The Wrong Application Of Pragmatic Principles In English Communication And The Measures To Cultivate The Pragmatic Competence

Zhou Ying

摘 要：This thesis is based on the two famous pragmatic principles （Cooperative Principle and Politeness Principle） and sees the wrong application of these two salient principles in English communication. Here several measures are given to cultivate the pragmatic competence.

關鍵詞：pragmatic; Cooperative Principle; Politeness Principle; competence.

1. Introduction

Cooperative Principle， abbreviated as CP， and Politeness Principle， abbreviated as PP， are two universally shared principles to make the conversations move on successfully and smoothly.

In CP， people cooperate and follow a set of rules when they have conversations， and in that way people make their literal meaning clear. The General Principle goes as：

Make your conversational contribution such as is required， at the stage at which it occurs， by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.

To be more specific， there are four maxims under this general principle：

（1） The Maxim of Quantity; （2） The Maxim of Quality; （3） The Maxim of Relevance; （4） The Maxim of Manner.

Different from CP， which focuses on the information of a conversation， PP pays attention to the effect of what is said on the people. It shows the ability that participants in a social interaction have to engage in interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony.

2. The wrong application of CP in English communication

The violation of CP is mainly shown in the following aspects.

（1） Violation of The Maxim of Quality

The Maxim of Quality has two meanings： Don't say what you think is untrue; dont say what you lack enough evidence.

English communication includes two aspects： face-to-face communication and Online chatting. In face-to-face communication， The Maxim of Quality can be better guaranteed because both sides can observe the facial expression as well as body language of each other. But in the online chatting， because the speakers use the Virtual Network， they can't see each other when they speak， which in large part can lead to the untruthful content or lack of evidence. This is one reason why rumors spread so quickly online. For example：

A： Do you know the news about the bus crashed into the river in Chongqing？

B： I don't know. What happened？

A：A female driver was driving in the wrong direction. Trust me. I was there.

In fact， the cause of the accident was not the reverse driving of the female driver. Thus its in violation of The Maxim of Quality.

（2） Violation of The Maxim of Quantity

The Maxim of Quantity requires speakers to tell detail as much as the conversation requires， which means that speakers can not convey more or less information than the conversation needs. However， speakers often violate this maxim， such as：

A： Who is that handsome boy？

B： Oh！ He's Amy's boyfriend！ He is very rich！

In this case， "He is very rich！" is obviously beyond what A is asking. This is a violation of The Maxim of Quantity.

（3） Violation of The Maxim of Relevance

Actually， in practical communication， as the speaker does not understand the question or not want to answer the question， the conversation often goes against The Maxim of Relevance. For example：

A： Excuse me， do you know where can I wash my hands？

B： Oh， you can wash your hands everywhere.

In this case， A was asking the location of the restroom. She might want to pee. But B didn't understand the euphemism and simply understood it as "washing hands". Words like these do not conform to The Maxim of Relevance.

3.The wrong application of PP in English communication

PP emphasizes that in verbal communication， all the speakers should be polite and use less impolite expression. However， in real life， due to the lack of understanding of British and American culture knowledge or speakers negative emotions， there are sometimes some dialogues which violate PP. Like：

“You are a respectable old woman.”

Actually， "old woman" is not a polite word. Such an expression would offend the listener and cause displeasure.

In addition， in the online chatting， some people will express their anger and discontent behind the screen excessively. This is obviously contrary to PP. For example：

“Oh， shit！ ” “Fuck U！”

4.The measures to cultivate the pragmatic competence

Pragmatic competence usually refers to the ability to use language in a specific communication environment. Therefore， enhancing the pragmatic competence of English learners is conducive to improving their English communicative competence. As the examples mentioned above， in communication， the lack of pragmatic competence may lead to the violation of pragmatic principles and misunderstanding. Here are my suggestions about cultivation of pragmatic competence.

In the process of English learning， learners can pay attention to the cultivation of pragmatic awareness and learn relevant pragmatic knowledge， such as deixis， euphemisms， PP， CP， etc.

In addition， English learners should create an English language environment， participate in English salons and English corners， and improve their English proficiency through practice.

Whats more， English learners should pay attention to the study of English culture， and deepen their understanding of British and American culture by watching English films， reading English books， magazines and so on.

3. Conclusion

In communication， the whole dialogue can proceed in an orderly manner only when both sides obey CP and PP. Although the misuse of pragmatic principles often occurs， this kind of phenomenon can be reduced if English learners strengthen their own pragmatic awareness， practice diligently and deepen the study of British and American culture and language.

References：

[1]何兆雄. Study of Politeness in Chinese and English Cultures[J]. 外國語， 1995， （5）： 2-8.

[2]陳佑林，何舉純.普通語言學概論[M].武漢：華中師范大學出版社，2018：117-129.

[3]Leech， Geoffrey N. Principles of Pragmatics[M]. New York Longman Inc， 1983.

作者簡介：

周穎（1997—），女，漢族，浙江，華中師范大學外國語學院英語系16級本科生，研究方向：英語師范。