Abstract:In cross-cultural communication, under the influence of the mother tongue and the lack of relevant pragmatic knowledge, second language used in communication may cause misunderstanding or even a breakdown of the communication which is called Communicative Pragmatic Failure. British linguists Jenny Thomas (1983), who first terms Pragmatic Failure, defines it as “the inability to understand what is meant by what is said”. In intercultural communication, few former studies are concentrated on the study of pragmatic failure of politeness language in business English Correspondence. As an important means of communication, English business correspondence plays a significant role in the success of commercial activity. Pragmatic failure of politeness language in business English correspondence which can be caused by the breach of politeness principle is the last thing we should neglect. If we could apply correctly the politeness principle of English business correspondence, the writing of English business correspondence will lay a foundation for the success of the conduct of business activities.
Different from the form studies of pragmatic failure and politeness, this paper collects some English business correspondence samples from Chinese college students during their course of internship. The paper intends to study the pragmatic failure in the writing of English business correspondence from the perspective of pragmatics applying politeness principle under Thomas’s framework, and analyzes pragmatic failure resulting from the breach of politeness principle. The main place of innovation of this paper is to study the pragmatic failure in the writing of English business correspondence from the perspective of pragmatics. In the last part of this paper, some strategies of pragmatic politeness would be put forward.
Key Words：English business correspondence; pragmatic failure; politeness principle
中文摘要:在跨文化交际中，人们在使用第二语言进行会话时或多或少会受到其母语的影响，缺乏相关的语用知识因而引起交流不畅甚至失败。这种情况就是跨文化交际中的语用失误。英国语言学家Thomas(1983)将语用失误定义为“(听话人)不能从(说话人的)话中理解其真正用意”。在研究跨文化交际中的语用失误研究方面，以前的研究很少把重点放在商务信函这类特殊用途的专业书面语的语用礼貌失误上。作为商务经营活动的重要传递，交流信息方式之一的商务英语信函，对商务活动的成功与否有着举足轻重的作用。因此，由于违反语用礼貌原则等因素引起的语用礼貌失误现象不容我们忽视。如果能正确运用一些商务信函中的礼貌原则和策略，将会为商务英语信函撰写的成功奠定基础，从而促进商务活动的顺利展开。
不同于以往的关于语用失误和礼貌的研究，本文收集了中国大学生在实习期间的商务英语信函习作的例子，在Thomas提出的框架结构下，从语用学的角度，运用礼貌原则对商务英语信函中的语用礼貌失误进行了探讨，分析了导致语用礼貌失误的原因。本文的创新点在于从语用学角度，运用礼貌原则研究商务信函中的语用礼貌失误。在本文的最后部分，提出了如何在商务英语信函中运用语用礼貌的策略。
关键词：商务信函；语用失误；礼貌原则
