ApplicationofConversationalImplicaturesinTeachingEnglishAudio-visualCourse-最新资料

1、Application of Conversational Implicatures in Teaching English Audio-visual Course【】 English audio-visual course is one of the main courses for the English learners. Many teachers have so much to improve students listening. But the effect has been unsatisfactory. What they often ignore is in actual

2、oral communication people do not always express themselves directly but tend to say something with implied meanings. As a result ， students often fail to understand what the speaker indicates if they only focus on the literal meaning of utterance. This paper attempts to use the conversational implic

3、ation ， to solve this problem in the teaching. Many points hard to understand in a certain conversation can be explained by the conversational implication theory.Therefore ， the introduction to the basic knowledge of the conversational implicatures（ CI ） theory is stronglyrecommended to improve the

4、students listening conversation comprehension. ?1 Introduction?Although much attention has been devoted to Englishaudio-visual course ， the teaching effect has been unsatisfactory. What has led to a central question in research is how to improve students listeningcomprehension by watching English mo

5、vies. That s just the case in English audio-visual course ： however good ones listening skill may be ， he can never make thorough comprehension if he gets the literal meaning. ?2 Cooperative Principle and Conversational Implicatures?2.1 What is Cooperative Principle?Grice believes there must be some

6、 mechanisms governing the production and comprehension of these utterances and that a set of assumptions guides the conduct of conversation. This is what he calls the Cooperative Principle ： the maxim of quantity，the maxim of quality ，the maxim of relation，the maxim of manner?2.2 What is Conversatio

7、nal Implicature?Conversational implicature is something meant ， implied ，or suggested distinct from whats said. Thisnotion is one of the most important ideas in pragmatics. It s a meaning in pragmatics different from the “meaning” in semantics which is the literal meaning. When the two meanings are

8、different ， conversational implicatures are made. For example ： ?(1)Doctor ： I need to give you an anesthesia?Teddy： Do I look really that stupid?Doctor ： I cannot do an operation like this without an anesthesia?(from Prison Break ) ?Literally Teddy s answer did not show any sign of rejection or acc

9、eptance of an anesthesia. His reply seems unrel ated to the doctor s words. But after a careful analysis ， we can easily find he actually refused the doctor. His answer is an indirect way of refusal with stronger force. Conversations like this frequently appear in the movies.If teachers dont explain

10、 th is to students ， they may fail to understand them? 3 Application of Conversational Implicatures in English Audio-visual Course?In English movies ， students were often confused by some seemingly strange conversations. Lets take thecommonest movies used in this course， Prison Break andForrest Gump

11、 for example ， and see how CI is applied in English audio-visual course?3.1 Violation of the Maxim of Quantity and its Implicatures?The maxim of quantity prescribes the quantity of information transmitted when we are talking. So we should talk no more and no less. But violations are often found in t

12、he movies. For example：?（2）Abruzzi ： When were you planning on telling us about the money ， man?Scofield ： What money? ?Abruzzi ： $5 million that Westmoreland planted in the desert in Utah?Scofield ： Don?t know what you?re talking about?Abruzzi ： You wish I didn?t know. ?Scofield s answer is simple.

13、 It doesnt convey theinformation wanted by Abruzzi. This violates the maxim of quantity. It can be inferred that Scofield does not want to reveal any detail about the money. By saying “I dont know what youre talking about. ” he means “This is none of your business. I dont want you to know ”?Accordin

14、g to this movie ， we know that Scofieldwantsto get the money secretly. Any detail about it cannot be revealed. So the violation of the maxim of quantity isnecessary here?3.2 Violation of the Maxim of Quality and its Implicatures?The maxim of quality prescribes the authenticity of our speech. That me

15、ans we cannot say what we believe to be false. For example ：?（3）Jenny ： Hey， Forrest ， look at me. Look at me， Forrest. There?s nothing you need to do， okay? You didn?t do anything wrong. Ok? Isn?t he beautiful?Forrest ： He?s the most beautiful thing I?ve ever seen. But. is ， is he smart ， or is he.

16、?Jenny： He?s very smart. He?s one of the smartest in his class.?Forrest s reply is false. By violating the maxim of quality ， his implied meaning is “He is the most beautiful boy in my h eart. ” By using this exaggerated expression“the most beautiful ”， the love among them can be expressed. ?3.3 Vio

17、lation of the Maxim of Relation and its Implicatures?The maxim of relation prescribes that our speech should be relevant to the topic. For example：?(4)Doctor ： Im sorry ， sir ， I I dont think I can do this. There are nerves. Look， you need a specialist ， okay? You need somebody who knows what they r

18、e doing? Teddy： I dont have the luxury of choice here ， Doctor. My hand has been in that box for hours now， it is dying?Doctor ： Sir ， I am not capable of doing this?Teddy： I only have one hand， but I can stick this into your neck before you get to that door.?Doctor ： Fine ， but I can promise you no

19、thing?(from Prison Break ) ?Teddy wants the doctor to make an operation， but thedoctor indirectly refused. Teddy says something unrelated to their topic. It seems thathe has violated the maxim ofrelation. But the doctor knows his mother is old and sick ， and Teddy can easily find her out and kill he

20、r if he does not do as he is told to. Thus he gets Teddysconversational implicature： do as I told you， if not ，you and your mother will be in danger. ?3.4 Violation of the Maxim of Manner and its Implicatures?The maxim of manner requires us to be perspicuous ， and to avoid ambiguity and obscurity of

21、 expression. Violation of this maxim can convey certain implied meaning. We can explain this by using the example above?The doctor refuses to do the operation ， but Teddy insists that his hand be grafted immediately. In fact ， the doctor can simply say “I cant do this. ”， but instead ， he says “I am

22、 not capable of doing this.” This hasobviously violated the maxim of manner. ?4 Suggestions for Teaching English Audio-visual Course?By learning the CI applied to conversations， we canunderstand movies better. So students who wants to improve their listening need to get the real meaning hidden behin

23、d. Here are some suggestions for teachers. First ， they should choose English movies carefully and explain the Cooperative Principle and conversational implicatures to students by using some examples. Second， teachers canmotivate students when watching movies. If students meet some materials with conversational implicatures ， teachers can help to associate them with their real life. Another suggestion is to combine listening with speaking and require students to practice after watching movies. In this way， students can learn the hidden meaning and