Pragmatic Divergences Between English and Chinese

【Abstract】It’s significant for an English learner to avoid the misunderstanding in the communication, specially to one who intends to use English as a communicating medium. The writer tried to analyze and the divergences of culture and language between Chinese and English speaking countries to avoid the misusing.

【Key words】 Pragmatics; Cross?鄄culture; Divergence; Communication

【中图分类号】H31 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）02-0005-02

1.Causes of pragmatic divergence

People in different countries, even in different nations, they are familiar with their own cultures and languages. The divergences make pits between various groups. Through analyzing and comprehending the divergences of culture and language between China and western countries to avoid the misunderstanding in the communication, it’s significant for English learners, specially to one who intends to use English as a communicating medium.

Which kind of misusing is easy to be made in the cross?鄄cultural communication? It’s a very important topic in investigating filed. Tannen has mentioned in the cross?鄄cultural communication. Due to different cultures, communicators have eight possible divergences in speaking form. They are “when to speak, what to be spoken, the speed and the distance ofpause, how the listener expresses his listening action, intonation and rhyme, formulaic language, indirection of language, cohesion of structure and coherence of meaning”.(The Pragmatics of Cross?鄄culture Communication) Tannen believed that the analysis of the term of cross?鄄cultural pragmatics is analysis the language itself in fact.

2.Facts and examples of misusing

From 1980’, many researchers in our country began to focus on the pragmatic divergences between English and Chinese, particularly in the investigations of pragmatic mistakes in communication between Chinese English learners and native speakers.

Yan Zhuang made a test in 1985, 79 young English teachers of college had been tested to distinguish the pragmatics of Chinese and English. It’s the first comprehensive investigation in our country at this area. The contents of this test include 20 multiple choices. There is a paragraph of simple description of the scene on every top of subject. It contains persons who in talking, their social relationship, location and environment, etc. Each subject involves a lot of common pragmatic phenomena. They judge the conclusion of test with Thomas theory. There are two aspects in pragmatic mistakes what be made by Chinese learner. The first is not suitable to the native speaker’s language customs, wrong use of English expressive form. The second is, don’t understand the correct expression of English, only according to mother language, just use the Chinese word meaning and structure to construct English.

For example,

A secretary (B) of the Chinese and foreign country joint company, one day did a good job, the manager (A) was very satisfied with her, and said:

A：Thanks a lot. That a great help.

B： Never mind.

Here B wants to express “Not at all.”, “You are welcome.” or something like that, but she used the English “never mind”, in English “never mind” is to express someone do not care about the apologist’s wrong did, it’s a conventional phrase. B obviously used a not correct phrase, led to a linguistic mistake.

Yan Zhuang mentioned,“Chinese students’ social pragmatic mistake in communication is the one which people don’t understand the divergence of culture background to each other, so effect the choice of linguistic form. It concerns about speakers’ status, linguistic field and the familiar degree of topic.”《汉英语用文化》 For example , the answer of a congratulation, in English we say: “Thank you.” , in Chinese always say: “You flatter me.” , “So ashamed.” like these. And the assistants use the polite expressions, in English, they say:“Can I help you?” But, the speaker in China will say: “What do you want?” If an assistant in western country did so, it’s not very polite.

Oatey carried out the cultural and linguistic divergence in communication between Chinese and westerner. The outline of eight aspects: “appellation, greeting, beginning, topic arrangement of visit, interview, farewell and the use of ‘Thank you!’”（Chinese and Western Interpersonal Relationship）

Oatey pointed that strangers should find a suitable subject at the very beginning depending on environment. They could not ask these questions brusquely at first:

Where are you from?

Are you from America?

How old are you?

Are you married?

Where is your husband (or wife)?

How many children have you got?

How much do you earn?

How can I improve my English?

Lots of topics are acceptable to both of westerner and Chinese, such as personal hobby, holiday, weather, locative or native event, occupation, movie or book. But many westerners regard the following materials as private things. So should be more careful when choose them. For instance, westerner think requiring of age is rude, special for women. We should avoid such a direct question: How old are you? Westerners always refuse to answer it.

For example,

A: How old are you?

B: I am a very wise person.

And another westerner regard people’s salary is a totally privacy, then you’d better not to ask:

How much do you earn?

People in west accept to talk about price, but often do not ask “How much” directly, and should find a indirect way. Some else, westerner’s talking of family usually through this way:

Is your family a large one?

