An Analysis of Conversational Implicature in the BBC ‘Hardtalk' Show

Cite this article as: Kaura H. A. K & Bala Y (2025). An Analysis of Conversational Implicature in the BBC ‘Hardtalk' Show. Zamfara International Journal of Humanities, 4(1), 62-73. www.doi.org/10.36349/zamijoh.2025.v04i01.007.

AN ANALYSIS OF CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE IN THE BBC ‘HARDTALK' SHOW

Dr. Hafsat Abubakar Kofar Kaura

Department of English, Al-Qalam University, Katsina

And

Yasir Bala

Department of English Language and Literary Studies, Zamfara State College of Education Maru

Abstract: The paper studies the conversational implicature in host and guest conversations with particular reference to host and guests conversations in the BBC Hardtalk show, mostly presented by Stephen Sackur. The paper analyses the various speech turns and speech patterns by the host and his guests from some selected interview transcripts so as to observe the various instances the conversational principles are flouted or violated during the show. the paper adopts Grice’s (1967) theory of implicature, an assumption which systematically shows how a person gets from what is said to what is meant, or from the expressed meaning to the implied meaning but limits its scope to the context of the BBC Hardtalk show. The paper also adopts the descriptive approach in its analysis and this has helped in describing how the conversational maxims are flouted in the Host-guests conversations. The findings of this study show that in Hardtalk interviews, maxims are flouted deliberately by the guests so as to avoid giving clear explanations to some questions. As the host and his guest’s converse, the guests most at times, flout either of the four maxims ranging from the maxim of quantity, quality, relation and the maxim of manner while the host does more of observing instances where the maxims are being flouted by the guests.

Keywords: Hardtalk, Implicature, Conversation, Speech Act, Descriptive Approach, Theory.

10. Introduction

Language is a vehicle to inform and transfer ideas and thoughts through conversations. Humans have developed languages based on the need for conversation. In order for conversations to happen effectively, there is need to have understanding between a speaker and a hearer in every turn of speech. Ideally, the speaker and the hearer need to have some kind of cooperation to convey and to understand each other’s speech clearly in each turn. This is so that the speaker can deliver his or her message in an understandable fashion and the hearer can understand the speaker’s intended message. Otherwise, the speaker and hearer might misunderstand each other and finally fall into a breakdown in their communication. However, one should be aware that there are layers of meanings to a speech hence, what a person means might be different from what the person says. This notion was suggested by Grice’s theory in which he proposed that a hearer may receive different layers of meanings from a speaker which can either be expressed meaning or implied meaning.

Therefore, this work views the conversational implicature in host and guest conversations with particular reference to host and guests conversations in the BBC Hardtalk. The work analyses the various speech turns of speech patterns by the host and his guests from some selected interview transcripts so as to observe the various instances the conversational principles are flouted or violated during the show.

Having this in mind, the research adopts Grice’s (1967) theory of implicature, an assumption which systematically shows what a person gets from what is said to what is meant, or from the expressed meaning to the implied meaning. The term implicature was first introduced by Grice’s first detailed presentation on implicature at William James Lectures of Harvard and according to him, implicature refers to what a speaker can imply, suggest, or mean, as distinct from what the speaker literally says.

However, it is worthy of note that in ‘Logic and Conversation’ (1975), Grice introduces two broad categories of implicature which he calls ‘Conventional and Conversational’. Conventional is an implicature that is part of lexical item or agreed meaning rather than derived from the principle language use. It is that part of implicature in which the meaning is conventionally assumed by the conversant. On another perspective, and which is the focal point of this work, is conversational implicature, which refers to the assumptions suggested by the speaker and inferred by the hearer in an exchange and since that is the case, the research choses to elaborate more on conversational implicature for the clarity of this paper.

1.1   Conversational Implicature

Conversational Implicature as mentioned earlier, refers to the implication which can be deduced from the form of an utterance on the basis of certain cooperative principles which govern the efficiency and normal acceptability of conversations. It is a non-conventional implicature based on an addressee’s assumptions that the speaker is following the conversational maxims or at least the Cooperative Principles. It is pertinent to note that, the cooperative principle is intended to describe how people normally behave in conversation and it is an umbrella term for nine components that guide how we converse. These nine components are grouped into four categories called conversational maxims (embedding conversational maxim of quantity, quality, relevance, and manner and these maxims). These four maxims of conversation are also called Gricean maxims and they describe specific rational principles observed by people who follow the cooperative principle in pursuit of effective communication. Applying the Gricean maxims is a way to explain the link between utterances and what is understood from them. The above highlighted Gricean maxims are explained thus:

i. Maxims of quantity: Make your contribution as is required, and no more information or less than is required.

ii. Maxims of quality: Do not say what you believe to be false or to be lack adequate evidence.

iii. Maxims of relevance: Be relevant.

iv. Maxims of manner: Avoid obscurity and ambiguity; and the information must be brief and orderly.  

