Pragmatic manipulation of metapragmatic expressions in BELF meetings

Abstract

This article explores the function of metapragmatic expressions (MPEs) as pragmatic manipulation during Business English as a lingua franca (BELF) meetings within the framework of the socio-cognitive approach (SCA), with special attention to how MPEs in the chair’s utterances reveal their way of using institutional power to accomplish communicative tasks. Drawing on data from three BELF meetings from the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English, four types of MPEs are identified in the chair’s utterances. Their pragmatic manipulation is examined in three dimensions: information-oriented, procedure-oriented, and interpersonal relationship-oriented. Data analysis reveals that MPEs are intended to activate shared senses (e.g., shared experiences, mutual knowledge, and common interests) and current senses (e.g., personal judgments, evaluations, and opinions). The activation of these senses supports the creation of emergent common ground to control and shape ongoing interactions, which leads towards task accomplishment. The findings shed light on English language teaching and professional training.

Geology and geochemistry of the only independent tellurium deposit in the world

“…As the only independent tellurium deposit in the world thus far, the Dashuigou tellurium deposit, which is located in Simian county, Sichuan Province, China (Fig. 1) 7 , has aroused widespread concern from geologists, since its discovery in 1992 [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . (Google Earth 7.1.8.3036 (32-bit): http://download.pchome.net/industry/geography/detail-20351.html, and 91 v17.5.8: www.91weitu.com; accessed January [25][26][27]2020) Putting aside the many different views on the origin of this deposit, this article discusses in detail the deposit's geology and geochemistry.…”