英語語義失敗fragmaticfailure

1、PragmaticfailurePragmaticfailure:pragmaticfailureoccurswhenthespeakerfailstouselanguageeffectivelytoachieveaspecificcommunicativepurposewhenthehearerfailstorecognizetheintentiontheillocutionaryfceofthespeaker’sutterancei

2、nthecontextocommunication.Therearetwokindsofpragmaticfailure:pragmalinguisticfailuresociopragmaticfailure.1.Pragmalinguisticfailure1.1UsingtheChinesewayofspeaking(1)ResponsestocomplimentsA:Youreallydidagreatjob.B:Don’tme

3、ntionit.OnenotfamiliarwithChinesecustomswouldgenerallyfindtheseresponsestocomplimentsannoyingimpoliteatbest.Generally“Thankyou”willsufficesometimes“Thankyoubutit’snothingreally”.(2)ReceivingThanksA:Thankyousomuch.B:Thisi

4、swhatIshoulddo.B’sanswersareliteraltranslationsofChineseutterancesinreceivingthanks.Itshouldberespondedwith“Withpleasure”“I’mgladtobeofhelp”etc.(3)AcceptingOffersSituation:AChinesestudentwasatanativespeaker’shome.Host:Wh

5、atwouldyouliketodrinkStudent:Nonono.Notroubleplease.(Thehostdidnotservehimanythingtodrink.)InChineseculturewhenthehostofferssomethingtodrinkeattheguestwillusuallyrefuseatfirstbysaying‘no’whethershewouldliketotakeitnot.Th

6、enthehostmustkeeponaskingtheguesttoaccepttheofferuntilsheacceptsit.IncontrastthenativeEnglishspeakergenerallyexpectsthattheguestwillgiveatruthfulreplydoesnotserveanydrinkfoodiftheguestsays‘no’.Asaresult，theChineseguest’s

7、improperreplylefthimthirstybecausethestrategyhesubconsciouslyusedisnotappropriateinthetargetlanguage.1.2inappropriatetransfersemanticallyequivalentstructuresAtthelexicallevelChinesemighttakeitfgrantedthattheChinesewdsare

8、equivalenttothoseofEnglishinculturalconnotationthentransferthehabitofChineselanguageuseintointerculturalcommunicationcontexts.Someexpressionsseemquiterightaccdingtothesentencestructuregrammar.Howeveritwillhaveadifferentm

9、eaningifitappearsinadialogue.Example:Situation:ThedrugstesinatownareusuallyopenonSundays.AnEnglishvisitdidn’tknowthatsoheaskedtheChineseguide.A:ArethedrugstesopenonSundaysB:Ofcourse.(Thevisitseemedembarrassed.)Theexpress

10、ion“ofcourse”doesnotalwaysequaltheChinesewd“dangran”.HereBwantstogiveapositiveanswer.Howeverheusesthephrase“ofcourse”mistakenlybecause“ofcourse”impliesthatthespeakerhasaskedaboutsomethingwhichisselfevidentwhichonthewheth

11、ertohaveabreaknot.T:DoyouhaveawatchS:YesIhave.（4）（5）addresseeinterpretsthatspeakers’utteranceasagenuinequestionratherthanacomplaintoftheblnessofthesouparequesttotellherwhatthetimeis.1.5Igningthatawholesentencemayhavesome

12、specialmeaninginagivensituationItmaybeahabitfthestudentstoansweraquestionwithawholesentencehoweveritisnotalwayssuitablebecausesometimesawholesentencecanhaveadifferentmeaning.ExampleA:JohnhaveyoufinishedyourhomewkB:YesIha

13、vefinishedmyhomewk.Itwillbeniceifyouusethesimpleexpression“yesIhave.”HoweverBusesthewholesentencehereinstead.AsaresultitgivestheheareranimpressionthatBistiredofansweringsuchquestionsheisgettingintoatemper.2.Sociolinguist

14、icfailure2.1CulturalvaluejudgmentsIninterculturalcommunicationbeingunawareofeachother’srespectivesocialculturaltraditiontheinterlocutsmayparticipateinthecommunicationwiththeirownculturalvaluesusetheirownculturalsystemsto

15、interpretthenewsituationstheyexperience.(1)Situation:AnAmericanteacherwastalkingtoaChinesestudent.T:YourEnglishisexcellent.S:Nono!MyEnglishisverypoitisfarfrombeingperfect.IntheexampletheChineselearnerusedpolitemodestexpr

16、essionsofacceptingacomplimentinChinese.ShehadtransferredtheChineseappropriatepolitenessstrategyofselfdenigrationtoEnglishasawayofshowingmodesty.ThiskindofresponsemaybeperceivedasembarrassingbecauseitimpliesthatthenativeE

17、nglishspeaker’scomplimentisquestionable.(2)Situation:AfteraChinesepersonstayedinherCanadianfriend’shouseshewasreadytoleave.Chinese:I’msryItookupyoutoomuchtime.Canadianfriend:Noyoudidn’t.IntheconversationtheCanadianfriend

18、thoughtwhattheChinesesaidwasnottruerespondedtohercarefullyimmediatelybysaying‘Noyoudidn’t’.TheChinesepersonwantedtoexpresspolitenessbutbeingunfamiliarwithChinesecultureherfrienddidnotunderstthepragmaticmeaning.‘Thankyou.

19、Ireallyappreciateyourtime.’wouldhavebeenappropriateinthiscontext.(3)A:DoyoulikerugbyB:IamaNewZealeryouknow.A:(confused)AwasconfusedbecauseABdidnotsharethesamesystemofknowledgebeliefs.AhadnoideathattheNewZealersloverugby.