前言:中文期刊网精心挑选了论语全文解释范文供你参考和学习,希望我们的参考范文能激发你的文章创作灵感,欢迎阅读。
论语全文解释范文1
辅助使用结构化学教学网页,不断引进新的教学思想和教学理念,采用讲授、讨论、练习、实验、多媒体教学等多种教学方式,实现了教学互动,调动教与学两方面的积极性,教学效果有了明显的提高。考核方法学生们的课堂出勤率和平时作业成绩占期末总成绩的30%,而学生们的结构化学笔试成绩占期末总成绩的70%,这种考核方式在很大程度上起到了督促学生听课和练习结构化学知识、发挥学生主观能动性的作用,可以提高学生学习结构化学的积极性。
结构化学考试命题严格按照教学大纲要求分配各章的分数,主要考察学生对知识的理解、掌握和灵活运用等情况;命题内容涉及面广,每一章主要包括识记、理解、应用、分析与综合等部分,任课教师可以根据学生接受知识的能力调整各部分命题内容的分数比例。评分时,教研组采取流水作业的方式,对每一位学生做到评分公正、规范,这样客观、全面的反映学生的学习成绩以及教学质量的好坏。
丰富学生的实验教学内容,提高结构化学的教学质量实验教学是学生对理论课基础知识的感性认识过程和理解、掌握过程,是对学生认识问题、分析问题、解决问题和综合实验技能的培养过程的重要环节,它在对学生的理论联系实践能力的培养过程中起重要作用。因此在结构化学的实验教学中,我们充分利用化材学院省重点实验室先进的仪器设备,如测定结构的X射线粉末衍射仪,气质联用仪,400MHz核磁共振仪和荧光光谱仪,介绍给学生,开阔学生眼界。
论语全文解释范文2
一、选题富有时代性与地域特色
本次参评论文的选题呈现多样化趋势。有围绕新时代背景下学校美术教育目的的论述,有关于美术新课程改革的探讨,有美术教学及评价改革成果的展示,也有对当前美术新课程与教学中存在问题的质疑或反思:有中小学美术课程与课堂教学的研究,也有馆校结合的美术教育研究,涉及美术教育研究的各个领域。此外,参评作者的地区分布较广。有沿海发达地区的,也有内地的,其中,不乏边疆及少数民族地区的。许多选题凸显地域特色,紧紧围绕全球化背景下通过中小学美术教学活动保护、继承与发展当地本土美术文化的课题进行探讨,富有时代性与地域性,具有较高的学术价值与积极的现实意义。
二、内容充实且有推广价值
由于进行美术教育研究的最终目的是改善美术教育、教学的行为,因此,针对所发现的既有现实意义又有理论深度的问题,能否提出可行与有效的对策,是研究能否获得成功、论文内容是否充实的关键。本次参评文章中,有不少是围绕中小学美术课堂教学或校外教学展开论述的,提出了具有独创性、可行性和有效性的教学策略和方法,这些策略和方法在全国具有一定的推广价值。
三、研究和写作方法比较规范
一些论文或教育叙事的作者善于发现真问题,并能紧紧围绕美术教学的某一问题,进行层层深入的剖析,进而提出具体可行的解决途径和方法,在研究方法和写作方法的规范性上比以往有明显提高,体现出较强的客观性和科学性,因而提高了研究成果的学术含量。在凸显美术教育研究学科特点的同时,一些论文的作者力求打破学科领域的界限,开展美术教育学与心理学、美术教育学与科学、美术教育学与社会学等方面的跨学科研究,从而产生一些富有新意的研究成果。
四、今后的期望
论语全文解释范文3
关键词:忠;恕;一贯之道
子曰:“参乎!吾道一以贯之。” 曾子曰:“唯。”子出,门人问曰:“何谓也?”曾子曰:“夫子之道,忠恕而已矣。”(《论语・里仁篇》)
孔子在《论语》中有“吾道一以贯之”的说法,曾子解释为“忠恕而已矣”。 “忠恕”简言之就是反身尽己,推己达人,纵观《论语》全文,几乎都是在讲述这个道理。
一、孔子向曾子点明“吾道一以贯之”的原因
孔子弟子众多,其中不乏贤者,为什么偏偏呼唤年龄较小的曾子 向他点明“吾道一以贯之”。对于这一问题的思考,历来有着不少的争论。
