An Analysis of Pragmatic Failure in Intracultural Communication: The Case of Tiaret Speech Community.

Abstract

The present study investigates the problem of pragmatic failure in intracultural communication in Tiaret Speech Community. That is, this investigation aims at uncovering if members of Tiaret speech community understand or fail to interpret the intended meaning of speakers. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection are used in two research tools: Participant Observation and Discourse Completion Test/Task (DCT), directed to a sample of one hundred respondents randomly chosen -a group of different social strata differing in age, gender, and educational level/profession. The results obtained from the collected data demonstrate that members of Tiaret Speech Community react and interpret to different verbal and nonverbal behaviours depending on their social identities. As the results illustrate, Tiaret Speech Community members deliberately hide their intentions to lessen the chance that others would oppose them.