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Abstract：Mistakes in interpretation are concerned with not merely poor language competence but also incapability of ooth cross-cultural communication， which indicates that interpreters should be more competent in pragmatics consistent to the cultural models of relevance. The analysis demonstrates the importance of understanding cross-cultural pragmatics and some implications for teaching， particularly in the EFL environment. Project-based learning， conforming to the requirements of personnel training against the background of globalization， can well serve the goal of developing students’ overall cross-cultural communication competence in interpretation courses， when culture and its impacts on pragmatic competence of interpretation are not left out in both the in-class and after-class activities， but are d
Key words：cross-cultural pragmatic failure； interpretation teaching； PBL
1672-1578（2012）07-0008-03
The theoretical framework of pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication was first established by Jenny Thomas in 1983， which has been researched by Chinese scholars from various aspects， including enumerating words， sentences and short daily conversations which always bring forth misunderstandings or conflicts between the two parties involved in communication. The focus involves addressing， greeting， farewell， apology， praise， taboo and euphemi， etc. Although interpretation is also closely associated with this topic， teaching methods to mitigate such failure in interpretation are seldom mentioned in studies. In this paper， the cross-cultural pragmatic failure in interpretation and a teaching model to oid such problem， project-based learning （PBL）， will be analyzed.
Though Thomas claimed that cross-cultural pragmatic breakdown is not restricted primarily to the pragmatic failure occurring in interactions between native an
3 Interpretation and cross-cultural pragmatic failure
In this paper， the interpretation between English and Chinese is taken as example. Since English and Chinese belong to different cultures，they he respective system of idioms and expressions with pragmatic meanings in certain contexts. These idioms and expressions are commonly conventionalized and tacit among the native speakers， which can be reflected vividly in some polite formulas that are tremendously affected by the culture. For example， Chinese people often show their politeness and modesty by saying something like “please forgive us for that we hen’t prepared well enough”. In a banquet， even if they really he made many excellent dishes， they still express their apology like “几个家常小菜，请多多包涵，不要客气” to their guests， for that they don’t serve them well enough. Nevertheless， these words， if tranerred directly like “we just make several plain dishes which are of no good， so please do forgive us and make yourself at home”， may be distorted or even completely misunderstood by the English listeners， which is caused by the existence of cultural differences. Therefore， this kind of interpretation surely will lead to cross-cultural pragmatic failures that then directly result in communication breakdown. Interpretation that cannot bring about succesul communication is doubtlessly a failure as well. Therefore， these information shouldn’t be interpreted literally into the target language， but be explained to the English listeners， or be adapted to the English culture.These cross-cultural pragmatic failures can be explained by the reason that the interpreter takes it for granted that the target language speakers can understand the pragmatic meaning of the original utterance， but forgets the cultural differences.
4 PBL to mitigate cross-cultural pragmatic failure in interpretation
While interpreting， the interpreter has to analyze and colligate information of various respects， during which awareness of cross-cultural communication is dominant. It is found that the main reason for cross-cultural pragmatic failure in interpretation is that the interpreter is not qualified enough in awareness and capability of cross-cultural communication， which is then caused by lack of knowledge about different cultures concerned with the involved languages in the interpretation activity. Owning the capacity of cross-cultural interpretation means that he consciously or unconsciously develops some standard and adjustment method in cross-cultural communication， or that it is a way of thinking and judgment particularly possessed by the interpreters[4]. Once an interpreter obtain awareness of cross-cultural co
