LING1901 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Cooperative Principle, Stereotype, Individualism
16 May 2018
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Wednesday, 14 September 2016
LING1901 LECTURE 14
POWER AND STEREOTYPES
-Revision: Cooperative principle and Grice’s maxims
•People use their knowledge of how conversation works to make sense of what their interlocutor means
•Our brain is constantly trying to make meaning out of what happens, and this meaning-making is informed by
conversational principles and rules or maxims
•Co-operative principle: say the right kinds of things for the kind of conversation you are taking part in
•Maxim of quality
-Tell the truth
-Avoid saying things for which you have insufficient evidence
-Assume that the person you're speaking to is telling the truth or know what they're talking about.
•You can’t have a conversation with someone if you think they are lying to you or are misinformed
•Maxim of manner
-Speak in a manner appropriate to the person you're talking to
•Use words you think the hearer will actually understand
-Don’t go on and on when you can be brief
-Stay away from ambiguity
•Phrase your contribution clearly
-Go through what you want to say in the right order
•Maxim of relevance
-Be relevant
-We say things that seem to be irrelevant all the time
-The difference between robot and us is that our brain will seek to find relevance between two or more things
even if this is absent on the surface
•Maxim of quantity
-Be as informative as you need to be
-That is, provide as much information as you think you need
•Bottom line
-Maxims are not really rules but more like guidelines
-They are what we assume people are doing in conversation
•We assume that people are being cooperative
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Document Summary
Avoid saying things for which you have insuf cient evidence. Speak in a manner appropriate to the person you"re talking to: use words you think the hearer will actually understand. Stay away from ambiguity: phrase your contribution clearly. Go through what you want to say in the right order: maxim of relevance. We say things that seem to be irrelevant all the time. The difference between robot and us is that our brain will seek to nd relevance between two or more things even if this is absent on the surface: maxim of quantity. Be as informative as you need to be. That is, provide as much information as you think you need: bottom line. Maxims are not really rules but more like guidelines. They are what we assume people are doing in conversation: we assume that people are being cooperative. Categorising groups results in some level of stereotyping.
