1. GRICE’S CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS
GRICE AND BELL
GRICE’S CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS

2. Maxim of Quality Try to make your contribution one that is true:
Do not say what you believe to be false
Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence

3. Maxim of Quantity
Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange
Do not make your contribution more informative than is required

4. Maxim of Relevance
Make your contributions relevant

5. Maxim of Manner Be perspicuous, specifically:
Avoid obscurity of expression
Avoid ambiguity
Be brief
Be orderly

6. BELL’S AUDIENCE DESIGN
GRICE AND BELL
BELL’S AUDIENCE DESIGN

7. Distinguishes between several kinds of audience types based on three criteria from the perspective of the speaker:
Known (where an addressee is known to be part of a speech context)
Ratified (the speaker acknowledges the listener’s presence in the speech context)
Addressed (the listener is directly spoken to)
The impact of audience members of the speaker’s style shifting is proportional to the degree to which the speaker recognises and ratifies them.

8. Address: listeners who are known, ratified and addressed
Auditor: listeners who are not directly addressed, but are known and ratified
Overhearer: non-ratified listeners of whom the speaker is aware
Eavesdropper: non-ratified listeners of whom the speaker is unaware
Style shifting: when a speaker adjusts their speaking style to accommodate the listeners. This could involve the register of the speech ie colloquial/standard English/RP but could also refer to the topics covered and politeness markers
Code switching: where the speaker changes languages