Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Preamble 1
1.2 Rationale and objectives 1
1.3 Data collection 3
1.4 Research scope and methodology 5
1.5 Outline of the dissertation 5
Chapter 2 Previous Work on Misunderstanding 7
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Various approaches to misunderstanding 7
2.2.1 Pragmatics-centered approach 7
2.2.2 Conversation-analytic approach 8
2.2.3 Computational-linguistic approach 9
2.2.4 Cross-cultural approach 10
2.2.5 Misunderstanding in institutional settings 11
2.2.6 Study of misunderstanding in China 13
2.3 Definition of misunderstanding 14
2.3.1 Misunderstanding as a common sense category 15
2.3.2 Misunderstanding and its"family" 16
2.3.2.1 Misunderstanding vs.miscommunication 16
2.3.2.2 Misunderstanding vs.other forms of miscommunication 17
2.3.2.3 Misunderstanding vs.pragmatic failure 19
2.3.2.4 Summary 19
2.3.3 Various aspects of defining misunderstanding 20
2.4 Levels or types of misunderstanding 22
2.4.1 Misunderstanding on levels of linguistic analysis 23
2.4.2 Misunderstanding on levels of meaning 23
2.4.3 Relevance-theoretic classification 25
2.4.4 Classification based on recognition and negotiation 26
2.4.5 Result-based classification 28
2.5 Sources of misunderstanding 27
2.5.1 Sources related to the nature of communication 28
2.5.2 Sources related to communicative means—language 31
2.5.2.1 Ambiguity and vagueness 32
2.5.2.2 Implicitness and indirectness 34
2.5.2.3 Jargon 35
2.5.3 Sources related to communicators 36
2.5.3.1 Expectations and inferences 36
2.5.3.2 Language transfer 38
2.6 Conclusion 39
Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework 40
3.1 Introduction 40
3.2 Triggers in the previous work 40
3.3 Objectivist theories of understanding 42
3.3.1 The conduit model of understanding 42
3.3.2 Pragmatic theories of understanding 42
3.3.3 Insufficiencies of objectivist theories of understanding 45
3.4 An experiential view of understanding 47
3.4.1 Basic assumptions of experientialism 47
3.4.2 An outline of experiential understanding 49
3.4.2.1 Perception of the world 49
3.4.2.2 Organization of the perceived world 52
3.4.2.3 ICMs and language use(understanding) 56
3.5 Assumptions of ICMs-based misunderstanding 58
3.6 Conclusion 59
Chapter 4 Misunderstanding and ICMs'Conflict 60
4.1 Introduction 60
4.2 Outline of ICMs'conflict 60
4.3 Misunderstanding and experiences'conflict 63
4.3.1 Individual experience vs.individual experience 63
4.3.2 Individual experience vs.collective experience 65
4.4 Misunderstanding and overinformativeness 69
4.5 Misunderstanding and underinformativeness 72
4.5.1 Incompleteness in form 72
4.5.2 Implicitness in content 79
4.6 Misunderstanding and improper choice of linguistic expressions 82
4.6.1 Misunderstanding and prototypical effects 82
4.6.2 Misunderstanding and granularity 85
4.7 Misunderstanding and problematic reference 92
4.7.1 Deictic vs.anaphoric 92
4.7.2 Deictic vs.generic 95
4.8 Misunderstanding and prominence 97
4.9 Conclusion 103
Chapter 5 Misunderstanding and Cognitive Reasoning 105
5.1 Introduction 105
5.2 Reasoning:imaginative vs.rational 105
5.3 Image schema vs.metaphoric mapping 107
5.3.1 Image-schematic structuring 107
5.3.2 Metaphoric mapping 109
5.3.3 Misunderstanding—image schemas vs.metaphors 110
5.3.3.1 From image schema to metaphor 110
5.3.3.2 From metaphor to image schema 115
5.3.3.3 The indeterminacy of metaphoric mapping 117
5.4 Metonymic reasoning 119
5.4.1 Cognitive basis of metonymy 120
5.4.2 A classification of metonymy 121
5.4.3 Metonymic reasoning and inference 123
5.4.4 Misunderstanding and referential metonymy 126
5.4.5 Misunderstanding and predicational metonymy 127
5.4.6 Misunderstanding and speech act metonymy 130
5.4.6.1 A survey of speech act metonymy 130
5.4.6.2 Case study 131
5.4.6.3 Double metonymic operation 135
5.5 Conclusion 136
Chapter 6 Conclusion 138
6.1 Summary of the dissertation 138
6.2 Findings and implications 139
6.3 Suggestions for future research 142
References 144