摘 要

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Research purpose 2

1.3 Structure of the thesis .3

2. Literature review 4

2.1 Overview of linguistic adaptation theory 4

2.2 Overview of pragmatic failure 5

2.3 Previous research at home and abroad 6

3. Analysis of pragmatic failures in Sino-US business communication 9

3.1 Classification of pragmatic failures in business communication..........................9

3.2 Causes of pragmatic failures...............................................................................13

3.2.1 Cultural factors.........................................................................................13

3.2.2 Ways of thinking.....................................................................................15

3.2.2.1 Comprehensive thinking versus dialectical thinking...................16

3.2.2.2 Intuitive thinking versus rational thinking...................................16

3.2.2.3 Spiral thinking versus linear thinking..........................................17

3.2.3 Standardized system 17

3.2.3.1 Differences in communication norm 17

3.2.3.2 Differences in moral rule............................................................18

3.3 Remedies for pragmatic failures........................................................................19

3.3.1 Construction of mutual cognitive environment.......................................19

3.3.2 Avoidance of pragmatic presupposition barriers.....................................21

3.3.3 Obedience to linguistic adaptations.........................................................22

4. Conclusion 25

References 26

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to be endowed with an opportunity of conveying fervid gratitudes to those who help me in this thesis.

I am most indebted to my supervisor, Prof. Chen Haitao for his rigorous and diligent supervision, insightful comments and heartfelt patience because he has been kind enough to spend his time reading and checking the drafts of the thesis. Therefore, I have the great chance to achieve great inspiration from our effective discussions. It is his encouragements that inspires me when writing this thesis.

I am deeply obliged to Prof. Chen Haitao whose pertinent guidance and great suggestions have helped me complete the thesis.

In the end, I would like to appreciate timely assitance and moderate supervision from my classmates, which encourages me to work on the thesis energetically and enthusiastically.

Abstract

Sino-US trades conspire to precipitate pragmatic failures in recent years. Any pragmatic failure in Sino-US business communication is bound to bias business cooperation in modern society, which makes the successful closing of Sino-US business communication an exploratory subject with realistic significance. Pragmatic failure is closely related to cultural background and communication mode, which hinders the smooth presentation of communicative effectiveness to a certain extent. Many researchers at home and abroad have done a large quantity of studies on pragmatic failures. Based on previous researches on pragmatic failures and guided by pragmatic presupposition and relevance theory, the thesis aims to probe into pragmatic failures in Sino-US business communication from the perspective of linguistic adaptation theory. A detailed analysis of pragmatic failueres is conducted in proper sequence. The thesis briefly introduces the classification of pragmatic failures , illustrates causes of pragmatic failures, and then proposes remedies for pragmatic failures in business communication.

It is noticeable that the thesis endeavors to exert positive influences on Sino-US business communications for win-win scenario. Effective remedies for pragmatic failures are expected to galvanize Sino-US business communicators and help forge a close bond so as to boost in-depth Sino-US business communication.

The thesis is comprised of four chapters. The first is an introduction, the second is the literature review and the fourth is the conclusion. The third is the main body of the thesis. Chapter three briefly introduces the classification of pragmatic failures, explores main causes of pragmatic failures: cultural factors, ways of thinking and standardized system, and elaborate remedies for pragmatic failures.

Keywords: Business communication; Linguistic adaptation theory; Pragmatic failure; Remedies

中文摘要

中美两国近年来贸易日益密切，语用失误不可避免，一旦中国与美国的贸易交际出现偏差，商务合作也随之受到影响，因此商务交流日益重要，这也是使得中美商务交流的圆满落幕成为一个具有现实意义的探索性课题。语用失误与文化背景、交际方式有着密切联系，在一定程度上阻碍了交际效果的顺利呈现，因而一直为学术界所重视。众多国内外学者基于各个角度进行大量探索，并获得卓越的研究成果。本文借鉴对语用失误现象的研究成果，以维索尔伦的语言顺应论为理论基础，以预设和关联理论为指导，研究中美商务谈判中的语用失误问题，详尽地阐明了语言顺应论视角下中美商务交流中语用失误的原因以及规避语用失误的相应策略。

本文旨在就中美商务交流中的语用失误问题察类明故，提出有效规避语用失误的策略，使得中美两国能够增进商务互信，中美商务交流得以深入进行，进而实现双赢。

本文共分四章节。第一章为引言，第二章为文献综述，第四章为结论。第三章是本文的主体部分。第三章简要介绍了语用失误的分类并结合具体失误实例加以分析，详细地探究了中美商务谈判中语用失误的原因：文化，思维方式以及标准化体系，并提出了规避语用失误的策略。

关键词：商务交流；语言顺应论；语用失误；策略

1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

Business communication is viewed as an important way to lead cross-cultural trades to a new level against the backdrop of globalization in economy. Due to its ebb and flow as we can see, business communication is also considered as the main venue of cultural conflicts and exchanges. In order to prevent communicators from losing confidence for their lack of communication competence in business communication and greatly optimize the process of Sino-US communication, many scholars both at home and abroad have done researches on pragmatic failures and make professional studies on them from different perspectives.

As a comparatively new branch of study in the area of linguistics, pragmatics is “a general cognitive, social, and cultural perspective on linguistic phenomenons in relation to their usage in forms of behaviour” ( Verschueren, 1999). Cooperative Principle(Grice, 1975) is the fundamental rule guiding conversational communication in business communication[5]. Leech (1983) thinks of linguistics as the combination of “grammar” and “pragmatics”. Communication failures arise from lack of these two competence. Xiang Jixiu (2011) illustrates the phenomenon of pragmatic failures and further analyzes this phenomenon by applying the theory of cognitive context to investigate causes of producing pragmatic failures.

However, few scholars discuss about causes of pragmatic failures in Sino-US communication from the perspective of adaptation theory, and there are still some limitations within the previous studies. To begin with, many scholars are dedicated to attribute pragmatic failures to cultural differences, negative transfer of mother language, cognitive context, etc. Other factors such as linguistic adaptation theory, pragmatic presupposition and relevance theory are not so often used to explore the cause of pragmatic failure. Furthermore, this thesis think of more than one perspective