Transcript Unit 9
Unit 9 The use of English (II) Review • What are the three aspects of a speech act, according to John Searle? Use an example to illustrate. Major contents • 10.1 Cooperation in using English • 10.2 Politeness in using English • 10.3 Face considerations in using English • 10.4 Developing pragmatic competence 10.1 Cooperation in using English Cooperative Principle 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. H. P. Grice, Logic and Conversation, 1975 Maxims of the principle • Quality: Be truthful. a. Do not say what you believe to be false. b. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. • Quantity: Be informative. a. Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purposes of the exchange) b. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. Relation: Be relevant. Make sure that whatever you say is relevant to the conversation at hand. Manner: a. b. c. d. Be perspicuous. Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambiguity. Be brief(avoid unnecessary prolixity) Be orderly. Plausibility of the maxims • P. 172 No. 9 Flouting of the maxims He is a machine. A: Where were you last night? B: I went out. A: Do you like the sisters? B: I like the younger sister. A: What do you think of my new hairstyle? B: Your dress is nice. A: Let’s get the kids something. B: Okay, but I veto I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M. Implicature • It is a kind of extra meaning that is not contained in the utterance. When any of the maxims is blatantly violated and the hearer knows that it is being violated, a particular conversational implicature arises. Some properties of conversational implicature a. It can be cancelled, either by an explicit declaration that the speaker is opting out or, implicitly, by the co-text and context. (cancellability可取消性) A: Do you want some coffee? B: Coffee would keep me awake. (But any way, I’d like some. b. It can be inferred (calculability可推导性) P. 170 No. 3 How to calculate an implicature? a.The conventional meaning of the words used, and the references of referring expressions; b.the cooperative principle and its maxims; c.the co-text and context; d.background knowledge; e.the supposition that all participants suppose that all relevant items falling under (1)-(4) are available to them all. A professor writes a recommendation letter as follows: “X has regularly and punctually attended all my classes. All his assignments were handed in on time and very neatly presented. I greatly enjoyed having X in my class.” ASK: What is his implied meaning? 1 Since I have good reason to believe that she has information about X’s writing skills, the speaker has deliberately failed to observe (flouted) the maxim “Be informative” 2 But I have no reason to believe that she has really opted out of the cooperative principle. So, she is only being apparently uninformative. 3 If I draw the inference that X hasn’t got very good writing skills, then the speaker is being cooperative. She knows that I am capable of working this out. 4 Therefore, she has implied (or “implicated” to use Grice’s term) that the student’s writing skills are not very good. c. It may be indeterminate:in many cases,the list of possible implicatures of an utterance is open.(indeterminacy不确定性) P. 170 No. 4 d. Non-detachability [given the same proposition] A: Are you coming to the concert tomorrow? B1: There will be an exam soon. B2: Won’t there be an exam soon? B3: There will be an exam, won’t there? 10.2 Politeness in using English Leech’s Politeness Principle • Minimize (other things being equal) the expression of impolite beliefs and • Maximize (other things being equal) the expression of polite beliefs. The 6 maxims of Leech’s PP tact generosity approbation modesty agreement sympathy • Tact Maxim – Minimize cost to other – Maximize benefit to other • Generosity Maxim – Minimize benefit to self – Maximize cost to self Please wait a second. Give me a hand. Could you sharpen these pencils, please. (less polite) Could these pencils be sharpened, please. (more polite) Could I have some more soup? (less polite) Is there some more soup? (more polite) I can offer you my car if you need it. You can offer me your car because I need it. Do have a bit more. Just have a taste of the fish. • Approbation Maxim – Minimize dispraise of other – Maximize praise of other • Maxim of modesty – Minimize praise of self – Maximize dispraise of self What a marvelous meal you cooked! What an awful meal you cooked! A: This is one of the best articles I’ve ever read. B: Yes, it’s brilliant, isn’t it? •Agreement Maxim Minimize disagreement between self and other Maximize agreement between self and other •Sympathy Maxim Minimize antipathy between self and other Maximize sympathy between self and other I’m terribly sorry to hear about your cat. I’m delighted to hear about your cat. Politeness scale: Directness direct Could you possibly answer the phone? Would you mind answering the phone? Can you answer the phone? Will you answer the phone? I want you to answer the phone. Answer the phone. indirect Politeness scale: Cost - benefit benefit Have another sandwich. Enjoy your holiday. Look at that. Sit down. Hand me the newspaper. Peel these potatoes. Cost 10.3 Face considerations in using English • Face, the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself, consisting in two related aspects: According to Brown and Levinson (1978/1987): • negative face: the basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction i.e. to the freedom of action and freedom from imposition • positive face: the positive consistent self- image or ‘personality’ (crucially including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and approved of) claimed by interactants. Presentation session • Strategies for doing FTAs in English Assignments • PP. 172-173 No. 10 • PP. 176-177 No. 2, 3 • PP. 178-180 No. 11