ABriefAnalysisonthePragmaticMistakesintheOralEnglishofChineseCollegeStudentsandCorrespondingStrategies

SimingWang

【Abstract】For most of the Chinese college students， their most frequent pragmatic failures and mistakes in their oral English， mainly come in two ways： linguistic mistakes and pragmatic mistakes .This paper is designed to shed light on the analysis on the reason of certain selected pragmatic mistakes and search for corresponding solutions to such linguistic phenomenon in their spoken English .

【Key words】pragmatic mistakes； Oral English； intercultural communication

Introduction

Some of the most frequent pragmatic failures and mistakes made by Chinese students in oral English mainly come in two ways： linguistic mistakes and pragmatic mistakes （Wang， 2012）. Yet relevant studies have found that pragmatic mistakes are more likely to cause communicative failures than linguistic mistakes. Therefore， the core of ESL is to equip learners with pragmatic awareness and competence. This paper is designed to shed light on the analysis on the causes of certain selected pragmatic mistakes and search for corresponding solutions to such linguistic phenomenon in the oral English of Chinese students.

Background of the research：

For most of the Chinese college students， after over ten years of English learning， could have a solid foundation of English grammar and knowledge， which allows them to gain good grades in examination but they are very equally excellent at communicating with English native speakers. Failures in intercultural communication caused by pragmatic mistakes in their oral English are observed to be the bigger killer of successful intercultural communication. In the college English teaching， the focus has for a long time been placed on the cultivation of linguistic competence while pragmatic competence has been under sung or even neglected. Therefore， in most Chinese universities and colleges， being able to pass the CET 4/6 is never synonymous with being excellent at intercultural communication with English native speakers.

Pragmatic mistakes in Oral English of Chinese college students

Pragmatic proficiency refers to the ability to accurately comprehend a language and to put it to effective use （Sun， 2014）. From the definition， it could be clearly seen that， during the process of intercultural communication， speakers might use correct grammatical structures， but misunderstanding in their communication might occur when certain words， phrases or sentences are spoken at the wrong time or in the wrong place. In other words， their language used in oral and instant communication might not be in the same way as it is in native expression. For example， when Chinese college students want to express “我有點事”， most of them would say “I have a few things”， but actually this sentence should be “I have something to do” or “I have something to attend to” in English， another one “哪里哪里”， would usually be literally translated as “where where” by Chinese native speakers， which doesnt make any sense to English native speakers. In fact， this Chinese expression should be “I humbly take that overstatement”. From the two examples discussed above， it is clear to readers that native Chinese speakers made no grammatical mistakes in their English expressions but they all failed to have a clear and accurate comprehension of the pragmatic competence required for successful intercultural communication. In other words， pragmatic mistakes are more related to language itself than to other linguistic factors.endprint

Since pragmatic mistakes are more concerned with the language itself， or rather， the way something is usually talked about in a native country， some Chinese ESL learners are influenced by Chinese language so much that they just take native expressions out of it and screw into it their own linguistic units， even if they dont fit. That causes most Chinese students to speak English in a Chinese way， which is referred to as “Chinglish” in mainland China （Cai， 2013）. Chinglish is usually defined by the mistakes in the choice of words， for example：

“我沒有经验” ， most Chinese students would say “I have no experience” in English， but actually， its English equivalent has nothing to do with the word “经验” or “experience”， English speakers would say “I dont know much about it. ”

“昨晚上下了场大雨”， as one of the most frequently used expression to start a conversation with native English speakers， most Chinese students would say “We had a big rain last night”， but the modifier adjective “big” is only accepted in Chinese language， English tends to use “heavy” to modify the pouring rain.

The two examples listed above contain the inappropriate choice of words， next， a short conversation containing speakers lack of intercultural background would be shown：

——“Nice day today， isnt it？”

——“But Im not in a good mood today. ”

In the west， people seldom or never express their mood in daily conversation because this would put both the speakers in embarrassment.