According to Bell， PBL is a student-driven， teacher-facilitated approach to learning [5]. Buck Institute for Education defines PBL elaborately as a systematic teaching method that engages students in acquiring knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex， authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks[6]. This is an appropriate pedagogical method to help students gain knowledge concerning different cultures and cross-cultural communication， because with specific projects about cultures， students he access to massive information with regard to cultural differences and cross-cultural communication. Such large input of culture knowledge in English will strengthen not only students’ awareness of cross-cultural communication but also their language ability. Although PBL still can involve traditional lectures， it gives more emphasis on autonomous learning in all groups. Students find their material sources， conduct their research and solve problems on their own.To help students strengthen their awareness of cross-cultural communication， the author adopted PBL in classes with four projects chosen under collaborative efforts of the teacher and students （i.e.， “Taboo and Superstition in Western Countries”， “World Religions in China”， “Higher-education of Western Countries”， “Western Festival Customs”）， which lasted for 11 weeks. Thus， the class was divided into four groups each of which was assigned with a project according to their common interest， and each of which had 4-6 group members one of whom was the group leader responsible for work distribution and coordination. To finish these projects， students with common interest had conducted activities following the procedure：
1）Agree on a theme for the project
2）Determine the final outcome
3）Structure the project
4）Gather information and materials useful for research
5）Compile and analyze information
6）Regular presentation weekly which generally lasts 20minutes occupied by 4 groups （i.e.， each group has 2 such opportunities for the whole semester）
7）Present final product （the eleventh week）
8）Evaluate the project
In the process， students searched massive information through library， website， database， corpus， etc.， and shared these with other students in classes in forms of well orchestrated role play and videos， PPT， discussion， during which they could
Although PBL is a student-centered pedagogical model， teachers still play a vital role of supervisor and helper both in class and after class. Thus， it requires that English teachers be careful and knowledgeable and as objective as possible concerning cultural differences. Otherwise personal judgments that may not be well grounded， hearsay or plain prejudice and stereotyping could be obstacles in the student's understanding of cross-cultural pragmatics interpretation. Therefore， maintaining a positive classroom dynamic for all students needs to be considered.
5 ConclusionA qualified interpreter is characterized by not only steady linguistic foundation and adept interpretation skills， but also familiarity with the different cultures of relevance. Otherwise， the interpreter will he more difficulty finding pragmatically equivalent expression and commit a pragmatic breakdown.
Because of the differences of geographical locations， natural environments， historical changes， religions and beliefs， economic development， etc.， every nation has its own culture with unique features. Interpretation actually is a process of language blending and cultural communication. Some language forms he their related communicational pragmatic me
References：
何自然.语用学与英语学习[M].上海外语教育出版社， 1999.
Fang J. A study on pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication [J]. Sino-US English Teaching， 2010，7（12）： 42-46.
[3]Thomas， J. Cross-cultural pragmatic failure [J]. Applied Linguistics， 4（2）， 91-112.
[4]Zhang XC. On Interpreters’ Intercultural Awareness [J]. World Journal of English Language， 2011， 1（1）： 47-52.
[5]Bell， S. Project-Based Learning for the 21st Century： Skills for the Future[J]. The Clearing House， 2010，83 （2）： 39-43.
[6]Buck Institute for Education. What is PBL[EB/OL]. http：//www.bie.org/ [2012-09-3].
作者简介：冯瑞玲（1984.5-），女，助教，硕士，主要研究方向为应用语言学。
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ealt with in a sensitive and open-minded way.Key words：cross-cultural pragmatic failure； interpretation teaching； PBL
1672-1578（2012）07-0008-03
1 Introduction
The commonness between cultures gives rise to the possibility of ooth cross-cultural communication， but cultural differences still bring barriers in such communication. In the process of interpretation in which generally two cultures are involved， the interpreters， who directly receive and make response to the information from different cultures， must convey the communicational intention of the speakers accurately. Otherwise， pragmatic failure would be committed that leads to that some people who are not familiar with the culture cannot understand the tranerred information.The theoretical framework of pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication was first established by Jenny Thomas in 1983， which has been researched by Chinese scholars from various aspects， including enumerating words， sentences and short daily conversations which always bring forth misunderstandings or conflicts between the two parties involved in communication. The focus involves addressing， greeting， farewell， apology， praise， taboo and euphemi， etc. Although interpretation is also closely associated with this topic， teaching methods to mitigate such failure in interpretation are seldom mentioned in studies. In this paper， the cross-cultural pragmatic failure in interpretation and a teaching model to oid such problem， project-based learning （PBL）， will be analyzed.