宋代儒者受佛学影响较深,注解经文时常常有佛学的影子,清人洪颐煊在《读书丛录》中指出“宋儒谓一贯为孔门不传之秘,惟曾氏得其真诠,端木氏次之,其余不可得闻。此其说非也。”他的判断是符合道理的。儒家不像佛教那样讲求参悟,更没有所谓的“秘传”,孔子提倡“诲人不倦”(《论语・述而篇》)、“有教无类”(《论语・卫灵公篇》),对于学生提出的问题,也大多给出较为平白的回答,偏偏在于“一贯之道”这个最根本的问题上有所偏袒隐瞒,这是说不通的,因此宋儒所说的“秘传”的解释是错误的。
朱子在《四书章句集注》中的解释是“圣人之心浑然天理,而泛应曲当,用各不同。曾子于其用处盖已随事精察而力行之,但未知其体之一尔。夫子知其真积力久,将有所得,是以呼而告之。曾子果能默契其指,即应之速而无疑也。”相较于他人,朱子的说法虽然要符合情理得多,但是仍然不能令人十分满意。朱子解释此段经文时,大力阐发他的“理一分殊”思想 ,显然是在借题发挥,不符合原文之意。
孔子教诲弟子时,常常针对学生的不同特点因材施教。曾子性格笃实敦厚 ,注重修养自己 ,如朱子所言“夫子知其真积力久,将有所得”,因此将其呼唤出来,告诉他“吾道一以贯之”。这样做实际上是为了点明曾子:我的“道”并不是纷冗复杂的,不要过多纠缠于种种繁复细节而失去对于主旨的把握,要明白学问的中心只有一个,把握住这个中心就把握住了学问的要领,履行了这个中心才不至于走上歧途,如此而已。正如《中庸》所说“忠恕违道不远”。
二、关于“忠恕”二字的解释
关于“忠恕”二字的训诂,前人已经做过了十分详尽的论述,在此我便不再赘述,简言之,《说文解字》训“忠”为“敬也”,“恕”为“仁也”。“忠者,情之尽也。恕者,反情以同物者也。” 朱子在《四书章句集注》中解释为“尽己之谓忠,推己之谓恕。”至于“忠恕”二者之间关系,现代学者虽有分歧,但总体而言认为“‘忠恕’是一个统一的概念,‘己所不欲,勿施于人’既是‘恕’的实际含义,也是‘忠’的具体表现。唯有其‘忠’,才有此‘恕’;倘无此‘恕’,也难见其‘忠’。故‘己所不欲,勿施于人’的定义虽然是由‘恕’引出来的,但却是冲着‘忠恕’二字而发的。” 另外“忠恕”两个概念间存在着一定的逻辑关系:“忠”是“恕”的必要心理前提,“恕”则是“忠”的外向性发展。 今人对于“忠恕”关系的论述是与古人的注疏相契合的。历代《论语》注者在解释“忠恕”时,都是将二者统一起来,在“忠”的基础上进一步阐释“恕”的含义,如朱子所说“‘忠恕’只是一件事情,不可作两个看。”
然而,当今学者在谈论“忠恕”关系时,常常会引入“仁”的概念,或将“忠恕”看做是“仁”的具体行为或下辖概念,或将“忠恕”视为“仁”的积极或消极面。 但是实际上,清代以前的历代《论语》注者在解释此句时,都未曾引入“仁”的概念,而清代全祖望的《经史问答》、顾炎武的《日知录》等书在注解本句时,虽然提到了“仁”字,但也并没有将“忠恕”置于“仁”之下,只是作为解释“忠恕”内涵的引申而言的。 因此“忠恕”与“仁”并无明显的上下级关系,或者至少可以说“忠恕”不是“仁”的消极面。而且根据《说文解字》中对于“恕”的解释可以明显开出来,(至少在东汉之前 )“恕”不仅没有低于“仁”,而且在一定程度上二者是相通的。
总结来看,“忠”为竭尽己能,“恕”为反身待人,二者统一于待人,用孔子本人的话讲便是“其恕乎” 。在此基础上也就不难发现,在《论语》500余则 的记录中,终归是不离其宗。
参考文献
[1] 《论语》
[2] 皇侃:《论语集解义疏》,商务印书馆,中华民国二十六年初版(1937年第一版)
[3] 司马迁:《史记》,中华书局,1982年第二版
[4] 朱熹:《四书章句集注》,浙江古籍出版社,2012年第一版
