语用失误.docx
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语用失误.docx
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语用失误
12
ChapterThreeAnalysisofPragmaticFailure
Incross-culturalcommunicationpeoplewithdifferentculturalbackgroundsoftenencounter
misunderstandingbetweeneachothereventhoughtheyfindlittledifficultiesinunderstanding
theliteralmeaningoftheirutterances.Asitisdemonstratedinthefollowingcommunication
event,aChinesesportcorrespondentwasgoingtocovertheWorld’sFastestWoman100-meter
raceinChengdu,China.HehadachancemeetingwithMarionJonesoftheUnitedStates,World
100-meterchampion,andherfriend,Hunter,onboardthesameflight.
Correspondent:
(eagertostrikeupaconversationandcomplimentary)
YoulookverymuchlikeO’Neil.
Hunter:
(flaringupwithwide-openeyes)
Nonsense!
Idon’tlooklikehim.
Obviously,theconversationcametoanabruptendbecauseofHunter’sstrongresentmentto
belikenedtoO’Neil.Meanwhile,thecorrespondentmightbeatacompletelossastowhy
Huntergotirritatedsincewhathesaidisawell-acceptedconversationalbeginningandapolite,
good-humoredcomplimentforaverageChinesepeople.Suchmiscommunicationoftenhappens,
notbecauseofthenon-nativespeakers’grammaticalincompetenceasrevealedintheirinaccurate
pronunciationorgrammaticalmistakesofthetargetlanguage,butbecauseoftheirpragmatic
incompetence,whichiscalledpragmaticfailureasdistinguishedfromgrammaticalerror.
Therefore,pragmaticfailure,whichcausescommunicationbreakdown,hasbecomemoreand
moreworthyofattentionincross-culturecommunication.Inthischaptertheissueisgoingtobe
explored,whichmainlyconcernsthecommunicationbetweenChineseEnglishlearnersand
Englishnativespeakers.
3.1DefinitionofPragmaticFailure
PragmaticfailurewasfirstproposedbyJennyThomas(1983:
91)toreferto“theinabilityto
understandwhatismeantbywhatissaid.”Thomasnotesthatpragmaticfailurehasoccurredon
anyoccasion(1983:
94)onwhichH(thehearer)perceivestheforceofS’s(thespeaker’s)
utteranceasotherthanSintendedheorsheshouldperceiveit.Forexample,pragmaticfailure
willoccur,if:
A:
HperceivestheforceofS’sutteranceasstrongasorweakerthanSintendeds/heshould
perceiveit;
B:
Hperceivesasanorderanutterance,whichSintendeds/heshouldperceiveasarequest;
C:
HperceivesS’sutteranceasambivalentwhereSintendednoambivalence;
D:
SexpectsHtobeabletoinfertheforceofhis/herutterance,butisrelyingonthesystem13
ofknowledgeorbeliefswhichSandHdonotshare.
HeZiranpointsoutthatpragmaticfailuresarenottheerrorsindiction,butthosemistakes
failingtofulfilcommunicationbecauseofinfelicitousstyles,incompatibleexpressionsand
improperhabit(HeZiran,1997:
205).QianGuanliandefinesthatalthoughthespeakerusesthe
sentenceswhicharegrammaticallycorrect,heunconsciouslyviolatesthenormsofinterpersonal
relationshipandsocialnormsinspeech,ortakesnonoticeoftime,hearerandcontext(Qian
Guanlian,2001:
59).Incertaindegree,HeZiranandQianGuanlianhavethesameopinionand
discusspragmaticfailuresinthesocialandculturalcontext,pointingoutthatwhenpragmatic
failuresoccur,thetwosidesinthecommunicationareintheconditionofbeingunconscious
abouttheirreasons,whichcausepragmaticfailures.Thenatureofpragmaticfailureisthatitfails
toachievethespeaker’sgoal.Thiskindoffailureoftenhappensespeciallyinthecross-cultural
communication.
3.2ClassificationofPragmaticFailure
JennyThomas(1983)hasdistinguishedtwokindsofpragmaticfailure:
pragmalinguistic
failureandsociopragmaticfailure,whicharederivedfromLeech.Leechputforwardthe
distinctionbetweenpragmalinguisticsandsociopragmaticsastwosub-branchesofpragmatics,
bywhichhemeanttofacilitatethegeneralpragmatics,since“generalpragmatics,asstudiedhere,
isafairlyabstractstudy”.Therefore,weneed“detailedpragmalinguisticstudieswhichare
languagespecificanddetailedsociopragmaticstudieswhichareculturespecific”.(1983:
11).
Thomasthenadoptedthetermstofacilitatestudiesonpragmaticfailure.
3.2.1PragmalinguisticFailure
Pragmalinguisticfailureoccurswhenlearnersdonotexpressthemselvesinalinguistically
appropriatemanner.Incross-culturalcommunication,it“ariseswhenthepragmaticforce
mappedbystudentsontoagivenutteranceissystematicallydifferentfromtheforcemost
frequentlyassignedtoitbynativespeakersofthetargetlanguage,orwhenspeechactstrategies
areinappropriatelytransferredfromL1toL2”(Thomas,1983:
99).Onekindofsuchfailures
ariseswhentwolanguagessharethesameexpressionbutuseitindifferentsituations.For
example,itiscommoninChinesetogivearesponsetothanksbysaying“没关系(meiguanxi)”.
