CONVEYNG A MESSAGE (general pragmatics)

Cooperative principle.Grice’s maxims, or maxims of conversation. Breaking the cooperative principle. Multiple conversational implicatures. (See Aitchison, p. 63-65). Intentional violation of the maxims of conversation is called flouting /`flautin/. In this case, the speaker remains cooperative, but expresses his or her thought very indirectly, often metaphorically. The listener is expected to be aware of what the speaker said. E.g. Student: How do you like my paper, professor? – Professor: The title is good. Kate: Ann has a new boyfriend. – Ann: I don’t like elephants. Floating differs from deception, an intentional violation of the maxims, which is hidden from the hearer. The speaker makes the listener believe that the statement is true, while it is not.

Principle of politeness. Principle of politeness is based on two major social requirements: “No criticism” and “No interference”. These requirements mean that the speaker should apply face-savings acts, or utterances and actions which help to avoid a potential threat to a person’s public self-image. Conversely, the speaker should not apply face-threatening acts, or utterances and actions which may threaten a person’s public self-image. The linguistic media that mediate the norms of social behavior and provide the speaker’s face-saving through courtesy, rapport, deference, and distance include special words and phrases (please, be so kind, it will be very nice of you), syntactic patterns (Open the window, will you?, Would/could you open the window, please), appropriate tones of voice, and acceptable forms of address. According to the principle of politeness, indirect forms of imperative speech are more preferable than the direct forms. One more medium for demonstrating politeness is hedges, or caution notes. E.g. As far as I know, they are married. You are ill, I guess. (See Aitchison, p. 100-101).

 

There are two types of politeness strategies. Positive politeness strategies aim to show solidarity with the listener. The speaker proposes to the listener some common action, which is most frequently expressed by the inclusive “we” and “let’s”. E.g. Let’s go to the movies this week. Why don’t we go to the movies this week? We really should go to the movies this week. In positive politeness, the speaker takes care of his / her own positive face (public self-image). Negative politeness strategies, on the other hand, show that the speaker respects the listener’s desire not to be imposed upon. The speaker inquires after the listener’s ability or willingness to do something. E.g. – I am having a party next Saturday night. Can you come? a) – Oh, I am sorry. I am leaving for Kyiv on Saturday. b) – Oh, yes, thank you. I’ll be there. The speaker can also express his or her desire indirectly. E.g. It’s cold in the room (= ‘Close the window’). Therefore, in negative politeness, the speaker takes care of the listener’s positive face.

 

Talking in turns. In conversation, speakers talk in turns. This is a social ritual partially prescribed by conventions. Talking in turns includes such regular phenomena as adjacency pairs, repairs, and interruptions. Adjacency pairs(See Aitchison, p. 99-100). Repairs (See Aitchison, p. 100). Interruptions are initiated by the listener who interrupts the speaker. Interruptions may be caused by the content of the utterance, the form of the utterance, and the communicative context. E.g. (content) You are to blame! You…– No, I am not guilty; (form) Shut up! I am… – Mind your language; (context) We are going to see a detective and… -- Well, I guess it’s not a telephone talk.

 

 

4. SITUATION OF SPEECH: Cross-cultural pragmatics.

 

Conversational strategies are culturally variable, i.e. they differ from country to country. Such differences have to be considered in teaching foreign languages. The examples of variations are:

direct negative answers to questions vs. elusive negative answers to questions;

compliments are accepted vs. compliments are rejected;

the speaker should inflate the listener (Eastern countries) vs. the speaker is not expected to inflate the listener (Western countries);

social rituals which require various adjacency pairs;

turn taking: talking simultaneously (Southern countries) vs. waiting for a pause to join in the conversation (Northern countries).

the use of silence and laughter as communicative signals.

The study of differences in expectations based on cultural patterns of communication is part of a broad area of investigation generally known as cross-cultural pragmatics.