[5] 许慎:《说文解字》,中华书局,1963年第一版
[6] 冯浩菲:《关于孔子忠恕思想的界说问题》,载于《孔子研究》2003年第4期
[7] 卜师霞:《孔子忠恕思想的内涵》,载于《孔子研究》2007年第5期
[8] 黎靖德:《朱子语类》,中华书局,1986年第一版
[9] 杨伯峻:《论语译注》,中华书局,1980年第一版
论语全文解释范文4
关键词:孔子;实践;论语;根源
实践不仅仅是现在这个社会所倡导的,在两千多年前的春秋战国时期孔子也一直倡导学习的知识要在实践中去验证,去实现君子的理想。
一、实践的含义
我们首先探讨一下本文所说的实践的意义,才能展开下面的论述。
在百度百科上对实践的解释是这样的:实践是人类自觉自我的一切行为。内在意识本体与生命本体的矛盾是推动人类自我解放的根本矛盾,其外在化为人类个体及组织、阶级通过生产关系联系的整体对于自然及个体间或者集体关系、阶级关系形成的解放活动。实践只有在自觉的意识下才是人性的、人格的。很抽象,很难理解,简而言之,就是人在自我意识之下所做的表达自己的意识的行为。
但是我们现在要探讨的实践并不是这个解释。我们所探讨的实践更深的意义上是指学子如何对待自己所学所想,而不是将自己和自己的知识束之高阁。
二、《论语》中的教导
“学而时习之,不亦说乎?”这是耳熟能详的金句良言,也是论语的全文基础基调,人们往往以此来教育孩子要及时的温习功课,加深印象,但是这犯了望文生义的错误,把现代的教育观点强加在了古人的身上,孔子的真正的意义并不是这样的。“习”在古书中有“实习”“演习”的意义,如《礼记*射义》的“习礼乐”、“习射”。孔子所讲的功课,一般都和当时的社会生活和政治生活密切结合。像礼、乐、射、御这些都是身体的训练,都需要亲身的实践,不是普通意义上的温习、复习。所以这句里的习不宜翻译为温习,实习和实践应该比较适合。而在李泽厚的《论语今读》中,更是直接翻译成为实践。
又比如曾子名言:“吾日三省吾身――为人谋而不忠乎?与朋友交而不信乎?传不习乎?”,他的翻译大意是:我每天多次自我反思:替别人办事是否尽心竭力了呢?同朋友往来是否诚实?老师传授的知识是否复习了呢?这里的“习”和“学而时习之”的“习”一样,包括了温习,实习,演习而言,后世为了方便便统一翻译为复习。
再比如《论语*卫灵公》中的名言,“人能弘道,非道弘人。”这句话在历史有很多争议,但是个人比较认同《论语集释》的解释,“夫子之时,老氏之流曰人法天,天法道,道法自然。曰道无为而无不为,是道能弘人之说也。彼以礼义为出于人为而不足贵,而欲不籍人力,一任道之自然,究必人事日就退化,是夫子非道弘人之说也。”根据这句话,我们就能知道孔子说想要表达的意义,人是不能被动的等待道作用于人身,而是应该积极地践履,去实践自己心目中的道,而且道不能离开人的本身,也就是说人的实践活动有着不可缺少的作用,具有关键性的意义。
从这三句耳熟能详的名言中我们不难看出孔子的态度,他不仅不反对弟子们在“红尘”中的打滚,而且是采取鼓励的态度,希望自己的弟子可以在把自己的学识应用在现实的实践当中。孔子虽然推崇古代的文献,但是他的教育的落脚点仍然是一个字“习”,也就是学习的知识要落实到生活的实践和整体当中去,孔子所欣赏的礼乐也就更离不开实践了,要付出于行动。而且如果认真的读《论语》,你会发现孔子很欣赏那些言语不多的人,因为孔子认为这样的人靠得住,是勇于实践的人,而不是夸夸其谈,却不肯迈出一步的人,也正是这个原因,孔子非常的器重颜渊,因为颜渊是一个看起来木讷的人,也是最懂孔子的一个弟子,但是遗憾的是,颜渊的优点也是他的缺点,他的讷于言也让他没有办法发扬光大孔子的思想。
