Analysis On The Countermeasures Of Pragmatic Failures In Chinese Learners' Oral English

The generally-defined errors committed by Chinese learners in the second language acquisition can be categorized into two types: linguistic errors and pragmatic failures. The Error Analysis theory is widely adopted in the analysis of linguistic errors in written English, whereas it is rarely employed in the analysis of pragmatic failures, especially errors of this kind in the oral English. Thus, this paper explores the using of EA theory in the analysis of pragmatic failures in the oral English from the perspective of pragmatic linguistics, aiming to find effective countermeasures to remove these pragmatic failures. In the oral communication, especially in the cross-cultural context, pragmatic failures are much more vital than linguistic errors. Therefore, the identification, explanation and interpretation of these pragmatic failures as well as the approaches to the elimination of them are essential to both the second language learning and teaching.In this study, the author collects various errors in Chinese learners'oral English, and divides them into two groups—linguistic errors and pragmatic failures, and then picks out the pragmatic failures and then further subcategorizes them into two subcategories—pragmalinguistic failures and sociopragmatic failures. Then the author identifies the cause of the emergence of failures of these two categories and tries to develop the countermeasures to remove them. To research on the different reasons they derive from and the countermeasures to deal with them is helpful to find approaches to more effective second language learning and teaching. Based on these, the author carries out the present study as follows.The present study employs four instruments—questionnaire one, a pretest, questionnaire two and a posttest. Questionnaire one is designed to learn what factors contribute to the failures or barriers in the oral communication and how important the pragmatic competence is for the success of the cross-cultural communication in the opinion of Chinese learners. In the second phase, the pretest—an oral test—is carried out. The participants are 50 English majors from two different classes who are in their second grade. They are divided into five small groups and each group is composed of six speakers including a foreigner, and the topics are confined to certain subjects which are likely to induce the pragmatic failures. The test is recorded and then transcribed. The author picks out the various errors committed by the students, distinguishes the linguistic errors and pragmatic failures and analyzes the reasons for the pragmatic failures. In the following phase questionnaire two is delivered to learn the factors which possibly cause the pragmatic failures in the Chinese learners'viewpoint. Then, the author practices two different teaching programs in the two target classes which are defined as the control group and the experimental group. While the control group continues its regular teaching, the experimental group is given more chances to learn cultural differences, to expose themselves to the cross-cultural context and to learn the pragmatic knowledge. The experimental teaching program is carried on for about two months. Then in the last phase, the posttest is carried out, and the author does the same treatment on the collected data.Finally the results are displayed clearly. The result of questionnaire one demonstrates that Chinese learners do not have a clear awareness of the role the pragmatic competence plays in the oral English. Later the result of the pretest shows that pragmatic failures do occur in the oral English communication and they are caused by various errors. And the result of questionnaire two demonstrates that lack of knowledge of cultural difference, using Chinese-English and Chinese way of thinking are the main barriers for the success of the cross-cultural communication. The analysis of the data collected from the contrastive experimental program shows that the development of the pragmatic competence is essential for the elimination of the pragmatic failures in Chinese learners'oral English, and it helps students get a better command of English as a tool of communication, especially in the cross-cultural context.