会话含义理论在国际商务谈判中的应用_英语论文

The Application of Conversational Implicature Theory in International Business Negotiation

摘要

会话含义理论最初由格赖斯提出，并由后来的学者进一步改进。这是语用学的一个极其重要的理论。格赖斯认为人们的谈话中存在着合作原则及其准则。一旦人们遵循或违反这一原则，会话含义就产生了。但是，因为格来斯的理论存在局限性，无法解释一些特定的语言现象，所以斯珀伯和威尔逊提出关联理论，布朗和利维森提出面子理论，利奇提出礼貌原则。尽管先前的学者已经对商务谈判做了详尽的研究，但关于会话含义理论在国际商务谈判中的应用的研究还为数不多。因此，对于此课题的研究具有重要的意义。

本文以会话含义理论为理论框架，从合作原则的应用和影响会话含义的因素的角度研究商务谈判。首先，在谈判中，谈判人员通过有意遵循或违反合作原则传达其真正意图。其次，谈判人员只有了解不同国家或地区的文化差异和风俗礼仪，才能更加准确理解对方的会话含义。通过研究，我们发现言语行为理论为谈判人员达成一致，获得谈判成功并且互惠互利提供良好的理论基础。

关键词: 会话含义理论；国际商务谈判；应用

Abstract

Conversational Implicature Theory, first proposed by Grice and developed by his followers, is an important theory in pragmatics. According to Grice, there exists the cooperative principle and its maxims between the speaker and the listener in conversation. Once people observe or flout the principle, conversational implicatues arise. However, due to some limits in the theory which cannot account for the specific linguistic phenomenon, Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson put forward Relevance Theory while Brown and Levison suggested Face Theory and Leech improved it. Though previous scholars have done comprehensive researches on business negotiation, analyses of the Conversational Implicature Theory in international business negotiation are few. Thus, it is of great value to make a study on this topic. 

Based on this theory, this thesis explores the application of the cooperative principle and its maxims and different factors which affect conversational implicatures in international business negotiation. Firstly, in business negotiation, negotiators may observe or flout the cooperative principle in order to express their conversational implicatures. Secondly, negotiators should learn about cultural differences and  formalities in different countries or regions in order to exactly understand the conversational implicature and then achieve certain goals in negotiation. Through the study, we find that the Conversational Implicature Theory greatly helps negotiators to carry on negotiations successfully and get mutual benefits.

Key words: Conversational Implicature Theory; international business negotiation; application