这位“轴心时代”的思想巨人并不是后来被后人推上神坛的模样一样只会坐而论道,相反他很朴实,很真诚,很有自己的哲学。他可以温柔的对待任何人,听到动听的歌声,他可以“以歌而合”,他也可以在颠沛流离的流浪生活中继续传播自己的思想,坚持自己的信仰。在难于实现的时代仍然大声提出来自己的主张,并身体力行,这就是信仰的力量。我们不能永远成为“审时度势”的实用主义者,而应该在清醒的了解周围的环境后,在实践受挫后,仍然抬起头来看看天上永恒的太阳。
三、论语与当代大学生
老家有一句古,虽然有失偏薄,但也拿出来分享:“百无一用是书生。”这句话也许可以形容当代的许多大学生,这些曾经被家里,被社会,被国家视为“天之骄子”的骄子们,在充满斗志的走上社会后都几乎无一例外的要碰一鼻子灰,要先被社会狠狠地打磨一遍,才能真正的融入这个社会,才能发挥自己的才能,许多在社会浪潮中失意的大学生哀叹自己“被社会所同化”“自己的失意是社会太过现实,没有创造力”,其实我个人看来,除了社会与能力的问题,更重要的是大学生的知识不能够应用社会,只会做“书本将军”,个人与社会需要脱节。
正是暑假,很多大学生趁机参加各种实践活动,例如“三下乡”活动。学长学姐经历的多,也参加过不少团体,但是在制定策划时候也是笑话百出,明显不符合社会的心理。暑假想要集合已经放假的学生进行集体授课,根本没有考虑学生的心理情况;想要在农业大区给老乡宣传种地的知识,告诉他们怎样可以增产,根本没有想想老乡的经验远比只从书本上获取知识的大学生懂更多;策划里全是高科技的东西,完全没有想到自己去的经济并不发达的乡镇,也许当地的条件根本无法支持这么多的高科技。大学生的幼稚也就显现出来,难怪许多老乡见到穿着统一制服的大学生都会避开,并不是老乡不热情,而是真的很给老乡添麻烦。如果大学生肯去认真了解当地人民的心理,而不是带着“高高在上”的文化人心态,也许活动可以更成功,带来更多的人生经验。大学生暑期参加社会实践,无论何种形式,在岗位、单位和行业选择时要与自身的专业知识和社会需要结合起来。大学生切记盲目,如果实习行业或单位与理想职业和专业知识相差甚远,只为打发时间或自荐书上的实习经历而实习,在实习过程中容易因为对工作任务没有兴趣产生倦怠情绪,没有办法发挥自己专业的长处,锻炼自己的专业知识应用,往往既浪费时间,又收效甚微。
《论语》中开篇便是对实践的强调,点明了全书的要义,表明了孔子对实践的推崇。孔子并不只是一个儒雅的老师,他也是一位智者,了解知识最终归宿――实践,并在自己的言行中贯彻这一理念。《论语》充满了实践的智慧,当代的大学生更应该离开象牙塔,多出去走走,实践自己的所学。
参考文献:
[1]杨伯峻.《论语译注》
论语全文解释范文5
师:同学们猜猜他是谁?
生:孔子。
师:谁来介绍一下孔子?
师:孔子出生在公元前551年,处于我国的春秋时期,距离现在已经有2500多年了。他出生在u邑,也就是现在山东曲阜。孔子名丘,字仲尼。
师:孔子是伟大的教育家、思想家,是第一个广收门徒的老师,他先后有弟子三千,其中著名的弟子就有72人。孔子被尊为孔圣人、至圣先师、万世师表。其儒家思想对中国和世界都有深远的影响,孔子被列为“世界十大文化名人”之首。
生:孔子写了一本书叫《论语》。
师:《论语》跟孔子有关,但不是孔子写的。孔子去世后,他的弟子及其再传弟子把孔子及其弟子的言行语录和思想记录下来,整理编成儒家经典之一《论语》。我们学校的老师撷取200条与小学生关系密切的《论语》,编成了这本校本教材。今天我们就来学习第一课。在这一节课,我们将要采用“闯三关”的形式。第一关:记诵经典。
二、 歌诀素读,记诵经典
师:(出示)第一条经典――子曰:“学而时习之,不亦说乎?有朋自远方来,不亦乐乎?人不知而不愠,不亦君子乎?”同学们是怎样读经典的?(生读)
师:你们这是朗读,听老师读。(老师歌诀体朗读经典,学生不由自主跟节奏,或晃动身体,或用手轻轻打着节拍。)
师:老师与你们读的有什么不同?
