跨文化语用失误的分析.docx

跨文化语用失误的分析.docx

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跨文化语用失误的分析

TheAnalysisOfPragmaticFailures

InCross-culturalCommunication

1.Introduction

Withtheglobalizationofthecontemporaryeconomyandsociety,interculturalcommunicationbecomesmoreandmorefrequent.However,differentculturalbackgroundsleadtodifferentlanguageconventionsandrules.Thatwillcausemisunderstandingevenobstaclesinthecross-culturalcommunication.Inordertoavoidmakingridiculousmistakesduringcommunication,peopleshouldhaveculturalawarenessandusethelanguageappropriatelytomakethecommunicationsuccessful.Thatisthecompetenceofcross-culturalcommunication.AsweallknowthatthroughmanyyearsofEnglishlearning,mostChinesestudentsmayhavelittleproblemingrammarandvocabulary,butonlyasmallproportionofthemcanachievepragmaticcompetence.Soitisnecessarytoknowthepragmaticfailuresinthecross-culturalcommunication（Leech,G.N.PrinciplesofPragmatics[M].NewYork:

Longman,1983:

32,150）.

Aboutthepragmaticfailures,Chinesescholarshavedonemuchworkandpeoplecanseesucharticlesinvariousperiodicals.ItwasfirstraisedbyThomas,J.Hebelievedthatpragmaticfailureincross-culturalcommunicationisacommonphonemon（Thomas,J.（1983）Cross-culturalPragmaticFailure[J].AppliedLinguistics,vol.4

（2）:

91-112）.However,thosearticlesjustdiscussorlistthedifferenttypesofthepragmaticfailuresandanalyzethepossiblereasonscausingpragmaticfailures.

Thethesisaimstostudyproblemsandcausesincross-culturecommunicationandthispaperalsoanalyzesthedifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineselearnersandthenofferssomemethods.ThispaperwantstoprovidethereaderswithsomebasicknowledgeaboutthelanguagedifferencebetweenEnglishandChinese.Meanwhile,itcanhelptheEnglishlearnerstodeveloptheirlanguageskillstomakeasmoothcross-culturalcommunication.

2.ProblemsinCross-cultureCommunication

Scio-pragmaticfailureoccurswhenpeopledonothavefullyunderstandingabouteachother’sculturaldifferenceincross-culturalcommunicationthustheychooseanimproperwaytocommunicationwitheachotherandcauseacommunicationbreakdown.Oatery（SeeHuWenzhong,1998）saidthattheChineseandwesterninterpersonalrelationshipsineightaspectsindailyconversations,namely,addressingpeople,initiatingconversations,arrangingavisitoractivity,conversationtopics,greetingothers,visitingsomeone,leave-taking,theuseof“Thankyou”

Now,Iwillchoosesometypicalcommonlyproblemstodiscussinfollowingparts.

2.1Greetings

Conventionalgreetingisakindofeffectivemeanstobuildandkeepsocialcontact.InChina,mostpeopletendtogreetacquaintancesorsomepeoplewith"Haveyouhadyourdinner?

"or"Haveyoueaten?

"InChineseopinion,thequestionsintheexamplearenaturalandnormal,butifyougreetthenativespeakersofEnglishthisway,itwillcertainlycausepragmaticfailureandtheymightthinkyouareinvitinghimtodinner.Infact,itisaChinesewayofgreetingwhenpeoplemeet.Ithasthesamemeaningwiththeword"hello"inEnglish.Thisphenomenonresultsinaquestionforustothinkover:

WhyareChineseareusedtousing"Haveyouhadyourdinner?

"or"Haveyoueaten?

”asgreeting?

LetmetakeforexampletherealityinChinabeforeLiberation.Chinawasoneofseriouslyfamine-strickencountriesintheworld.Manypeoplewerestarvedtodeathatthattime.Worsestill,between1959and1961,about40millionpeoplediedofstarvationthroughoutChina.ThatwasreallyahardtimefortheChinesepeople.Lateron,undertheleadershipofChina'sCommunistParty,theagricultureimproved,andpeoplestartedtoleadahappierlife.So,Chinesepeoplethinkthatfoodisthefoundationoflife.Soitisverynaturalforustouse"Haveyouhadyourdinner?

"asagreeting.ButwhenwegreetEnglishpeople,weshouldnotactthisexpression;insteada"Hello"woulddo.

2.2ComplimentsandThanks

Wecanalsoseetheculturaldifferencesinviewofthewayspeopleexpressgratitudeandcompliments.Chinesevalueofpolitenessisdifferentfromforeignone.PeopleintheWesttendtousetheirgratitudeandcomplimentsmorethanChinesepeople,andtheChinesetendtoacceptthanksandcomplimentslessdirectlyandfranklythanthewesternersdo.ToEnglish-speakingpeople,whoiswillingtousetheremarklike”Thankyou"toacceptthepraisefromotherpeople.Itisassumedthatthecomplimentissincereandthatthepraiseisforsomeworthyachievementorthings.Therefore,thereshouldbenoshowofnopretendedmodesty,falsehumility.However,modestyisoneofthetraditionalvirtuesforChinesepeople.Thecustomaryresponsetoacomplimentwouldbetosaythatoneisnotworthyofthepraise,orthatwhatonehasdoneishardlyenough.Acceptanceofacomplimentwouldimplylackofmanners.Soweshouldpayattentiontothedifferenceinacceptingcomplimentsandthanks.