2 Cross-cultural pragmatic failure
Pragmatic failure doesn’t mean the mistakes in word choice and sentence construction， but the utterances used on wrong occasion or in inappropriate way， disobeying the common practice， which causes communication breakdown [1； 2].Thomas[3] first defined pragmatic failure as inability to recognize the force of the speaker’s utterance， which means the inability to understand the pragmatic meaning of what is said in specific context. Then， she distinguished two types of pragmatic failure， pragma-linguistic failure and socio-pragmatic failure. The former occurs when the pragmatic force mapped by speaker onto a given utterance is systematically different from the force most frequently assigned to it by native speakers of the target language， or when speech-act strategies are inappropriately tranerred from source language to target language. For example， it is typical in Chinese to ask whether a person lives alone in his/her bedroom. Somehow this seems to violate the western idea of privacy and contains an intrusive meaning. Thus， the force of the utterance would be lost and distorted. Such questions， however， which are too personal for a westerner and consequently impolite， are perfectly polite or much more acceptable in Chinese culture. The latter is used to refer to the social conditions placed on language in use [3]. For instance， people from the western culture tend to verbalize their gratitude and compliments as well as accept thanks and compliments more than the Chinese do. When an English native speaker presents a compliment on a Chinese student like “Your English is excellent”， the student may decline it directly with “no， my English is very poor” which will provoke the feeling that the compliment-giver has a poor judgment.Though Thomas claimed that cross-cultural pragmatic breakdown is not restricted primarily to the pragmatic failure occurring in interactions between native an
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d non-native speakers and her term “cross-cultural” does not just refer to native-non-native interactions， but any communication between two people who， in any particular domain， do not share a common linguistic or cultural background[3]， the studies of pragmatic failure after her are mostly in the regard of the native-non-native interactions.3 Interpretation and cross-cultural pragmatic failure
In this paper， the interpretation between English and Chinese is taken as example. Since English and Chinese belong to different cultures，they he respective system of idioms and expressions with pragmatic meanings in certain contexts. These idioms and expressions are commonly conventionalized and tacit among the native speakers， which can be reflected vividly in some polite formulas that are tremendously affected by the culture. For example， Chinese people often show their politeness and modesty by saying something like “please forgive us for that we hen’t prepared well enough”. In a banquet， even if they really he made many excellent dishes， they still express their apology like “几个家常小菜，请多多包涵，不要客气” to their guests， for that they don’t serve them well enough. Nevertheless， these words， if tranerred directly like “we just make several plain dishes which are of no good， so please do forgive us and make yourself at home”， may be distorted or even completely misunderstood by the English listeners， which is caused by the existence of cultural differences. Therefore， this kind of interpretation surely will lead to cross-cultural pragmatic failures that then directly result in communication breakdown. Interpretation that cannot bring about succesul communication is doubtlessly a failure as well. Therefore， these information shouldn’t be interpreted literally into the target language， but be explained to the English listeners， or be adapted to the English culture.These cross-cultural pragmatic failures can be explained by the reason that the interpreter takes it for granted that the target language speakers can understand the pragmatic meaning of the original utterance， but forgets the cultural differences.
4 PBL to mitigate cross-cultural pragmatic failure in interpretation
While interpreting， the interpreter has to analyze and colligate information of various respects， during which awareness of cross-cultural communication is dominant. It is found that the main reason for cross-cultural pragmatic failure in interpretation is that the interpreter is not qualified enough in awareness and capability of cross-cultural communication， which is then caused by lack of knowledge about different cultures concerned with the involved languages in the interpretation activity. Owning the capacity of cross-cultural interpretation means that he consciously or unconsciously develops some standard and adjustment method in cross-cultural communication， or that it is a way of thinking and judgment particularly possessed by the interpreters[4]. Once an interpreter obtain awareness of cross-cultural co
