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【Abstract】For most of the Chinese college students， their most frequent pragmatic failures and mistakes in their oral English， mainly come in two ways： linguistic mistakes and pragmatic mistakes .This paper is designed to shed light on the analysis on the reason of certain selected pragmatic mistakes and search for corresponding solutions to such linguistic phenomenon in their spoken English .
【Key words】pragmatic mistakes； Oral English； intercultural communication
Introduction
Some of the most frequent pragmatic failures and mistakes made by Chinese students in oral English mainly come in two ways： linguistic mistakes and pragmatic mistakes （Wang， 2012）. Yet relevant studies have found that pragmatic mistakes are more likely to cause communicative failures than linguistic mistakes. Therefore， the core of ESL is to equip learners with pragmatic awareness and competence. This paper is designed to shed light on the analysis on the causes of certain selected pragmatic mistakes and search for corresponding solutions to such linguistic phenomenon in the oral English of Chinese students.
Background of the research：
For most of the Chinese college students， after over ten years of English learning， could have a solid foundation of English grammar and knowledge， which allows them to gain good grades in examination but they are very equally excellent at communicating with English native speakers. Failures in intercultural communication caused by pragmatic mistakes in their oral English are observed to be the bigger killer of successful intercultural communication. In the college English teaching， the focus has for a long time been placed on the cultivation of linguistic competence while pragmatic competence has been under sung or even neglected. Therefore， in most Chinese universities and colleges， being able to pass the CET 4/6 is never synonymous with being excellent at intercultural communication with English native speakers.
Pragmatic mistakes in Oral English of Chinese college students
Pragmatic proficiency refers to the ability to accurately comprehend a language and to put it to effective use （Sun， 2014）. From the definition， it could be clearly seen that， during the process of intercultural communication， speakers might use correct grammatical structures， but misunderstanding in their communication might occur when certain words， phrases or sentences are spoken at the wrong time or in the wrong place. In other words， their language used in oral and instant communication might not be in the same way as it is in native expression. For example， when Chinese college students want to express “我有點事”， most of them would say “I have a few things”， but actually this sentence should be “I have something to do” or “I have something to attend to” in English， another one “哪里哪里”， would usually be literally translated as “where where” by Chinese native speakers， which doesn’t make any sense to English native speakers. In fact， this Chinese expression should be “I humbly take that overstatement”. From the two examples discussed above， it is clear to readers that native Chinese speakers made no grammatical mistakes in their English expressions but they all failed to have a clear and accurate comprehension of the pragmatic competence required for successful intercultural communication. In other words， pragmatic mistakes are more related to language itself than to other linguistic factors. Since pragmatic mistakes are more concerned with the language itself， or rather， the way something is usually talked about in a native country， some Chinese ESL learners are influenced by Chinese language so much that they just take native expressions out of it and screw into it their own linguistic units， even if they don’t fit. That causes most Chinese students to speak English in a Chinese way， which is referred to as “Chinglish” in mainland China （Cai， 2013）. Chinglish is usually defined by the mistakes in the choice of words， for example：
“我沒有經验” ， most Chinese students would say “I have no experience” in English， but actually， its English equivalent has nothing to do with the word “经验” or “experience”， English speakers would say “I don’t know much about it. ”
“昨晚上下了场大雨”， as one of the most frequently used expression to start a conversation with native English speakers， most Chinese students would say “We had a big rain last night”， but the modifier adjective “big” is only accepted in Chinese language， English tends to use “heavy” to modify the pouring rain.
The two examples listed above contain the inappropriate choice of words， next， a short conversation containing speaker’s lack of intercultural background would be shown：
——“Nice day today， isn’t it？”
——“But I’m not in a good mood today. ”
In the west， people seldom or never express their mood in daily conversation because this would put both the speakers in embarrassment.