2.3ColorWords

Thoughforpeopleallovertheworldthecolorsarethesame,differentnationshavedifferentpreferencetowardscolors.Indifferentculture,colorsindicatedifferentanalogicalmeaningsandassociations,whicharequiteoppositesometimes.Thisdifferencewillbringdifficultiestotwopartiesinunderstandingandcommunication.Somelanguageshaveonlytwocolorterms:

blackandwhite.Thethirdtermisred,ifalanguagehasthreecolorsystems.Atermthatmayincludeyelloworangebutthathasafocalpointveryclosetothe“red”ofEnglishInadditiontotheexactfactthatdifferentlanguagesmayhavedifferentdivisionsofcolor,differentlanguageshowsldifferentcolorrelatedassociation.Forexample,sincehewasmadedirector,thecompanyhasbeenrunningintheblack,insteadofthered.Inourtraditionalmind,blackalwaysrepresentssomethingbadorinferior,whileredmeansjoy.However,inthisexampleintheblackmeanstomakeprofit,andintheredmeanslosethemoney.

2.4Inotherfields

Culturaldifferencescanbeembodiedinmanyotherfields.Suchasreligiousbeliefs,values,taboos,etc.Intermsofreligiousbeliefs,ChinaisdeeplyinfluencedbyConfucianism,BuddhismandTaoismwhileUSandsomeotherwesterncountriespromoteChristianity（HelenOatey.TheCustomsandLanguageofSocialInteractioninEnglish）.Asforvalues,itismostevidentlyreflectedintheattitudestowardsprivacy.Inwesterncountrieswhereindividualismisencouraged,individualprivacyisespeciallyprotectedandrespectedbyothers.However,theconceptofprivacyisratherweakinChinawherecollectivismisadvocated.Asfortaboos,peoplewhohavejustmeteachotherforthefirsttimewouldfrequentlytouchontopicslikeage,sex,income,maritalstatuswhichisregardedtobeveryimpoliteandoffensiveinwesternculture.Moreover,Chinesepeoplecreatedmanyidioms,someofwhichcanbetranslatedword-to-wordintoEnglish,whilesomearenot.Forexample,theidiom"挥金如土"istranslatedas"spendmoneylikewater".Thesearealsocausedbydifferentcultures.Ifwedonottakethedifferentculturesintoconsideration,weareverylikelytohavepragmaticfailuresincross-culturalcommunication.

3.CausesOfPragmaticFailure

Therearevariouscausesofpragmaticfailure.Themainreasonsmaybe:

students’inappropriatetransferofthemotherlanguageandstudents’tendencyofjudgingorinterpretingbehaviordifferentfromothersaccordingtotheirownculturalstandardandtheinappropriateteachingmethods.Conflictofdifferentvaluesystemandstudents’insufficientexposuretothetargetcultureaswellasalackofcomparativestudiesofthetwoculturescanalsoleadtopragmaticfailure.Inthefollowingparts,Ijustchoosesomepossiblereasonstobediscussed.

3.1InappropriateTransference

Negativetransferofthemotherlanguageisthemostimportantreasonforpragmalinguisticfailure（何自然、阎庄，1986（l）:

52-57）.EFLLearnerstransferthelinguisticpatternoftheirmothertongueintothetargetlanguagewhichlookssyntacticallyandsemanticallysimilar,butconveyarathermanyoftheChineseEFLlearners’errorsresultfromthenegativetransferofChinese（Odlin,T.LanguageTransfer[M].Cambridge:

CambridgeUniversityPress,1989:

7）.Hereisatypicalexamplesforyou.WhenaforeignervisitedhisChinesefriend,theChinesehostofferedhimacupofteaandsaid,“Pleasehaveacupoftea.”Onthisoccasion,theforeignguestmaybethoughthisfriendwasinsincerely.InEnglish,“please,”meansthespeakerwanttogetbenefitsfromthehearer.ButinChinese,wecanuse“请”（qing,please）bothinofferingandrequestingsituationtoshowpoliteness.Andhereinthissituation,weshoulduse“Wouldyoulikeacupoftea?

”Soifweexpressourownmethodinawrongway,itmaycausesometroubles.

3.2TheDifferenceOfSocietyandCulture

DomesticresearchersconsideredculturaldifferenceastheprimaryfactorleadingtoScio-pragmaticfailure.Moreover,accordingtoHalliday,theoutstandingEnglishlinguist,languageisasocialbehaviorandaformofbehavioralpotency.Thewholesocialenvironmentconstitutesaculturalenvironment.Cultureisjustthebehavioralpotencywhichrealizesthemeaningfulpotencythroughlinguisticformandthemeaningfulpotencyconvertsintovocabularygrammaticalpotencythroughlinguisticsystem.Wecanalsoseethatspeechbehaviorisrestrictedbysocialcultureenvironmenttoagreatextent.Ifwealwaysexplaintheverbalbehaviorofpeoplefromotherculturesaccordingtoourownculturalstandards,itwillinevitablyleadtounnecessarymisunderstandingsandevenconflict.

Therefore,onlypayingattentiontowordingandphrasing,complyingwithgrammaticalrulesandignoringsocialandculturaldifferencesareboundtoresultinp