A Pragmatic Analysis of Communicative Silence in Natural Interactions: ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ Movie as a Case Study

Abstract

This study is mainly devoted to prove that ‘silence’ (in natural language interaction) is not only a mere absence of words, but it is also an act which implies a communicative meaning. It is hypothesized that silence can be used as a tool of communication in the same way that speech does. It is also hypothesized that the EFL students are unaware of the many interpretations and functions of silence. Therefore, it is important to know the main premises of this subject, and to find a way to correctly determine and interpret silence in natural interactions. To achieve the main aim of this study, Schroter’s (2013) relevance theoretic model is followed. This model is thought to be the best to exactly determine silence together with its communicative intentions and functions in the data selected. This model is based on three main criteria: intention, expectation and relevance. The data of this study is represented by natural interactions taken from the famous movie ‘Mona Lisa Smile’.