A Relevance-Adaptation Approach To Conflict Talks Between Couples

Conflict talk is an important part of effective speech, and research on it has great important pragmatic value. It has conducted many pragmatic researches in the conflict talk from multiple perspectives, but it’s still worthy of more research in the cognitive mechanism of the conflict talk.The conflict talk between couples not only has general characteristics similar to other conflict talks, but also has its own specificity. Through the analysis of conflict talk, it can be found that the production of conflict talk between couples is generative mechanism. The paper analyzes the data employing Relevance-Adaptation Approach, and interprets which violation of the links generates the conflict talks. The reasons include the followings:without intense communication willing, cognitive context cannot be mutual; associated assumptions did not comply with the context and can not adapt to the other couple’s mental world, physics world, or social world, or make dynamic adaptation to contextual factors. It doesn’t choose the correct mode of talk or inference. Under the Relevance-Adaptation theoretical review, it analyzes the cause of the emergence of the conflict talk between couples, and the paper tries to establish a generative mechanism of conflict talk.The emotional relationship of the couples is very deep, and their contractual relationship is very sustained, so conflict talk between the couples is necessary to dispel. According to the collected data, we may find that no matter it is unintentional or intentional, some talks of the communication subjects can help the couples to dispel the conflict talks, and these talks, as a talk strategy, embodied the adherence of the Relevance-Adaptation Approach. So the paper combines the generative mechanism of the conflict talk from the perspective of the Relevance-Adaptation Approach, and it analyzes the resolving policy of conflict talk. These talk strategies include hedges, symbolic identity, apology, humor, expressing your emotions, understanding of each other, giving the talk to the other, changing the topic of conversation, calling each other their nickname, showing stand in the same position, etc.The deepening understanding of the conflict talk can help the couples to avoid and eliminate the conflict talk, and to preserve family harmony. The practical application of the Relevance-Adaptation Approach, to some extent, can test the practical value of this theory.