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1、Relevance Theory,Contents,1.Relevance and Cognition,4.Types of Cognitive Effects,2.Relevance Theory:its communicative view,3.Two Principles of Relevance,5.Calculating Cognitive Effects,Formally proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in their book Relevance:Communication and Cognition in 1986,Rel
2、evance Theory,intended to improve Gricean maxims by reducing redundant maxims to one single principle,has arisen heated discussions for years since it was first proposed.,Brief Introduction to Relevance Theory,1.Relevance and Cognition,What sort of things may be relevant?,Intuitively,relevance is a
3、potential property not only of utterances and other observable phenomena,but of thoughts,memories and conclusions of inferences.In relevance-theoretic terms,any external stimulus or internal representation which provides an input to cognitive processes may be relevant to an individual at some time.,
4、According to Relevance Theory,utterances raise expectations of relevance not because speakers are expected to obey a Co-operative Principle and maxims or some other specifically communicative convention,but because the search for relevance is a basic feature of human cognition,which communicators ma
5、y exploit.,When is an input relevant?,Intuitively,an input(a sight,a sound,an utterance,a memory)is relevant to an individual when it connects with background information he has available to yield conclusions that matter to him:say,by answering a question he had in mind,improving his knowledge on a
6、certain topic,settling a doubt,confirming a suspicion,or correcting a mistaken impression.,In relevance-theoretic terms,an input is relevant to an individual when its processing in a context of available assumptions yields a positive cognitive effect.A positive cognitive effect is a worthwhile diffe
7、rence to the individuals representation of the world a true conclusion,for example.False conclusions are not worth having.They are cognitive effects,but not positive ones(Sperber&Wilson 1995:3.1-2).,As for the definition of language,most linguists tend to regard language as a grammar-governed repres
8、entational system used for communication.Therefore,language is to express and explain meaning,and the basic function of language is to communicate.However,Sperber and Wilson believe that although language can be used for communicative purpose,its communicative function has not revealed the essential
9、 features of language.In their opinion,human activities involved language is in essence for cognition.Cognition is to absorb information,to obtain the knowledge.So the basic function of language is to retrieve and process information.,2.Relevance Theory:its communicative view,Thus Relevance Theory r
10、egard communicative activities,verbal or nonverbal,as cognitive activities.The intention of speaker can be perceived by the audience because of the shared cognitive environment.The success of communication will depend on the manifestness and mutual manifestness of each others cognitive environment.H
11、uman cognition tends to be geared to the principle of relevance,and the comprehension of utterances follow ostensive-inferential model.,2.1 Code Model&Inferential Model,From Aristotle through to modern semiotics,all theories of communication were based on a single model,which we will call the code m
12、odel.According to the code model,communication is achieved by encoding and decoding messages.Recently,several philosophers,notably Paul Grice and David lewis,have proposed a quite different model,which we will call the inferential model.According to the inferential model,communication is achieved by
13、 producing and interpreting evidence.(Sperber,D&Wilson,D.Relevance:Communication and Cognition.1986:2),For example:(1)Either Mary is early or Bob is late.Bob is never late.(2)/meri iz:li/(3)Mary is early.,2.2 Ostensive-inferential Communication,On the basis of the two model,and by drawing the theore
14、tical source of cognitive theory from The Unit Structure of Human Brain by A.J.Ford,Sperber and Wilson put forward the notion of Ostensive-Inferential Communication,regarding there are two aspects of communication:ostensive&inference.,Thus ostensive-inferential communication can be defined as follow
15、s:the communicator produces a stimulus which makes it mutually manifest to communicator and audience that the communicator intends,by means of this stimulus,to make manifest or more manifest to the audience a set of assumptions I(Sperber,D&Wilson,D.Relevance:Communication and Cognition.1986:63).,2.3
16、 Informative Intention&Communicative Intention,Informative intention:to make manifest or more manifest to the audience a set of assumptions I(Sperber,D 61).,For example:Marry:I had a sore throat on Christmas Eve.(a)Let Peter believe that she had a sore throat on Christmas Eve;(b)Let Peter identify h
17、er intention(a);(c)Let Peters identification of her intention(a)can at least partly explain why Peter believes.,Understanding is achieved when the communicative intention is fulfilled that is,when the audience recognises the informative intention.Whether the informative intention itself is fulfilled
18、 depends on how much the audience trusts the communicator.There is a gap between understanding and believing.For understanding to be achieved,the informative intention must be recognised,but it does not have to be fulfilled.,3.Two Principles of Relevance,According to Sperber and Wilson,every aspect
19、of communication and cognition is governed by the search for relevance.Since the relevance requirement applies to cognition and communication differently,there are two gerenal principles of relevance.,3.1 The Cognitive Principle,Definition:Human cognition tends to be geared to the maximization of re
20、levance.While human cognition is aimed at the maximization of the cumulative relevance of the inputs it processes,it does this not by pursuing a long-term policy based on computation of the cumulative relevance achieved over time,but by spontaneous and local choices,between simultaneously available
21、inputs competing for immediately available resources.,Maximal relevance can be defined as follows:,-the more(stronger)the cognitive effects,the relevance(given the same amount of processing effort)-the less processing effort,the greater the relevance(given the same cognitive effects),Cognitive Effec
22、tsRelevance=-Processing Effort,3.2 The Communication Principles,Definition:Every act of ostensive communication communicate a presumption of its own optimal relevance.Presumption of optimal relevance:(a)The set of assumptions I which the communicator intends to make manifest to the addressee is rele
