Reexamining the Paradigm of Cross-cultural Pragmatics and Its Possibility of Innovation

This paper explores the history, projects, objectives, theoretical basis and research methods of cross-cultural pragmatics study in China.In reference to the latest theoretical achievements in intercultural communication, the paper points out that the current research goal of cross-cultural pragmatics is not clear, and that the application of theories is not up to date.It finally attempts to adopt and adapt theories of rapport management and relational work in order to provide an innovated paradigm of cross-cultural pragmatics, which is proved to be feasible in analyzing wide-ranging discourses/genres, and will presumably deepen cross-cultural pragmatics research in the future.