Following the cooperative principle and its maxims ensures that in a conversational exchange, the right amount of information is provided and that the exchange is conducted in a truthful, relevant, perspicuous fashion. The theory is abbreviated thus:

Again, in a conversation, Grice stated that a speaker may do one of four things which regards to the cooperative principle and the maxims. These are lighted below:

i. The speaker may observe the maxim:

ii. The speaker may opt out of a maxim by using a phrase that eliminates or mitigates the effect of the maxims and signal this to the addressee- this phrase is called hedge.

iii. The speaker may flout a maxim, to the full knowledge of the addressee.

iv. The speaker may violate a maxim, for example tell a lie.  

In line with the above, it is assumed that at some level, the speaker always observes the cooperative principle, even if this is evident from what is literally said, that is to say, what is literally said does not coincides with the maxims. Observing the maxims at a non-literal level triggers a standard conversational implicature, sometimes called conversational implicature and Grice distinguishes this type of implicature implicature into two, namely: Generalized Conversational Implicature and Particularized Conversational Implicature. The former is context independent and is associated with certain linguistics forms, and is inferred without a special reference to a particular context, while the latter is an implicature which is deduced only in special context. This research therefore analyses the implicated meanings between the host and his guests in the BBC Hardtalk using Grice’s theory of conversational implicature.

1.1.2  Host-Guest Conversation in a News Interviews

The broadcast news interview is among the earliest forms of institutional talk to be investigated within conversational analysis, and it continues to attract attention because of its manifold significance. It is a prime example of ‘formal interaction, organized by a specialized turn-taking system that is substantially more confining than ordinary conversation, and conducted for the benefit of an audience. These properties depart from ordinary conversation, while sharing a family resemblance with certain other varieties of institutional talk such as courtroom examinations, classroom lessons, and debates. Within the family of formal and public mode of talk, the news interview is also a distinct species. Its organizational form is specialized and adapted to various context-specific communicative functions and institutional arrangements. The broadcast interview is a prominent vehicle through which news is conveyed to the populace. It is an arena for the enactment of journalistic professionalism and the norms that bear on it. It is a forum for expressions of opinion and perspective from various societal interest. And it both reflects and constitutes relations between journalists, government officials and other elites, and the institutions they represent.

Literature review

Yunita (2010) describes that in communication, a person is required to always adhere to the principle of conversational fluency in communicating that which may occur. The study analyzes implicature in Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire. The study concludes that the maxim of quality was violated most. The previous study analyzes implicature in Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, but the analysis of implicature in this research focuses on BBC Hard talk conversations and as such the two researches are different in scope.

Alvaro (2011) focuses on the analysis of the humour in specific realm, cinema, from a pragmatic perspective; the concrete movie studied was Woody Allen’s Anything Else, covering various pragmatic concepts such as implicature, conversational maxims and presupposition, in combination with rhetorical figures as well as taking into account humour theories on laughter, so as to dissect hidden meaning, which create humour both in the level of the character and in the level of the audience and also with the intention to show that by the use of various explicit and implicit linguistic elements found in the transcription such as tropes, implicature or presupposition, the humour, the humour in the film is guaranteed. Alvaro’s work is different from this research because he took into consideration a pragmatic concept called presupposition with the combination of rhetorical figures as well as humour theories figures as well as humour theories on laughter while this work limits its analysis on the cooperative principle and its conversational maxims.

Pratiwi (2008) explores the non-observance of Grice CPs in the movie entitled ‘Before Sunset’. Findings indicate that there were four maxims disobeyed in scene one and two. Their dishonest response caused the implicit connotations that the speakers used mostly. When the speaker disobeyed CPs, the listeners still got the communication behind the utterances, so that mostly conversations still worked well. The difference between this work and that of Pratiwi’s is the scope.

Pavlickova (2011) tries to offer an insight on the way in which language operates in the legal setting. He analyzes the language of the law which is based on the study of acts and bills (legislative texts), and contracts, agreements, last wills and testaments, affidavits and other deeds (legal documents). In the article, he focuses on pragmatics of language of the law, particularly on the problems of transmission, status and quality of messages in the legal setting, and the nature of language of law, the relationships which exist between law and language, he as well as examines legal communication in light of Grice Cps and looks for causes that violate these CPs. Although the two works are similar in that they both rely on Grice’s cooperative principles and the four maxims as to whether they are flouted or violated in conversation, the two works differ a great deal in scope.

