中英社交语用失误对比 整理

English And Chinese Sociopragmatic Failures Contrast
Abstract: Because of the differences in cultural background , Chinese & English have their typical characters. If we wouldn't accumulate much knowledge about the differences between English & Chinese , we would make mistakes and sociopragmatic failures in daily and social communication . This paper mainly talk about sociopragmatic failures , which include three parts: the definition of the pragmatics and sociopragmatic failure ; the reflection of the sociopragmatic failure and how to avoid sociopragmatic failures for the sake of a better understanding in communication .
Key W ords:differences cultural background pragmatics sociopragmatic failure
Since Chinese and English comes to different social cultural circumstances , it contributes to big differences in using the two languages . An English learner who has little knowledge about the cultural background of the English countries may have sociopragmatic failure . So what is sociopragmatic failure ? I consider that we should know what is pragmatics firstly .
Part One : The Definition of the Pragmatics and Sociopragmatic Failure
And what is pragmatics ? Pragmatics is generally the study of natural language understanding , and especially the study of how context influences the interpretation of meanings . In another word , it is the study of the relationship between symbols and their interpreter . To cite an example : Lily wanted to play outside and Lily's mother said to Lily :" It's raining outside now ." Literally , her mother was talking about the raining day ; actually , it meant that Lily should not go out . However , an English learner who can't understand the implied meaning may lead to pragmatic failure . So pragmatic failure is when have communacations , the language users can not use the language rightly and express appropriately , leading to a unsuccessful conversation. The English linguist Thomas divided pragmatic failure into two parts : pragmaliguistic failure & sociopragmatic failure1. Here we mainly talk about the
1Thomas J．Cross—Cultural Pragmatic Failure[J]．Applied Linguistics，1983(14)：91—92．
sociopragmatic failure , which means when have communications , both sides can't understand each other rightly because of the different cultural environment . From this ,we can know that the usage of language is not only limited by the context , but also the different cultural backgrounds .
Part Two: the reflection of the sociopragmatic failure
Since we learn the definition of sociopragmatic failure , we'll enumerate some reflections of it from the following aspects : 1) Words can not be in accordance with the common usage of English ; 2) The language can not be used seemly in the context ; 3)Apply the Chinese common usage in the English communication .
1.Words can not be in accordance with the common usage of English
The group has some knowledge about English usage , however ,they don't know the English usage very well , which leads to sociopragmatic failure in social communiction .
For instance , a Chinese student met a new American friend on a party , he greeted the friend with the words :" How are you ? '' ,which made the friend confused . And this is because the way of greeting is not accord with the manner of foreign teacher . For "how are you ?"are the words used in acquaintances and "how do you do ?" or "nice to meet you ."are used in the first-meet friends .
2.The language can not be used seemly in the context
When have communications , we need to use different strategies according to different circumstances and targets , otherwise ,we would have sociopragmatic failures in the social communication .
Example: An employee want to smoke , so he said :"Mind if I smoke ?"
Nevertheless , this words are always said by the superiors to the inferiors or the parity of status depending on the principle of politeness . So the speaker have sociopragmatic failure for not consider the words' context .
3.Apply the Chinese common usage in the English communication
When use English , Chinese students often apply the Chinese common usage in the English communications ,which make the English people misunderstood the words' meaning .
Example: a Chinese student met his foreign teacher on the street by chance , he greeted the teacher with the words :" Where are you going ? '' ,which made his teacher surprised . And this is because the way of greeting is not accord with the manner of foreign teacher .
Part Three: how to avoid sociopragmatic failures
So how do we make ourselves more clearly and understood in English & Chinese communication and try our best to avoid the sociopragmatic failures ? I believe the following suggestions can be available for us .
1.Pay more attention on the backgrounds of western culture
Languages are combined with natives' culture ,which are not isolated and meanwhile ,reflecting the natives' belief and emotion . So one who has little knowledge about the western culture can't learn a language well . Moreover, for having little knowledge on the background of the western countries , when under
a environment which has different manners between English and Chinese , the
learners may use the Chinese manners in the circumstance ,which leads to an error . So only accumulate much knowledge about the western culture and cultural background , can we use English appropriately and have successful communications .
2.Pay more attention on the English and Chinese cultural contrast
Since the usage of the Chinese and English varies a lot for the different cultures , so on purpose to improve our ability of social communication ,we also need to pay more attention on the English and Chinese cultural contrast and analysis and find the similarity , the distinction and remember them .
3.Have cultural class
Having cultural class can give a good introduction of the western countries . From class ,they can know the customs , the traditional cultures , the lifestyle ,the ceremony and so on . By doing this ,they can learn the western culture more completely .
Certainly , in cross-cultural communication and under the different background , people's expressions and manners are also different . Therefore , we should have more
attention on the western countries . Meanwhile , we can also know the knowledge from the books . By doing these things ,we can know the implicit meaning according to different contexts and the communication relationship between the two sides . Only remember this , may we avoid the sociopragmatic failure and have a successful communication .
Reference :
1.Thomas J．Cross—Cultural Pragmatic Failure[J]．Applied Linguistics，1983(14)：91—92．
2.Mao Guoan . A practical Course in Contrastive Studies of English and Chinese , 2011
3.Hu Zhuanglin , Linguistics , A Course Book ,。