Grice's Q.Q.R.M. In College English Writing

As one of the four language skills, English writing is the basic content of English tests, one major part of students' communicative abilities, and one important link of English teaching. However, many students complain that their English writing has not been improved at college, an important period in which the English writing skill should be developed, although many teachers strive to find appropriate teaching approaches of English writing. It is necessary to use a scientific principle to direct the teaching and learning of college English writing.The thesis intends to study how to guide and evaluate English writing in a pragmatic perspective. Grice's Q. Q. R. M. stands for the conversational maxims of the Cooperative Principle in pragmatics. In 1967 in his William James Lectures at Harvard, Grice proposed the Cooperative Principle (abbreviated as CP: Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange, in which you are engaged.) and associated set of conversational maxims (the maxim of quality, of quantity, of relation and of manner). In writing, Quality Maxim means truthfulness and accuracy; Quantity Maxim means fullness; Relation Maxim means unity and coherence; Manner Maxim means clarity. The thesis uses the maxims as a criterion to analyze students' compositions. The maxims can offer a clearer and more comprehensible scheme for the students to write effectively and for the teachers to teach English writing with emphasis. It can be used to direct the evaluation system of college English writing and works well as an effective grading rubric and a checklist for students'self assessment.The thesis focuses on the necessity, feasibility, implication and application of Grice's Q. Q. R. M. in college English writing field by theoretical analysis and data analysis.