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Researches on interlanguage speech act of apology have been conducted in a variety of cultures and languages, while little attention has been paid to interlanguage apology made by Chinese EFL learners. Therefore, aiming to obtain a better understanding about how Chinese EFL learners differ from English native speakers in their speech act performance of apology, this study compared the apologies made by native speakers of Chinese and English and Chinese EFL learners at two English proficiency levels. Data for analysis in this study consist of 3600 expressions of apology performed by informants including 60 English native speakers, 60 Chinese native speakers, and 60 Chinese EFL learners¡X30 English-major EFL learners and 30 non-English-major EFL learners. As far as the apology strategies used by the four groups are concerned, results showed, as found by Fraser (1981) and Olshtain (1983, 1989), that the four groups of informants exhibited cross-linguistically valid apology strategies and similar patterns of apology strategy selection and preference order, even when contextual factors were involved. However, the frequency with which apology strategies are used reveals some deviations between EFL learners and NS-E for a number of strategies. Furthermore, proficiency effect is found operative in EFL learners¡¦ interlanguage apology production. Results of this study revealed a positive correlation between EFL learners¡¦ English proficiency and their interlanguage pragmatic competence and their linguistic accuracy in apologizing. For future studies, in order to determine how native speakers and EFL learners function in natural face-to-face interactions, the replication of study in an oral mode, a role-play for example, should be conducted, and either the data gathered from DCTs or from role-plays should be compared with the data gathered through the observation of natural language events to arrive at a more accurate analysis of the apologizing behavior of native speakers and EFL learners. Besides, this study focused specifically on the production of the apology speech act by native speakers of Chinese and English and Chinese EFL learners; however, based on Olshtain¡¦s (1989) claim that the understanding of intercultural differences cannot be limited to production features only without considering the perlocutionary aspect of the speech act from the hearer¡¦s point of view, further work should include the analysis of the responses to apologies to gain a better understanding and present a fuller picture of interlanguage speech act of apology.

The interlanguage studies of the speech act of refusals have been conducted in a variety of cultures and languages while little attention has been paid to interlanguage refusals made by Chinese EFL learners in Taiwan. The present study investigated the perception and performance of the speech act of refusals made by Chinese EFL learners at high (EFL-Hs) and low (EFL-Ls) proficiency levels compared with two baseline groups, Chinese L1 (CL1s) and American English L1 (EL1s). Data used for analysis in the study consisted of 3,543 expressions of refusal elicited from Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs) performed by 180 college students (60 Chinese EFL learners, 60 Chinese native speakers and 60 English native speakers in North America). Based on Beebe et al.¡¦s coding system (1990), the refusal strategies were examined as direct refusals, indirect refusals, and adjuncts to refusals. Results revealed that when refusing, face is the major concern for speakers of the two cultures. However, cross-cultural differences were observed. Chinese L1 participants, under the influence of collectivistic culture value, distinguished ingroups and outgroups clearly. On the other hand, in English L1 group, equality is emphasized under the effect of individualistic cultural value. As to the performance of refusals, though both Chinese and English native speakers showed a preference for indirect refusals than direct refusals and the same range of refusal strategies were available for the four groups, the differences were observed in preference and frequency of use the refusal strategies, and also the content of the actual realization. Moreover, different ways of refusal modification were also favored by Chinese and English native speakers. Furthermore, results revealed a positive correlation between EFL learners¡¦ English proficiency and their interlanguage pragmatic competence. However, there was still a high degree of interlanguage variation in the use of refusal strategies among the EFL groups. It is suggested that in order to perform speech acts appropriately in different cultures, both speakers¡¦ perception and production should be emphasized in the future interlanguage researches, which would supply evidence of cross-cultural differences in social values and other motivating factors that could help interpret the EFL learners¡¦ realization of speech acts and gain a better understanding of interlanguage speech act of refusals.

Expressing gratitude has a significant function in societal interaction. As Eisenstein and Bodman (1993) suggested, only when the function of gratitude is expressed appropriately can it ¡§engender feelings of warmth and solidarity among interlocutors¡¨ (p.167). However, compared with other widely discussed speech acts such as apology and request, the speech act of expressions of gratitude seldom drew researchers¡¦ attention. The present study hence focuses on investigating EFL (English as foreign language) learners¡¦ behavior in realizing expressions of gratitude on the basis of cross-cultural comparison of NS-Cs (Native speakers of Chinese) and NS-Es (Native speakers of English) in terms of perception and production performances. Data used for analysis cover 60 NS-E, 60 NS-C, and 60 EFL speakers¡¦ data elicited from Discourse-Completion-Task (DCT) questionnaire which consisted of 24 scenarios in which four contextual factors, comprising social distance, social status, gender of interlocutor and severity of the situation were embedded. Scale-Response questionnaire (SRQ) was designed to obtain two cultural groups¡¦ perception in terms of degree of imposition, degree of gratefulness, and likelihood of the expectation of benefactors. The EFL group was further categorized into two groups on the basis of proficiency level. Among each group, the number of male and female participants was even. The result of SRQ shows that both cultural groups generated the same tendency, that is, the greater imposition the informant felt s/he caused to the benefactor, the more grateful s/he felt and the more likely s/he thought the benefactor would expect receiving expressions of gratitude. NS-Es¡¦ perceptions on the likelihood of gratitude expectation and degree of imposition were significantly higher than NS-C group¡¦s. In terms of the contextual factors, NS-C participants were found to be more sensitive to relative social status while NS-E participants were more sensitive to relative social distance. The analysis of DCT data shows that NS-Cs and NS-Es generated similar strategies in gratitude-provoking situations and NS-E group generated greater amount of strategy use. Both groups generated more strategies and lengthier utterances in situations bearing greater imposition. EFL groups were found to generate similar strategy uses as the two cultural groups did. Accordingly, the occurrence of negative sociopragmatic transfer was rare while negative pragmalinguistic transfer was more observable. Some linguistic properties of transfer reflected the cultural orientation. Instead of pragmatic performance, proficiency level seemed to be influential in linguistic accuracy, amount of strategy use and length of utterances. The limitation of the study suggests future study conduct on natural utterances, oral DCT, introspective interview with the informants and further discussion on role-play data to get a more comprehensive understanding of the behavior of expressions of gratitude realized by NS-Cs, NS-Es and EFL learners.

