【正文】 mutual efforts or at least make the conversation to develop in the direction of 4 their expectation. H. P. Grice has found some rules that apply and work in human conversation and established his theory of Conversational Implicature. Grice proposed that all speakers, regardless of their cultural background, adhere to a basic principle governing conversation which he termed the cooperative principle. That is, we assume that in a conversation the participants will cooperate with each other when making their contributions. Grice once defines the cooperative principal as following: “you’re your contribution such as is required, at the stage which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the exchange in which you are engaged[4].” People act in conversation in accordance with a general principle that they are mutually engaged in an activity that is of benefit to all, especially helpful for mutual understanding. Cooperative principle is the core of Grice’s conversational implicature. In further explaining the cooperative principle， Grice subdivides this general principle into four more detailed maxims. They are: quantity maxim, quality maxim, relation maxim and manner maxim. And the content of each maxim is as follows: The first basic maxim is the maxim of Quantity: concerned with the quantity of information to be provided and has two submaxims: Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange). Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. The second basic maxim is the maxim of Quality: try to make your 湖南人文科技學院畢業(yè)論文 5 contribution one that is true and more specific: Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. The third basic maxim is the maxim of Relation:”be relevant”. This maxim can be interpreted as making sure what you say is relevant to the conversation at hand. The point of this maxim is that it is not sufficient for a statement to be true for it to constitute an acceptable conversational contribution. The fourth basic maxim is the maxim of Manner : be perspicuous. Avoid using obscurity and hardtounderstand words to expression。會話雙方都相信彼此說話時是相互配合的。 包 括 商務英語談判、商務英語信函，商務英語禮儀及其他眾多方面。會話是商務運作中建立關(guān)系或達成一致的最常見的方式。然而人們并非總是合作的，有時候會故意違反 會話指導原則 ,即 合作原則。 Avoid using ambiguous to expression。 another is the speaker’s violating the maxims deliberately. If the participants both have the expectation to achieve a successful conversation, they must cooperate with each other, and speak sincerely, sufficiently, relevantly and clearly. To put it another way, they must observe the cooperative principle and the maxims of Quality, Quantity, Relevance and Manner. If someone who participate the conversation flouts the cooperative principle and any of the maxims, he must have intended to do so. And the receiver can infer the speaker’s intended meaning in particular contexts. 2. Features of Business English Conversations Business English conversations have some features. They are adaptation, accuracy, timeliness and municative function. As the business municators in a conversation, he or she uses tool conversation carefully and with consideration of their customers and their intended 湖南人文科技學院畢業(yè)論文 7 conversational goals. Effective business municators will find that their efforts pay off in better relationships and business success. Adaptation Because of the cultural differences, the municator in business English conversations must have a good knowledge of the others’ working background and supply proper information. Business English conversations are different from normal conversation because of their adaptation and specification. “The more specific conversations are, the more they meet the needs of the audience” [5]. Therefore, before ing to business English conversations, municator should be clear about the background knowledge of the group people they would talk with, and the content they would convey to their audience. Even in small anizations, it is wrong to assume that everybody will have the same needs, interests and desires when it es to business conversations. Business conversations are adapted to meet the needs of specific listeners or audiences. Employees working in an administrative setting, for instance, will have different needs and different access to information than employees working in a manufacturing environment. That’s why the municator in business English conversations must have a good knowledge of the others’ working background and supply proper information. 8 Accuracy Due to the special prosperities of business conversation, participants are reaching a mon goal by mutual efforts. So, the delivered information needs to be clear and concise enough. When information is inaccurate, it will its credibility and cause many troubles. The people who send the information also lose its’ credibility. So the sender must be sure about the information sent is accurate in business English conversations. The accuracy includes the context conveyed and expressions that include grammar, spelling and punctuation. Timeliness All the employees need to know what is going on in their anizations and in the external environment that impacts them which is good for their future plan especially in business English conversations. The content one conveyed in business English conversations should be in time with the new changes or development in or outside his pany or anization, for building a timely and harmonious business relationship. “Today’s technologydriven environment makes it more challenging than ever before for businesses to municate with employees in a timely manner, but it is critical for effective business conversation” [5]. In addition, it cannot be ass