Abstract: With the rapid development of economy and society, Chinese people can have more opportunities to communicate with English native speakers. However, the problem is that most English learners focus their attention only on linguistic knowledge, but lose sight of the importance of cultural differences and the negative effect accompanying them. That is why pragmatic failure attributed to a lack of cultural knowledge can frequently be found in English learners’ speeches. The thesis presents the manifestation of cross-cultural pragmatic failure in daily English expressions of English learners, and analyses the main causes of pragmatic failure. Meanwhile, the author studies the influence of pragmatic failure and provides effective solutions to avoid pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication. 

Key words: pragmatic failure；cross-cultural communication；daily- English

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 Concept of Pragmatic Failure

2.2 Classification of Pragmatic Failure

3. Analysis of Pragmatic Failure in Daily English Expressions-4

3.1 Forms of Addressing

3.2 Farewell

3.3 Greeting

3.4 Compliment

3.5 Apology

4. Causes and Solutions-7

4.1 Main Causes of Cross-Cultural Communication Pragmatic Failure

4.1.1 Cultural Difference

4.1.2 Negative Transfer

4.1.3 Thought Patterns

4.1.4 Ethics

4.2 Solutions to Avoid Cross-Cultural Communication Pragmatic Failure

4.2.1 Strengthening Cultural Awareness

4.2.2 Enhancing Pragmatic Competence

5. Conclusion-10

Bibliography-11

Acknowledgements-12