Thus， from the demonstration as well as the analysis of selected examples of pragmatic mistakes in the oral English of most of the Chinese college students， it could be seen that most pragmatic mistakes could be traced back to the inappropriate and even wrong choice of words and expressions in the target language. But， learning a language is more concerned with the culture behind the language （Halenko & Jones， 2011）. The problems are visible on the surface but rooted in the speakers lack of the knowledge of the cultural background of English native speakers. In their communication， many of the cultural elements or even idioms in Chinese language have been originally transplanted in English， which simply causes cultural shock and even faux pas in certain circumstances （Jing， 2011）.

Reasons for such pragmatic mistakes

Reasons for such mistakes mainly come in two ways：

First， pragmatic competence of most of the Chinese college students still remains poorly developed （Yuan， 2010）. In most cases， their conversations depend more on literal translation or even “word-for-word” translation than on the free talks. Thats very much the same thing as the original transplantation mentioned and discussed above. In a general sense， the English education in mainland China is mainly designed to cope with the examinations throughout the course of their preliminary and secondary education. This also leads to the deficiencies of current English education system in mainland China.endprint

Second， most of the English language and the cultural background behind the language are obtained merely from their textbooks， which mean that few students could equip themselves with adequate cultural background knowledge of English language to pave a smooth way for intercultural communication. The lack of basic cultural knowledge also leads to the inappropriate match in their oral English （Liu， 2007）. As the examples may tell， most Chinese students have taken it for granted that idioms and cultural images in Chinese language could be originally transplanted in a target language. As transplantation would medically trigger rejection reaction， linguistic transplantation would also lead to confusion embarrassment in intercultural communication. But as mentioned at the beginning of this paper， pragmatic mistakes are more likely to cause communicative failures， thus， pragmatic mistakes are believed to be more unacceptable than linguistic mistakes.

Strategies to reduce and avoid communicative failures

First， effective cultural knowledge is fundamental and radical to the solution of current problems. In class teaching， teachers should intentionally equip their students with more intercultural background knowledge， especially the cultural differences and taboos between two languages， this would be the best way to help students seek the unity in division in bilingual and intercultural communication.

Second， English teaching methods need to be updated. It has been repeatedly mentioned in this paper that obsolete and exam-oriented teaching methods are the root of frequent pragmatic mistakes leading to communicative failures. Traditionally， English teaching methods in mainland China is teacher-centered， but now， class activities like presentation， discussion and even role-play could be introduced into English classes to further arouse students interests and motivation in English learning and later enhance their competence in intercultural communication.

Conclusion

Throughout this paper， attention has been paid to the concept of pragmatic mistakes； exemplification of several most frequently made mistakes of Chinese English learners as well as the corresponding strategies to relevant problems. This paper has analyzed the root of the pragmatic failures of most Chinese students in oral English communication. From the listed examples， its clear to the readers that most of the pragmatic mistakes could be traced back to the great influence imposed on their mindset by the mother tongue they speak.endprint

References：

[1]Wang，R.（2012）.Analysis of pragmatic mistakes in oral English classes.Journal of Xinyu University.

[2]Sun，D.（2014）.From communicative competence to interactional competence：a new outlook to the teaching of spoken English.Journal of Language Teaching & Research，5（5）.

[3]Cai，X.L.（2013）.A study on pragmatic failures and corresponding measures in intercultural communication for English majors in higher vocational colleges.Journal of Xinyu University.

[4]Halenko，N.，& Jones，C.（2011）.Teaching pragmatic awareness of spoken requests to Chinese eap learners in the uk：is explicit instruction effective？.System An International Journal of Educational Technology & Applied Linguistics，39（2），240-250.

[5]Jing，N.（2011）.An analysis of pragmatic failures and its countermeasures in English learning for college students.Journal of Guangdong Ocean University.

[6]Yuan，N.Z.（2010）.Corresponding strategies on the misunderstanding in oral English teaching.Journal of Jiyuan Vocational & Technical College.

[7]Liu，J.（2007）.Developing a pragmatics test for Chinese efl learners.Language Testing，24（3），391-415.

作者簡介：王思茗（1992.7.23-），女，汉族，四川德阳广汉市人，硕士研究生，助教，研究方向：民航英语。endprint