生:老师读得快,有节奏,像唱歌一样。
师:老师使用的是歌诀体的朗读形式,同学们愿不愿意学习这种朗读方法?
生:愿意。
(领读之后,采用齐读,男女生比赛读等多种朗读形式,直到熟读成诵。)
三、 结合注释,理解文字
师:同学们顺利通过第一关,现在我们进入第二关:理解文字。看第一条,这么多“之乎者也”是什么意思呢?老师教你们理解经典的小窍门,结合注释理解文字。(老师结合注释用自己的话说第一条经典的意思。)孔子说,学习知识或做人的道理,不停地去复习或者践行,不是很高兴的事情吗?有志同道合的朋友从远方来,不是很快乐的事情吗?别人不了解自己,但不生气,不是一个君子吗?
师:现在请同学们用老师的方法,自学其余三条《论语》。(学生自学)
师:谁来说说这一条?(出示课件)子曰:“巧言令色,鲜矣仁!”
生:孔子说:“花言巧语装作和善,是缺少仁德的。”
师:在童话故事中总有一位主人公喜欢花言巧语,他是谁?
生:狐狸,狐狸骗乌鸦的肉,狐狸想吃公鸡就花言巧语骗它。真的是缺少仁德。
师:好,同学们再看这一则?(出示课件)曾子曰:“吾日三省吾身:为人谋而不忠乎?与朋友交而不信乎?传不习乎?”
生:曾子说:“我每天多次反省自己:为别人办事,是不是尽心竭力了呢?同朋友交往,是不是做到守信用了呢?老师传授给我的学业,是不是复习了呢?”
师:看来结合注释理解经典的方法都掌握了,看这一条讲的是什么?(出示课件)子曰:“弟子入则孝,出则弟,谨而信,泛爱众而亲仁。行有余力,则以学文。”
生:孔子说:“学生在家里,就孝顺父母;出门在外,要友爱同学,言行要谨慎,要讲信用,要广泛地去爱众人,亲近那些有仁德的人。这样做了之后,还有精力的话,就再去学习礼乐技艺。”
师:意思大家都理解了。大家把这四则《论语》连起来读一遍。(学生歌诀体朗读四则《论语》)
四、 反省自我,践行经典
师:大家顺利闯过两关,现在我们要闯第三关:践行经典。学习经典的目的不仅仅是诵读、理解,更重要的是让它成为指引你前行的一盏明灯,照亮你人生之路。比如,每当我读到“弟子入则孝,出则弟,谨而信,泛爱众而亲仁。行有余力,则以学文”中的“谨而信”时,就想起去年暑假的一天,女儿和好朋友约好下午三点去图书馆看书。谁料到中午时,乌云密布,她见势不妙,马上给朋友打电话,可她家电话停机。女儿看着黑沉沉的天,就说:“佳琪肯定不去了,咱要不也算了吧。”我看看天,又看看她,说:“咱们做人要讲诚信,不守信用可不好。”虽然乌云密布,我还是把她送到图书馆。我们刚迈进图书馆,就听见佳琪在后边喊女儿。我想,那个下午,两个女孩收获的不仅仅是知识,更重要的是俩人遵守承诺,换来的相互信任和友谊。同学们,面对今天学的经典,你想到了什么?(出示四则《论语》)
生:从“学而时习之,不亦说乎?”我想到学习知识还是做人的道理,都要经常的复习或者践行。正如孔子说的“温故而知新,可以为师矣。”
师:你用经典解释经典,可见你是一个知识渊博的孩子。
生:“人不知而不愠,不亦君子乎?”当别人不了解自己时,却能做到不怨天不尤人,真的就是一个君子了。这一点我做得不太好,当别人误会了我的好意或者委屈了我,怨恨之情油然而生,我好几天不愿意跟他说话。今后,我要力争做一个君子。
师:勇于自我批评,你是生活的勇士。
生:读了“巧言令色,鲜矣仁!”我想到那天去书店买书,在书店门口碰到一个年轻人,蓬头垢面,可怜兮兮地说,他的钱被人偷了,一天了没吃一点东西。我看他可怜,就把自己所有的钱都掏给了他,谁知他拿起钱,说了一声“谢谢”,就匆匆走了,回头还露出对我鄙夷的笑。那时候自己委屈极了,现在想想,那个人就是典型的巧言令色的小人。”
师:老师同情你的遭遇,赞赏你的爱心。
生:“巧言令色,鲜矣仁!”这句话中,我体会到我们既要防止巧言令色的人,更不要去做巧言令色的人。
生:我从曾子曰:“吾日三省吾身:为人谋而不忠乎?与朋友交而不信乎?传不习乎?”想到了为别人做事,应该尽心尽力。记得有一次,朋友的汽车遥控器坏了,我帮他打开盖后,发现线路连接的焊点开了。我的遥控器上周也出了这样的问题,爸爸借了好多次工具,费了一天时间才修好。我害怕给爸爸添麻烦,就对朋友说:“只有这里坏了,遥控器就没办法修了,再去玩具店换一个吧。”现在想想,自己真做错了事,自己不但没尽力帮朋友,还撒谎欺骗他。
(同学们不约而同地鼓起掌)
师:感谢同学们的掌声,此处也应该有掌声。请你说说为什么送他掌声。
生:他勇于批评自我,是个勇士。
生:他的真诚打动了我,人不怕犯错,就怕犯错不知悔改,还嘴硬说自己没错。
师:谢谢你们俩的精彩点评。同学们,人的优秀品质并不是一下子就在身体里生根发芽的,只会在你做好事的过程中慢慢孕育。人格魅力就是这样一天天培养起来的。