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mmunication， he then can reduce the side-effects caused by cultural differences， so only in this way can he utilize the languages more skillfully and convey the information more appropriately. Hence， it is essential to help interpreters gain knowledge of cultural differences， and foster their cross-cultural communication ability. Thus cross-cultural pragmatics should be attached importance to in EFL classes as it is an indispensable part of interpretation training but has received insufficient attention. But the question is how to go from recognizing the importance of the issue to moving into classroom interpretation learning and mitigating cross-cultural communication breakdown.According to Bell， PBL is a student-driven， teacher-facilitated approach to learning [5]. Buck Institute for Education defines PBL elaborately as a systematic teaching method that engages students in acquiring knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex， authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks[6]. This is an appropriate pedagogical method to help students gain knowledge concerning different cultures and cross-cultural communication， because with specific projects about cultures， students he access to massive information with regard to cultural differences and cross-cultural communication. Such large input of culture knowledge in English will strengthen not only students’ awareness of cross-cultural communication but also their language ability. Although PBL still can involve traditional lectures， it gives more emphasis on autonomous learning in all groups. Students find their material sources， conduct their research and solve problems on their own.To help students strengthen their awareness of cross-cultural communication， the author adopted PBL in classes with four projects chosen under collaborative efforts of the teacher and students （i.e.， “Taboo and Superstition in Western Countries”， “World Religions in China”， “Higher-education of Western Countries”， “Western Festival Customs”）， which lasted for 11 weeks. Thus， the class was divided into four groups each of which was assigned with a project according to their common interest， and each of which had 4-6 group members one of whom was the group leader responsible for work distribution and coordination. To finish these projects， students with common interest had conducted activities following the procedure：
1）Agree on a theme for the project
2）Determine the final outcome
3）Structure the project
4）Gather information and materials useful for research
5）Compile and analyze information
6）Regular presentation weekly which generally lasts 20minutes occupied by 4 groups （i.e.， each group has 2 such opportunities for the whole semester）
7）Present final product （the eleventh week）
8）Evaluate the project
In the process， students searched massive information through library， website， database， corpus， etc.， and shared these with other students in classes in forms of well orchestrated role play and videos， PPT， discussion， during which they could
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obtain much knowledge of cultural differences between China and the English-speaking countries， and hence has promoted their sensitivity and tolerance towards cultural differences， flexibility in handling cultural differences， awareness of cross-cultural communication. And one student even conducted a survey on a foreign forum to gather information about westerners’ religious belief， from which she gained thrilling experience and great motivation to communicate with native English speakers.Although PBL is a student-centered pedagogical model， teachers still play a vital role of supervisor and helper both in class and after class. Thus， it requires that English teachers be careful and knowledgeable and as objective as possible concerning cultural differences. Otherwise personal judgments that may not be well grounded， hearsay or plain prejudice and stereotyping could be obstacles in the student's understanding of cross-cultural pragmatics interpretation. Therefore， maintaining a positive classroom dynamic for all students needs to be considered.
5 ConclusionA qualified interpreter is characterized by not only steady linguistic foundation and adept interpretation skills， but also familiarity with the different cultures of relevance. Otherwise， the interpreter will he more difficulty finding pragmatically equivalent expression and commit a pragmatic breakdown.
Because of the differences of geographical locations， natural environments， historical changes， religions and beliefs， economic development， etc.， every nation has its own culture with unique features. Interpretation actually is a process of language blending and cultural communication. Some language forms he their related communicational pragmatic me
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aning only in the specific cultural background. Effective communication is possible only if we master the way of thinking， customs and tradition， way of life of that culture； otherwise， pragmatic failure will be committed as a result of shortage of cultural background knowledge. Hence， interpreters should keep a sober mind and strong capability of cross-cultural communication， reduce the cross-cultural pragmatic failures in interpretation， convey the original meaning in target language with grammatical， acceptable and appropriate form to the target language listeners and enhance the mutual understanding between different nations. And interpretation teachers he the responsibility to contribute towards cross-cultural understanding and to assist their students in the development of global competencies of interpretation. However， how to balance cross-cultural communication training and interpretation skill training or how to distribute the limited time in class is still a tough issue that is left for future study.References：
何自然.语用学与英语学习[M].上海外语教育出版社， 1999.
Fang J. A study on pragmatic failure in cross-cultural communication [J]. Sino-US English Teaching， 2010，7（12）： 42-46.
[3]Thomas， J. Cross-cultural pragmatic failure [J]. Applied Linguistics， 4（2）， 91-112.
[4]Zhang XC. On Interpreters’ Intercultural Awareness [J]. World Journal of English Language， 2011， 1（1）： 47-52.
[5]Bell， S. Project-Based Learning for the 21st Century： Skills for the Future[J]. The Clearing House， 2010，83 （2）： 39-43.
[6]Buck Institute for Education. What is PBL[EB/OL]. http：//www.bie.org/ [2012-09-3].
作者简介：冯瑞玲（1984.5-），女，助教，硕士，主要研究方向为应用语言学。