Are there many in your family?

Those inquiries sound much more flexible, the partner can say something about parents, brothers or sisters, if there is a married person, also can talk about spouse or kid. Let see these two questions:

Is your husband (or wife) with you?

How many children have you got?

Single person or divorced person will be embarrassed. Besides, the attitude to patients also has a great difference in language. It will be discussed in the following.

Apart from those what we have mentioned. Chinese people in the cross?鄄cultural communication is easily to be led to a misunderstanding in the area of first chatting, farewell, refusing, responding and organizing of information.

Wang Dexing provided an English capability test to 110 college students who had just finished junior English courses. The comments of this test contain 50 multiple choices what enclose a chief background direction. Be provided only the daily life plot. It would not trouble these students with vocabulary and grammar. The purpose of this investigation is exploring Chinese English learners’ typical pragmatic misusing in cross?鄄cultural communication. Base on the counting analysis of testing result. Twenty?鄄seven questions were under the difficult index of 0.7 degree what be regarded as the toughest part of these tested students. The test involves appellation, greeting, introduction, chat, farewell, request, inquiry, offering and apology.

3.Elements of pragmatics

According to the conclusions of these scholars who did investigation in pragmatic divergence, there are nine elements of pragmatics. The following will provide a detailed and distinct statement. 3.1 Appellation

Each kind of languages has their particular appellation systems or using principles. When persons meet together, they use the name to call each other. There are many language communities ordinarily use this type of appellative style, including Chinese and English. Compare with Chinese, English appellative form and its using rule are a little special. Such as,using of first name (FN). English has not the “title + first name (TFN)” appellative form. What being ignored by students is that English has only two kinds of basic appellative form. 1) “first + surname” (TSN); 2) “title name” (FN).

3.2 Greeting

The using of greeting shall obey the principle of interaction. A is greeting B, B shall also greet A. In the other words, “greeting” this language action is always highly stipulated, even though it’s ceremonious to use the routine formula.

3.3 Introduction

Introduction is also a routine action, and with its obvious culture character. In the formal introduction we used to use the “title +surname”, besides, when the introducers and the introduces act and react to each other, they shall use longer sentences and more formal words. On contrast, the informal scene needs not the title and also the formal words or long sentences. Simple and short sentences will be more appreciated.

3.4 Chat

Chat has its own social function which is to adjust the people’s relationship in the social touching. Chat is a high routine language. So listener can regularly extinct the speaker is chatting right now. In daily life, we’ll also find something funny in other free talks.

3.5 Farewell

Farewell is the ending of a conversation. One of the functions of farewell is to strengthen the speaker’s relationship. This function can be realized through several types of farewell.

3.6 Request

The character of request language action is that listener has right to accept or refuse freely. The response of the request can not only be “yes” or “no”, it’s not enough. The one ought to give a choice between accepting or refusing. Escaping from the request is only one kind of refusing.

3.7 Inquiry

Inquiry language action can be looked as one of request, a request for information commonly, which follows the “inquiry” is an answer. It seems very easy, but to a foreign language student, it may be a headache.

3.8 Offering

“Offering” and “request” has some parts alike. That is they will be received or refused either. So people who want to offer help, shall avoid being treated with refusing and being in an embarrassment, A regular method is trying a inquiry first or offering in a indirect way.

3.9 Apology

Apology language action is an opening acting, speakers confess their false doing or missing thing in public. The function of apology is to compensate for the impolite word or act. Establish or recover the harmonious relationship for each other.

4.Two kinds of ability in cross?鄄cultural communication

In cross?鄄cultural language communication, social cultural knowledge is the key element of the structure of communicating capability. Communication is a process of double directions. In order to avoid the barrier in cross?鄄cultural communication, people should have two kinds of ability at least: First, the sensible feeling to the incomplete success at communication progress; Second, the ability of discovering the communication barrier and knowing how to make it up.

Bibliography：

[1]Tannen, D. “The Pragmatics of Cross?鄄cultural Communication” Applied linguistics, 1984.

[2]Datey, H. “Chinese and Western Interpersonal Relationship” In Ha, Wen Zhong 1988.

[3]阎庄，《汉英语用文化》，北京：冶金工业出版社 1986.

[4]王得杏，《跨文化交际》，北京：外研社 1990.