Thus， from the demonstration as well as the analysis of selected examples of pragmatic mistakes in the oral English of most of the Chinese college students， it could be seen that most pragmatic mistakes could be traced back to the inappropriate and even wrong choice of words and expressions in the target language. But， learning a language is more concerned with the culture behind the language （Halenko
【Key words】pragmatic mistakes； Oral English； intercultural communication
Introduction
Some of the most frequent pragmatic failures and mistakes made by Chinese students in oral English mainly come in two ways： linguistic mistakes and pragmatic mistakes （Wang， 2012）. Yet relevant studies have found that pragmatic mistakes are more likely to cause communicative failures than linguistic mistakes. Therefore， the core of ESL is to equip learners with pragmatic awareness and competence. This paper is designed to shed light on the analysis on the causes of certain selected pragmatic mistakes and search for corresponding solutions to such linguistic phenomenon in the oral English of Chinese students.
Background of the research：
For most of the Chinese college students， after over ten years of English learning， could have a solid foundation of English grammar and knowledge， which allows them to gain good grades in examination but they are very equally excellent at communicating with English native speakers. Failures in intercultural communication caused by pragmatic mistakes in their oral English are observed to be the bigger killer of successful intercultural communication. In the college English teaching， the focus has for a long time been placed on the cultivation of linguistic competence while pragmatic competence has been under sung or even neglected. Therefore， in most Chinese universities and colleges， being able to pass the CET 4/6 is never synonymous with being excellent at intercultural communication with English native speakers.
Pragmatic mistakes in Oral English of Chinese college students
Pragmatic proficiency refers to the ability to accurately comprehend a language and to put it to effective use （Sun， 2014）. From the definition， it could be clearly seen that， during the process of intercultural communication， speakers might use correct grammatical structures， but misunderstanding in their communication might occur when certain words， phrases or sentences are spoken at the wrong time or in the wrong place. In other words， their language used in oral and instant communication might not be in the same way as it is in native expression. For example， when Chinese college students want to express “我有點事”， most of them would say “I have a few things”， but actually this sentence should be “I have something to do” or “I have something to attend to” in English， another one “哪里哪里”， would usually be literally translated as “where where” by Chinese native speakers， which doesn’t make any sense to English native speakers. In fact， this Chinese expression should be “I humbly take that overstatement”. From the two examples discussed above， it is clear to readers that native Chinese speakers made no grammatical mistakes in their English expressions but they all failed to have a clear and accurate comprehension of the pragmatic competence required for successful intercultural communication. In other words， pragmatic mistakes are more related to language itself than to other linguistic factors. Since pragmatic mistakes are more concerned with the language itself， or rather， the way something is usually talked about in a native country， some Chinese ESL learners are influenced by Chinese language so much that they just take native expressions out of it and screw into it their own linguistic units， even if they don’t fit. That causes most Chinese students to speak English in a Chinese way， which is referred to as “Chinglish” in mainland China （Cai， 2013）. Chinglish is usually defined by the mistakes in the choice of words， for example：
“我沒有經验” ， most Chinese students would say “I have no experience” in English， but actually， its English equivalent has nothing to do with the word “经验” or “experience”， English speakers would say “I don’t know much about it. ”
“昨晚上下了场大雨”， as one of the most frequently used expression to start a conversation with native English speakers， most Chinese students would say “We had a big rain last night”， but the modifier adjective “big” is only accepted in Chinese language， English tends to use “heavy” to modify the pouring rain.
The two examples listed above contain the inappropriate choice of words， next， a short conversation containing speaker’s lack of intercultural background would be shown：
——“Nice day today， isn’t it？”
——“But I’m not in a good mood today. ”
In the west， people seldom or never express their mood in daily conversation because this would put both the speakers in embarrassment.
Thus， from the demonstration as well as the analysis of selected examples of pragmatic mistakes in the oral English of most of the Chinese college students， it could be seen that most pragmatic mistakes could be traced back to the inappropriate and even wrong choice of words and expressions in the target language. But， learning a language is more concerned with the culture behind the language （Halenko