23、vant enough to make it worth the addressees while to process the ostensive stimulus.(b)The ostensive stimulus is the most relevant one the communicator could have used to communicate I.,In the 1995,Sperber and Wilson revise the two clauses as follows:,Presumption of optimal relevance(a)The ostensive
24、 stimulus is relevance enough for it to be worth the addressees effort to process it.(b)The ostensive stimulus is the most relevant one compatible with the communications abilities and preferences.,Unlike the second clause in the old version,the revised second clause takes into account possible diff
25、erences in individuals abilities and preference in communication.Two conditions should be provided to gain the optimal relevance:(a)It is relevant enough to be worth the audiences processing effort;(b)It is the most relevant one compatible with communicators abilities and preferences.,For example:Pe
26、ter:Ive got a temperature today.In this sentence,the temperature might be higher than normal so that its worth taking about and the utterance used may be consistent with Peters willingness to state his physical state as a bit unusual,without going so far as to impress others as fussy.,Difference bet
27、ween the maximal relevance and optimal relevance:For maximal relevance,the greater the relevance,the better(cognitively speaking);the more the cognitive effects,the greater the relevance;the less the processing effort,the greater the relevance;For optimal relevance,there must be a balance between th
28、e gain of cognitive effects and the expense of processing efforts.,To illustrate the difference between the two notions,consider the following examples:Wang:How much do you earn a month?Tian:Two thousand.To explain the cognitive processing of Tians utterance along the line of maximal relevance,we wo
29、uld think that its cognitive effect is that Tian earns exactly two thousands a month because achieving this cognitive effects accords with the requirement of the least effort.,If an utterance is optimal relevance,it must possess maximal relevance first.For example:(a)You are sick.(b)You have mild fl
30、u.(c)You have mild flu,and the 2008 Olympic Game were held in London.,4.Types of cognitive effectsAccording to the definition of relevance,a cognitive effect is a contextual effect occurring in a cognitive system,and a positive effect is a cognitive effect that contributes positively to the fulfillm
31、ent of cognitive functions or goals.Not all cognitive effects are worth pursuing.There are three major types of cognitive effects are identified and elucidated in Relevance Theory.,In general,we refer to the communication principle of relevance whenever Relevance Theory is mentioned.We should also n
32、otice that in actuality,not all instances of communication are necessarily optimally relevant.The claims that follows from the relevance principle is that ostensive communicators generally try to be optimally relevant.For pragmatic analysis,we generally assume that the utterances in question communi
33、cate the presumption of optimal relevance,unless there is evidence to the contrary.,4.1 StrengtheningThe new information may provided further evidence for and therefore strengthen old assumptions.e.g.Peter:Do you also think Mary is generous?Jack:She has invited me to dinner quite a number of times.J
34、acks utterance is relevant as it provides evidence to Peters existing assumption about Marys generosity.,4.2 ContradictionThe new information may provide counter-evidence for some old assumption,and may eventually lead to the abandonment of it.e.g.Peter:Do you also think Mary is generous?Jack:She ha
35、s never invited me to dinner.Jacks utterance is relevant in that it provides contrary evidence to Peters existing assumption about Marys generosity.,4.3 Contextual implicationThe new information is combined with the old information to yield a contextual implication-an implication that is derivable f
36、rom neither the old nor the new information alone.e.g.Peter:Is Mary a generous person?Jack:She has invited me to dinner quite a few times.The interaction between the new information conveyed Jacks utterance and the retrieved old information,plus the presumption of optimal relevance,makes the inferen
37、ce possible.,We should notice that the three types of cognitive effects may not be exhaustive of all possibilities.Besides,the interaction between the old information and the new information is vastly diverse and the description of the three types is quite general.,5.Calculating Cognitive Effects,Re
38、levance is not only a qualitative notion but a quantitative concept.In the same context,different utterances as inputs may vary in the degree of relevant.Supporse Peter knows he is sick and comes to see the doctor.Imagine the doctor could use any of the following:a)Youre ill.b)Youve got a cold.c)You
39、ve got a cold and China has a long history.,a)is relevant to Peter because it can strengthen his existing assumption that he is ill.b)is not only relevant,but also specifies a ligh level expectation of optimal relevance.c)is generally rejected as an impossible utterance.As rational and efficient inf
40、ormation processors,human being tend to allocate attentional resources to information that seems relevant and reward.,When Peter is asked to comment on John,he might respond with any of following:a)He is found of impractical ideas.b)He is found of impractical ideas.Many people say so.c)He is a daydr
41、eamer.d)He is a daydreamer.Many people say so.,b)has more cognitive effects than a),because it involves a strengthening effect due to the second part of the utterance.c)exceeds in the number of cognitive effects because its use of daydreamer can call forth additional associations.d)has more cognitiv
42、e effects than c),and analogously b)and a)because it not only evokes additional association but also invovles the effect of strengthening.,Relevance Theory proposed by Sperber and Wilson,the revision and further exploration of Grices Cooperative Principle,has given a relatively systemic interpretati
43、on of ostensive-inferential communication,by regarding that communication is an ostensive and inferential process,in which,one is only geared to the principle of relevance instead of having to comply with the Cooperative Principle.,References 何兆熊，新编语用学概要，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002。戈玲玲，教学语用学，长沙：国防科技大学出版社，2002。胡壮麟，语言学教程（修订版），北京：北京大学出版社，2001。胡壮麟，语言学教程（修订版中译本），北京：北京大学出版社，2001。刘绍忠，关联理论的交际观，现代外语第2期，第13-19页，1997。Sperber.D&Wilson.D,Relevance:Communication and Cognition(second edition),Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2001.,Thank you!,