生:老师,我看到“泛爱众”我就想起了我的弟弟。他不到七岁,但心地特别善良,只要在电视上看到谁得病了,或者哪里受灾了,总要收拾自己的衣服或玩具,要给小朋友送去。在路上见到乞丐,他总会向大人要钱去献爱心。一个大雪天,我们小朋友都在雪地上打雪仗,有一个老奶奶路过,不知怎么脚一滑摔倒了,我们看见笑了起来,弟弟却跑过去,吃力地扶起她,拍去她身上的雪,仰起脸不停地问摔得疼不疼。那急切的话语和心疼的目光叫我们这些姐姐哥哥好惭愧。
五、 总结全文,引领提升
论语全文解释范文6
【Key words】discourse; coherence; conversation analysis; conversational implicature
【摘要】全文采用理分析的方法。首先回顾了语篇连贯的主要理论。第二部分分析了从会话含意角度解释语篇连贯的可行性,此理论被认为是有效解释语篇连贯的基础。最后一部分总结全文。概括了会话含意对语篇连贯的解释力,同时指出了目前研究的局限性。
【关键词】语篇 连贯 会话分析 会话含意
1. Basic Concepts of Discourse Coherence
1.1 Discourse
Any utterance, no matter how long it is, whether it is presented in spoken or written form, as long as it constitutes a complete unity, it can be called a discourse. The term ‘discourse’ has caused much confusion in the academic field. In some linguists’ views, discourse refers to language in use. Brown, Yule hold the same view. Others believe that discourse is dependent on context. Hu Zhuanglin consider that a discourse refers to any natural language which has complete meaning under certain contexts, but is not completely restricted by sentences.(Hu Zhuanglin, 1994)
Though many linguists have defined discourse from different angles, there still is not a unified definition about it. At present time, it is generally believed that discourse is a stretch of language, spoken or written of whatever length, taking on meaning in context for its users, perceived by them to be meaningful unified and purposeful.
As coherence is one of the most important research areas of discourse analysis and it is at the very core of analysis, it is necessary to give an account of coherence.
1.2 Coherence
Coherence is very important in discourse analysis. This is because a discourse is never complete without reference to coherence, no matter how self-contained it is. Coherence is a concept which in its complexity is still not fully understood and a matter of continuing debate up to present. It is always regarded as a hot topic because it is an important factor in determining discourse’s connectivity in meaning. Roughly speaking, coherence is the semantic relationship between propositions or communicative events in discourse.
