| This study explicates a model of pragmatic enrichment based on Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory (1986, 1995, 1997). This model differs from traditional Relevance Theory in two ways: (1) the process of pragmatic enrichment is characterized as non-linear and modular, thus describing pragmatic enrichment not as a module but as a modular process; (2) a mechanism for evaluating explicature and implicature relative to community-wide standards and norms for discourse is integrated as a module in pragmatic enrichment (Myers-Scotton (1993, 1998, forthcoming). The modified model is referred to as the RT/MM.; An analysis of pragmatic failure (PF) in three naturally-occurring corpora of second language (L2) learners of English was conducted to investigate if the RT/MM can account for the different types of pragmatic failure which occur in authentic discourse. The data support an RT/MM perspective of L2 pragmatics.; What the RT/MM offers is a unified means to explain a wide range of instances of pragmatic failure. In doing so, this model makes it clear that pragmatic failure is not idiosyncratic or unanalyzable. Rather, even though one type of PF differs from another type, the RT/MM shows how all types of PF result from a breakdown of related premises on how communication operates.; The RT/MM provides a new level of explanation of particular use to researchers and teachers in the field of L2 pragmatics. That is, with the ability to account for how hearers recover ostensive inferential meaning relating both to propositions and social relationships, the RT/MM provides a more comprehensive perspective of how second language learners acquire pragmatic ability. |
