was first proposed by Jenny Thomas, an English scholar, in her master's thesis in 1983. Since then, the phenomenon of pragmatic failure has attracted great attention from scholars at home and abroad. Gradually, Chinese scholars are also keen on the study of pragmatic failure. Of course, pragmatic failures in verbal communication often lead to misunderstandings between the two parties. Some pragmatic failures are harmless, some are destructive, and some have disastrous consequences. This is the significance and value of the study of pragmatic failure. Therefore, the study of pragmatic failure in verbal communication cannot be overlooked. Based on the definition of cross-cultural communication, this paper lists the pragmatic failures that often occur in communication, and then analyses the causes of these pragmatic failures .
2. Literature Review of the Study
2.1 Major Studies Abroad
British linguist Jenny Thomas（1983）pointed out in his comments on the seriousness of pragmatic failure: “Grammatical errors may make people unhappy or affect communication, but they are clear and at least in terms of rules. The hearer will immediately feel its existence. Once aware of the weak grammar of the speaker, that is tolerated. However, pragmatic failure will not be tolerated. If a non-native speaker speaks fluently, his or her apparent impolite or unfriendly behavior will not be attributed to language defects but will be regarded as a rude and malicious natural outpouring. Grammatical errors may reveal that the speaker has not mastered a certain language ability, but pragmatic errors may reflect the personality defects of the speaker.” It can thus be seen that reducing and preventing pragmatic failures plays an important role in the smooth progress of cross-cultural communication. According to Jenny Thomas, pragmatic failure refers to the failure of people to achieve full communicative effects in verbal communication. Pragmatic failure is an important source of failure in cross-cultural communication. Jenny Thomas points out in “Intercultural Pragmatic Failure” （1983）that there are two kinds of pragmatic failures caused by cultural differences in foreign language learning: pragmatic language failure and social pragmatic failure.
2.2 Major Studies at Home
The purpose of learning a foreign language is to communicate. The analysis of pragmatic failures and their causes in cross-cultural communication make us profoundly understand the importance of proper and appropriate language use. In cross-cultural communication, sociocultural knowledge is a key factor of communicative competence. Under different cultural background, people's speaking style or speaking habits are also different. Cultural understanding and cultural comparison should be seen as an integral part of foreign language learning and teaching. In short, the emphasis on pragmatic knowledge has great practical significance for our effective communication in cross-cultural communication.