The notion of coherence is a controversial concept. There is a long history of studying coherence and there are many different interpretations on it. As early as in 1976, Halliday and Hasan stated that: “A passage of discourse which is coherent in these two regards: it is coherent with respect to the context of situation and therefore consistent in register; and it is coherent with respect to itself, and therefore cohesive. Neither of these two conditions is sufficient without the other, nor does the one by necessity entail the other.”(1976:23) Many scholars have devoted themselves to the study of coherence. The following viewpoints are two of the most influential studies of coherence. Van Dijk regards coherence as a semantic concept, while Widdowson considers it a pragmatic concept concerned with illocutionary development.
Conversational implicature refers to the implicit meaning of discourse. It is an important device for explaining discourse coherence and plays a significant function in discourse analysis. For this reason, it is necessary to discuss the factor of conversational implicature in the interpretation of discourse coherence.
2. Conversational Implicature and Discourse Coherence
Grice’s theory of conversational implicature has aroused far more attention in linguistics. This theory concerns not solely with conversations, but with all kinds of social interaction involving either spoken or written language. Conversational implicature is a major research area of pragmatics and it is also an important achievement of the theoretical research of pragmatics. Levinson point out that “conversational implicature is a typical example from pragmatics’ ability to interpret language phenomenon.” (Levinson, 1983:87) Therefore, conversational implicature can be used to interpret the phenomenon of discourse coherence. The contribution of Grice’s theory of conversational implicature to discourse analysis is a set of principles that constraints the addresser’s sequential choices in a discourse and allows the addressee to recognize the addresser’s intentions.
In essence, conversational implicature is an important device of understanding coherent discourse. This is the theoretical foundation of analyzing the phenomenon of discourse coherence by using the theory of conversational implicature. Therefore, this section attempts to give a discussion of discourse coherence from the theory of conversational implicature and expects this theory can be of great benefit to the study of discourse coherence.
2.1 Implicature and its Origin
The notion of conversational implicature is one of the single most important ideas in pragmatics. The word ‘implicature’ is often used as shorthand for ‘conversational implicature’. It is derived from the verb ‘to imply’. Originally, ‘to imply’ means ‘to fold something into something else’; hence, that which is implied is “folded in”, and has to be ‘unfolded’ in order to be understood. A conversational implicature is, therefore, something which is implied in conversation, that is, something which is left implicit in actual language use.
The key ideas of conversational implicature were proposed by Grice in the Williams James lectures delivered at Harvard in 1967 and still partially published (Grice, 1975). In that lecture, Grice proposed the notion of conversational implicature which is derived from a general principle of conversation plus four maxims (quantity, quality, manner and relation) which speakers will normally obey. The term ‘implicature’ is used to account for what a speaker can imply, suggest, or mean, as distinct from what the speaker literally says. The general principle is called cooperative principle.
Grice also points out that language user will not always obey cooperative principle and these maxims in communication, i.e., participants will normally obey, but may on occasion flout or violate. Any violation of these maxims will result in conversational implicature; this is the theoretical foundation of implicature, which provides the starting point for discourse coherence. In the following section, conversational implicature’s application will be described in detail.
2.2 Conversational Implicature’s Interpretation to Discourse Coherence
It is made clear that conversational implicature can serve as pragmatic cohesive tie of coherence, which links up all the fragmented pieces of an utterance and reveals the underlying meaning structure of the discourse as a whole. Within the theory of conversational implicature, a discourse can still achieve coherence without formal semantic cohesive ties. Therefore, conversational implicature can make great contribution to the analysis of discourse coherence.
It is worth noting the fact that implicature has certain identifiable characteristics. Implicature is partially derived from the conventional or literal meaning of an utterance. It is produced in a specific context which is shared by the addresser and the addressee and depends on the addresser and the addressee’s recognition of the cooperative principle and its maxims. According to Green’s account (1996), the coherence of a discourse depends on the addresser’s successful generation of implicature by observing cooperative principle on the one hand and the addressee’s successful inference of implicature on the assumption that the addresser is being cooperative on the other hand.