If,however,aChineselearnerofEnglishweretotranslate“meiguanxi”intoEnglishliterallyas
“Nevermind”inresponsetoanexpressionofgratitudesuchas“Thanksalot.That’sagreat
help.”,theEnglishaddresseewouldnotbeabletointerprettheutteranceasanacknowledgement
ofthanks.Thoughtheliteralmeaningof“Nevermind”isequaltotheChinese“meiguanxi”,the
communicativeconventionsbehindthetwoexpressionsaredifferent.“meiguanxi”inChinese14
isutteredinresponsetoeitherthanksorapologywhiletheEnglishexpression“Nevermind”is
usedonlyindeclinationtoanapology.Thus,theforceoftheutterancewouldbelostandthe
ChineselearnerofEnglishwouldhavefailedtomakehisorhermeaningunderstood.
Pragmalinguisticfailurealsostemsfrompragmaticambiguity,thatis,aspeakerintendsone
force,butanotherinterpretationoftheintendedforceispossible.Takethefollowing
conversationforexample:
Atelephoneconversationbetweenaprofessorandaforeignstudentillustratesthestudent’s
failuretointerprettheintendedspeechact:
Professor:
Hello,isMr.Mathereplease?
Student:
Yes.
Professor:
Oh---mayIspeaktohimplease?
Student:
Yes.
Professor:
Oh---areyouMr.Ma?
Student:
Yes,thisisMr.Ma.
Herestudentrespondstoprofessor’squestionasifitwereanexistentialquestionratherthan
asummons.Inthiscase,thespeakerisgenerallyunawarethatmorethanoneinterpretationis
available.Suchpragmaticambiguityisnotdifficultfornativespeakerstointerpretbecauseina
specificcontextonemeaningisusuallymoreprominentthantheothers,andthusisusuallytaken
first.TheChinesestudents,whoarenotexposedtotheeverydayconversationofthetarget
language,however,havegreatdifficultyininterpretingit.
3.2.2SociopragmaticFailure
Sociopragmaticfailurereferstothatkindofmiscommunicationresultingfromignoranceor
negligenceofsocialorculturaldifferencesofthespeakerorthelistenerincross-cultural
communication.Thediversityinsocialvaluesystemsandculturalandlanguagenormsarenot
alwayswellinterpreted.Thus,misunderstandingofone’sintentionisinevitablycausedandisfar
moredelicateanddifficulttodealwithsinceitinvolvesthespeaker’sculturalknowledgeofthe
targetlanguage.Letuslookatthefollowingexamples:
Situation:
Intheclassroom,Mr.SmithcongratulatesLiYingonhersuccessinthe
examination.
Mr.Smith:
Iwastoldthatyoupassedthecollegeentranceexamination.Congratulations.
Youreallydidaverygoodjob.
LiYing:
Justlucky.
Li’sresponseshowsmodestyandhumility,forinChineseculture,directacceptanceofa
complimentwouldimplyconceitorlackofmanner.InEnglishculture,peoplewouldaccept15
praisenaturallybysaying“Thankyou”or“Iamgladyouthinkso.”withoutbeingthought
immodestorarrogant,onthecontrary,theythinksuchhumilityandmodestyimplyweakness,
incompetenceandalackofself-confidence.Differentreactiontopraiseleadstosociopragmatic
failure.Whilethewaytooffercommendationmaysometimesbringaboutthefailure.For
example:
AfterProf.Smithfinishedhislecture,severalstudentswentuptohimandsaid,“Prof.
Smith,you’vemadeawonderfullecture.”
InaninvestigationcarriedoutbyHeZiran(1985)almostonehundredpercentofthe
subjectsconsideredthestatementofcommendationcompletelyappropriateandthoughtsurely
theaddresseewouldacceptithappily.ButinEnglandorinAmerica,agoodacademiclecture
meansthatitmustbepracticalandrealistic,notwonderful.Suchastatementgivesthe
impressionthatthespeakerisflatteringandinsincere.
WecanseesuchsociopragmaticfailuresareduetothedifferentsocialvaluesbetweenChinese
andwesterners,whicharerelatedtothebeliefs,customs,conceptsoftheworld,andother
culture-specificfactorsofEnglishspeakingcommunity.Withoutadequateculturalknowledge,
wecan’tidentifythematall.
3.3CausesofPragmaticFailure
Today,fewwoulddenythatcross-culturalcommunicationisaprocessofavoiding
pragmaticfailurewiththepurposetoachievesuccessfulcommunicationbetweenpeopleunder
differentculturalbackgrounds.Thenwhatexactlycausespragmaticfailure?
Therearevarious
reasonsbehindpragmaticfailure.Themajorcausesare:
1)CultureDifference,2)Inappropriate
Transfer,and3)IgnoranceoftheContext,4)LackofPragmaticKnowledge,and5)
Ethnocentrism.Thefollowingpartwillexplaineachofthem.
3.3.1CultureDifference
Incross-culturalcommunication,culturaldifferenceinevitablycreatesbarrierstoeffective
communication,becauseChinesepeopleandwesternpeoplecomplywithdifferentsetsofnorms
andrulesofsocialinteraction.TheChineselearnersofEnglishmaybequitefamiliarwiththe
Englishgrammaticalrules,buttheymayignorethefactthatthenativespeakersofEnglishspeak
differently,respondtocomplimentsandapologizedifferently,engageindifferentformsofpolite
interaction,adoptdifferentwaysofmakingrequestsandsoon.Unawareofthedifferences
betweenChine
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