother;

[maximisebenefittoother]2.Generositymaxim:

minimisebenefittoself.

[maximisecosttoself]3.Approbationmaxim:

minimisedispraiseofother;

[maximisepraiseofother]04ThePolitenessPrinciple3)ThePolitenessPrinciple04ThePolitenessPrinciple3)ThePolitenessPrinciple4.Modestymaxim:minimisepraiseofself;[maximisedispraiseofself]5.Agreementmaxim:minimisedisagreementbetweenselfandother;[maximiseagreementbetweenselfandother]6.Sympathymaxim:minimiseantipathybetweenselfandother;

[maximisesympathybetweenselfandother]Solidaritystrategy:Thetendencytousepositivepoliteforms,emphasizingclosenessbetweenspeakerandhearer.Linguistically,suchastrategywillincludepersonalinformation,useofnicknames,sometimesevenabusiveterms(particularlyamongmales),andshareddialectorslangexpressions.Deferencestrategy:Thetendencytousenegativepolitenessforms,emphasizingthehearer’srighttofreedom.Thelanguageassociatedwithadeferencestrategyemphasizesthespeaker’sandhearer’sindependence.markedviaanabsenceofpersonalclaims.04ThePolitenessPrinciple4)StrategiesThebasicassumption,fromtheperspectiveofpoliteness,isthatfaceistypicallyatriskwhentheselfneedstoaccomplishsomethinginvolvingother.Thegreatestriskappearstobewhentheotherisputinadifficultposition.Onewayofavoidingriskistoprovideanopportunityfortheothertohaltthepotentiallyriskyact.Pre-sequencesaresuchdevicestoavoidrisks.①pre-request②pre-invitation③pre-announcement04ThePolitenessPrinciple5)Pre-announcementgo-aheadresponseA:Areyoubusy? (=pre-request)B:Notreally. (=goahead)A:Checkoverthismemo. (=request)B:Okay. (=accept)stopresponseA:Areyoubusy? (=pr