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This thesis represents an attempt to show how recent research in pragmatic theory can contribute to our understanding of humour. Two inferential theories have been selected: speech act theory and relevance theory. In addition, I have looked at the modification of the speech act model proposed by Leech. An exposition of each theory is followed by an account of how these theories can be applied to humour. Some research into humour has already been carried out using the speech act model. This is described and evaluated. For Leech's extension of that model, and for the relevance-theoretic model, there is virtually no existing research on which to draw. Consequently, both the application of these theories to humour, and their evaluation thereof, are my own. Speech act accounts of humour are based on the notion that humorous utterances are unconventional and unpredictable. One way of exploiting our expectations, and thereby creating a condo effect, it is argued, is to violate the norms of conversation (that is to say, Grice's maxims and Searle's conditions). This analysis is found to be insufficient, on its own, to distinguish between the humorous and the non-humorous utterance. I will show how the unpredictable, unconventional remark can be used to create a number of different effects, some humorous, some nonhumorous. Maxim violation is thus seen to be inadequate, both as a descriptive and as an explanatory tool. Relevance theory constitutes a radical departure from the whole maxim-based framework. Adopting this approach to the analysis of verbal humour, I will try to find out exactly what is going on in our minds when we interpret humorously intended utterances. I will identify the various processes which I believe are employed in the appreciation of verbal jokes, and will conclude that these processes are not unique to humour. In spite of this, I will claim that there is a sense in which verbal humour can be said to be unique.

This thesis describes a theoretical framework for modelling cooperative dialogue. The linguistic theory is a version of speech act theory adopted from Cohen and Levesque, in which dialogue utterances are generated and interpreted pragmatically in the context of a theory of rational interaction. The latter is expressed as explicitly and formally represented principles of rational agenthood and cooperative interaction. The focus is the development of strategic principles of multi-agent interaction as such a basis for cooperative dialogue. In contrast to the majority of existing work, these acknowledge the Positive role of conflict to multi-agent cooperation. and make no assumptions regarding the benevolence and sincerity of agents. The result is a framework wherein agents can resolve conflicts by negotiation. It is a preliminary stage to the future building of computer models of cooperative dialogue for both HCI and DAI, which will therefore be more widely and generally applicable than those currently in existence. The theory of conflict and cooperation is expressed in the different patterns of mental states which characterise multi-agent conflict, cooperation and indifference as three alternative postural relations. Agents can recognise and potentially create these. Dialogue actions are the strategic tools with which mental states can be manipulated, whilst acknowledging that agents are autonomous over their mental states; they have control over what they acquire and reveal in dialogue. Strategic principles of belief and goal adoption are described in terms of the relationships between autonomous agents' beliefs, goals, preferences, and interests, and the relation of these to action. Veracity, mendacity, concealing and revealing are defined as properties of acts. The role of all these elements in reasoning about dialogue action and conflict resolution, is tester in analyses of two example dialogues; a record of a real trade union negotiation and an extract from "Othello" by Shakespeare.

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In this project, I analyze women's humor in three of Jane Austen's novels: Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. Using speech-act theory, I specifically examine Elizabeth's, Emma's, and Mary's utterances to demonstrate that in order for humorous utterances to be subversive, they must challenge societal or patriarchal constructs (religion, misogynist men, marriage, the feminine ideal) and do so artfully. An indirect speech act--a play on words, an insult, even a laugh--is often far more effective than a more direct one, especially when wielded by characters for whom a direct antagonistic speech act would have severe social consequences. When those socially-sanctioned and highly-regulated speech acts--marriages, wills, introductions, invitations, letters, titles--are less accessible or less beneficial to women, only indirect speech acts remain a viable option. / Master of Arts

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Li Yang / This study investigates and compares politeness strategies of Turkish learners of English (TLE) and American English speakers (AE) when they produce the speech act of refusal in English. A total of 24 participants took part in this study and each of them completed a background survey, an open role play and a semi-structured interview. The role-play asked all of the participants to refuse a party invitation offered by a classmate/colleague and was audio-recorded. The refusal interactions were coded according to the classification proposed by Beebe et al. (1990), and the sequence of the refusal interactions (i.e., head act, pre- and post-refusals) was also examined. The results showed that providing excuse/reason/explanation was the most preferred strategy by both groups overall, but closer examination of the strategy revealed that the TLE group was more specific in their explanations compared to the AE group. In addition, when the conductor of the role play insisted on the invitation, the AE group continued to refuse without giving specific reasons, whereas the TLE group chose to provide elaborate reasons upon insistence. During the interview session after the role play, the TLE group commented on cultural factors that influenced their choice of refusal strategies. Based on the findings, this study also proposed implications of the teaching of pragmatics in the English as a second language (ESL) context.