Sociopragmatic Failure: Struggling with Cross-Cultural Differences in Communication

Abstract

Communicative norms differ from one culture to another. Therefore, if language learners lack knowledge of appropriate linguistic behaviour in different countries, they may often experience some difficulties speaking a foreign language. In this case, sociopragmatic failure occurs. In the relevant literature, there is a tendency to explain sociopragmatic failure comparing various languages to English. However, the present article analyses the examples of this phenomenon in Ukrainian as compared to Mexican Spanish using the cooperative principle, the politeness principle and a concept of face as a guideline. The data used in this paper is retrieved from the author’s personal experiences of intercultural interactions. The article suggests that sociopragmatic failure can often lead to a breakdown in communication. Thus, language teachers should provide pragmatic instruction to their learners.