Cross-cultural Pragmatic Failure and Countermeasures—A Case Based on College Students in Ningbo 学年论文.doc

Cross-cultural Pragmatic Failure and CountermeasuresA Case Based on College Students in Ningbo 1 Introduction Learning a second language is to develop the pragmatic competence, including language competence and application (He,1997). Bechman believes that linguistic competence includes organizational competence and pragmatic competence. The former means the accuracy of the language, the latter refers to the appropriateness of the language in the certain situation (Bechman,1990) .Pragmatic failure was first proposed by Thomas (1983), referring to the inability to understand “what is meant by what is said” (Thomas, 1983). The failures above render it more difficult for college students in the crosscultural communication, thus being the main causes of pragmatic failures. Based on the case study of college students in Ningbo, the article is meant to find out the pragmatic failure existed in college students when talking with native speakers and give some countermeasures to pragmatic failure. 2 Pragmatic Failures in Cross-cultural CommunicationAlthough students have learned a great number of vocabulary, phrases and sentences and known a few grammar rules, they may not speak with proper language, causing the pragmatic failure. As a result, misunderstanding happens in response to greetings, saying goodbye, showing gratitude and answering for apologies, etc.According to the survey among the Ningbo College students, 19% of English learners, who learn English for many years, follow the Chinese greeting customs to express their greetings to their western friends. Another cause for pragmatic failure exists in the misunderstanding by the unawareness of target-language culture.In order to express their care to other people, Chinese people want to inquire other peoples age, address, job and their income. Such questions are the privacy for westerners.Chinese people seem to pay little attention to the concept of privacy while native English speakers value their privacy very much. Questions about a persons age, marital status, salary or the price of an item are perfectly acceptable in Chinese culture, but they are not in Western culture. The analysis of three types of pragmatic failures above reveals that the studentspragmatic competence is not adequately developed. They made mistakes where it was common sense for western customs and culture. They proved to be insufficient in the range and depth of the knowledge of western customs.3. Methods to overcome the Pragmatic Failure in Cross-cultural CommunicationAfter carefully pondering over the case study among Ningbo College students, it is quite necessary for us to raise students awareness of cross-cultural differences. The followings are some suggestive ways to overcome the pragmatic failure.3.1Make the textbook improved to develop culture awarenessFor many decades, colleges have emphasized in only the teaching of grammar and vocabulary. Most of the exercises are based on the textbooks. What appear in the book is often different from the reality. In order to communicate well in real life, the textbooks should be replaced. Besides, textbook compilers should add more cultural information to textbooks because if we teach language without teaching at the same time the culture in which it operates, we are teaching meaningless symbols or symbols to which the students attach the wrong meaning.3.2 Provide real context in the textbooksHe Ziran said that one of the biggest drawbacks for Chinese English-learners are lack of context (He,1997). It is suggested that there should be oral test in the English exams. Only in this way, an increasing number of students will open their mouths to speak English. Watching film and TV is a good way to learn English under unique context. It is hoped that more channels will be provided in English learning, from which, children learn English will be much easier. Besides, pair work and team work in English class are efficient ways to offer context for learners.  3.3 Improve teaching strategies in the development of pragmatic awarenessTeachers should consciously reflect cultural perspectives in the course of teaching and let students know that a good command of language forms alone is inadequate for the needs of communication. For example, while teaching culturally loaded words, they should explain not only grammatical usage but also referential meanings and social meanings. Furthermore, teachers themselves should be bi-cultural, or at least familiar with the target culture. 4. ConclusionIt is high time for college teachers and undergraduates to raise their cross-cultural awareness. To reduce pragmatic failure, countermeasures like improving the textbooks, training in the specific contest and changing the traditional way of teaching has been put forward. The pragmatic problems reflected in Ningbo College students is the common problems shared by all Chinese undergraduates. The phenomena should be given primary importance. References1 Bchman, L.,1990. Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing. Oxford University.2 Thomas, J., 1983. Cross-cultural failure. Applied Linguistics, quoted from He Zhaoxiong, 2003. Selected Reading for Pragmatics. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.3 何自然，1997.语用学与英语学习.上海外语教育出版社。3