V。 Functions of Pragmatic Presupposition in TED Speeches 17

5。1 Controlling Discourse 17

5。2 Conveying Implication 18

5。3 Creating Humor 19

5。4 Enhancing Persuasion 19

VI。 Conclusion 21

Bibliography 22

Functions of Pragmatic Presupposition in TED Speech

I。 Introduction

TED is short for Technology, Entertainment and Design。 It is a platform for ideas worth spreading。 Meanwhile, it runs TEDx events independently so as to help to share ideas。 As a nonprofit organization in America, it aims to spread ideas around the world and spark conversations。 TED speeches usually take the form of powerful, short talks (18 minutes or less)。 And they cover almost all topics, from business to science to global issues in beyond 100 languages。 

TED speeches have attracted the attention of many scholars。 The angles of the scholars’ research is mainly focused on the application of speech in foreign language teaching, cross-culture communication and the analysis of text concept function and so and on, while there are few researchers on pragmatic presupposition。 

Speech is a kind of language behavior which uses verbal and nonverbal symbols for communication in order to convey meaning or intention and obtain a certain effect。 Skillful speakers will use a variety of strategies to serve the speech。 Pragmatic presupposition is an effective way of those strategies。 

In order to help people better utilize pragmatic strategies both in speech and life to achieve effective interpersonal communication, this paper attempts to explore pragmatic presupposition in TED speeches。 It is hoped that this study may shed light on how pragmatic presupposition successfully help the lecturers to convey their meanings and also add to the attraction to their lectures。 

The samples and materials used in this paper are taken from TED speeches in the Netease Open Class。 

II。 Literature Review of TED Speeches

2。1 Definition of Public Speeches

When we talk about public speech, we may think about seminars or lectures in colleges, inaugural addresses in elections, speeches given by the leader at a meeting, religious preaches in the church and so on。 All those speeches are credible, appealing and clear to facilitate the audiences to get information from the speaker。

Lucas (1989) believes that public speech is an art of a speaker systemically giving some propositions and advices on a certain affair or to the audience so as to convey their ideas or transparent the fact。 In speeches, acoustical language is the primary measure and body language is the assistant。 

This definition defines public speaking in terms of the situation, speaker, and audience。 Not only the face-to-face communication, but also the indirect ones, like editorials published by the Queen or president’s speeches to all the people, all belong to public speeches。 

2。2 Classification of Public Speeches 

Public speeches can be categorized into different kinds of assortments according to different criteria。 The famous ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle pides public speeches into “epideictic, forensic and deliberative” ones, which are widely accepted as “ceremonial, legal and political” speeches now。 In terms of the different functions, public speeches can be classified into persuasive, entertaining, informative, and inspiration ones。 In terms of the contents, public speaking can be classified into economic, political, legal, military, moral, academic religious speeches, and so on and so forth。