Abstract: In the verbal communication, the situation in which one has not reached the expected results is called pragmatic failure. Jenny Thomas (1983) divided pragmatic failures into two types, pragma-linguistic failure and socio-pragmatic failure. In international business interactions, due to the differences in cultures, language rules, communication habits, ways of thinking and values, inevitably, participants’ thoughts and conducts will come into conflicts and some loss will be caused as a result. This paper, from the cross-cultural viewpoint, aims to analyze the causes and effects of the pragmatic failures occurring in Sino-American business interactions. Meanwhile, it also discusses how to avoid these pragmatic failures so as to promote successful business activities.

Key words: pragmatic failures, cross-cultural, business interactions

摘要：言语交际中未达到预期交际效果的差错被称为语用失误。Jenny Thomas (1983)将其分为语言语用和社交语用失误。国际商务交往中，由于双方的思想、行为等都不可避免地受各自文化、母语的语言规则、交际习惯、思维方式和价值取向的影响，因而会造成不必要的冲突和损失。本文从跨文化的角度分析了中美商务交往中语用失误的表现、成因，并探讨了如何有效地避免语用失误，从而成功地进行商务活动。

关键词：语用失误，跨文化，商务交往