Grice observes that conversational implicature is essentially connected with certain general features of discourse. He also emphasizes that the presence of a conversational implicature must be capable of being worked out. Therefore, conversational implicature is a kind of extra meaning, not inherent in the words used. When speech behavior appears inconsistent with the maxims, the addressee will assume that the addresser is then abiding by the cooperative principle and adopt a strategy of interpreting the addresser’s behavior as conforming to the maxims. Below are two examples to illustrate this point:
[1] A: The clock is slow.
B: There was a power cut this morning.
[2] A: Have you seen my stubby screwdriver?
B: Look in the red toolbox.
In example [1], it can be assumed that the propositional content of B’s statement bears some relation to that of A’s: in particular, that B is, or might be, supplying an explanation for what A asserts to be the case. Of course, the assumption that B’s utterance is relevant to A’s in this way depends not only upon background knowledge about electric clocks, but also upon the further assumption that B shares this background knowledge and knows that the clock in question is, or might be, operated by electricity directly supplied from the mains. Thus, B’s utterance actually observes the maxim of relation and the coherence of this discourse is realized.
In example [2], B would violate maxims of relation and quantity if he did not expect A to be able to interpret his reply as a cooperative response to the question; to infer that B believed the screwdriver was in the red toolbox and that the toolbox was accessible, and so on. In fact, by responding as B does, A can infer that B implicates that the screwdriver is in the toolbox and accessible to A so as to link the two sentences and create coherence. This instance suggests that conversational implicature is a remarkable conversational strategy in explaining discourse coherence. In interpreting a discourse, when the utterance appears inconsistent with the maxims, the addressee will assume that the addresser is still complying with the cooperative principle, then adopt the strategy to interpret the addresser’s utterance as conforming to the maxims and seek to construct a sequence of inferences which make it relevant or at least cooperative. In the process of generating conversational implicatures, discourses are interpreted as coherent ones by the addressee.
In fact, conversational implicature is inferred from situational or world knowledge because its literal meaning does not conform to the need of coherent discourse. Conversational implicature uses implied meaning to substitute its literal meaning. Therefore, conversational implicature is a kind of connotation, a changed meaning in specific contexts. In essence, conversational implicature is an important device of realizing discourse coherence. The process of obtaining conversational implicature is essentially the process of realizing discourse coherence.
The theory of conversational implicature makes efforts to interpret discourses which seem incoherent superficially as coherent ones. As for this kind of superficially incoherent discourse, it is necessary to use inference to work out the links that are implicit, thus can make up ‘missing links’ among information. After having done this, coherence of discourse can be revealed.
Grice’s theory of conversational implicature has strong points in interpreting the problem of discourse coherence without the assistance of some surface formal cohesive devices. As a result of this contribution, this theory can interpret discourses which are short of semantic cohesive ties as coherent ones. Thus it can be seen that the theory of conversational implicature helps to make the research on discourse coherence step into a new stage.
3. Conclusion
All mentioned above has shown that conversational implicature has made great contributions to the analysis of discourse coherence. The notion of implicature promises to bridge the gap between what is literally said and what is conveyed by giving some account of how large portions of the material are effectively conveyed. The most obvious fact is that without the assistance of some superficial cohesive devices, a discourse still can achieve coherence.
However, as a coin has two sides, the theory of conversational implicature has its own weak points. First, Grice does not make a detailed analysis of the contents of four maxims and their relationship. Nor does he provide an inference device and give an exact definition of context. As Sperber and Wilson (1986) point out, although the idea of conversational implicature has had enormous appeal and has been used in an informal way to account for a wide range of pragmatic phenomena, little progress has been made in specifying the exact nature of the inference process by which conversational implicatures are worked out. This means that Grice’s own account of the derivation process is rather sketchy and leaves much space for improvement.
References:
[1]Brown,G.&G.Yule.Discourse Analysis.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,1983.
[2]Grice,G.P.“Logic and Conversation”.Cole,P.and J.L.Morgan.(eds.)Syntax and Semantics.New York:Academic Press,1975.
[3]Halliday,M.A.K.&R.Hasan.Cohesion in English.London: Longman,1976.
[4]Van Dijk,T.A.Text and Context: Explorations in the Semantics and Pragmatics of Discourse.London: Longman,1977.
[5]Widdowson,H.G.Teaching Language as Communication.Oxford: Oxford University Press,1978.
[6]胡痒.语篇的衔接与连贯[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社, 1994.