Hida (2012) states that Grice first introduced the cooperative principle where he explained his conversational implicature in his article ‘logic and conversation’ (1975). The study goes ahead to say that Grice argued that the generation and perception of these implicatures was based on the following principle: ‘Make your conversational contribution such as required at the stage at which is occurred by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged’. He simplifies all of this by saying, the cooperative principle attempts to make explicit certain rational principles observed by people when they converse. The study further elaborates that, Grice’s cooperative principle led to the development of ‘pragmatics a separate discipline within linguistics. However, according to the study, the interpretation of the CP is sometimes problematic because Grice’s technical term ‘cooperation’ is often confused with the general meaning of the word cooperation. The study stressed that what is centrally important to Grice is the concept of rationality and it was for this reason that he discussed cooperation. The two works are different in that, whereas Hida’s work is more on the major aims and objectives of the cooperative principle, this work centres on how speakers flout the maxims of the cooperative principle when the converse.

Rahman (2015) investigates how conversational implicatures arise in casual conversations among university students. His study examines the ways in which students frequently flout the maxim of relation to create humorous or sarcastic exchanges. While both Rahman's work and the current research analyze conversational implicatures, Rahman focuses on casual, everyday conversations, whereas the current research focuses on structured, formal interviews in BBC Hard Talk, differing significantly in the formality and context of the conversations being studied.

Smith (2016) delves into implicature in political discourse, particularly how politicians use implicature to evade direct questions during debates. Smith's work demonstrates that politicians often violate the maxim of quantity, providing more or less information than required to mislead or distract the audience. Although both studies analyze how implicatures are used strategically, Smith’s focus on political debate contrasts with the current research, which investigates media interviews that aim to extract clear answers from public figures.

Ahmed (2017) analyzes conversational implicature in literary dialogues, particularly focusing on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Ahmed's research highlights how implicature can reveal character dynamics and underlying tensions in fictional narratives. While both studies focus on implicature, Ahmed's is centered on literary discourse and character interaction, whereas the current research focuses on real-world, media-based conversations, making them different in the medium of analysis.

Garcia (2018) explores implicature in cross-cultural communication, particularly how implicature functions differently in high-context versus low-context cultures. Garcia demonstrates that in high-context cultures, implicature is heavily relied upon, while in low-context cultures, speakers tend to adhere more strictly to the maxims. The main difference between Garcia's study and the current research is the cross-cultural focus, which examines how cultural context affects implicature, whereas the current research centers on the pragmatic aspect of conversational implicature without cultural variables.

Liu (2019) investigates how implicatures are used in online conversations, such as social media chats and forums, with a focus on the violation of the maxim of relevance. Liu finds that participants in online discussions often flout this maxim to introduce humor, sarcasm, or unrelated information into the conversation. Although both Liu’s and the current research examine conversational implicatures, Liu’s work is distinct in its exploration of digital and asynchronous communication, contrasting with the face-to-face, real-time nature of BBC Hard Talk conversations in the current study.

Choi (2020) investigates implicature in televised talk shows, analyzing how hosts and guests often flout the maxim of manner to add layers of meaning to their dialogue. Choi’s research focuses on moments where ambiguity or indirectness is used to maintain politeness or humor. Although both Choi’s work and this explore conversational implicature in media-based interactions, Choi's analysis revolves around entertainment talk shows, where the tone is more casual, while the current research focuses on BBC Hard Talk, where interviews are structured and formal, leading to differences in the nature of implicature used.

Mendoza (2021) studies implicature in legal cross-examinations, focusing on how lawyers intentionally violate the maxim of relevance to lead witnesses into giving unfavorable testimony. The study shows that implicature in legal settings often serves strategic purposes to sway the court. Mendoza’s research is distinct from the current study as it delves into the adversarial nature of courtroom dialogue, contrasting with the journalistic setting of BBC Hard Talk, where interviewers aim to elicit clear responses rather than strategically manipulate discourse.

Kim (2022) analyzes conversational implicature in diplomatic discourse, where high-stakes negotiations often rely on ambiguous language and implicature to avoid direct confrontations or commitments. The study reveals that diplomats frequently flout the maxim of quality to maintain diplomatic relations. While both studies examine formal contexts, Kim’s focus on diplomatic exchanges, where subtlety and ambiguity are paramount, contrasts with the more direct and confrontational style of BBC Hard Talk interviews, highlighting the different pragmatic strategies used in each.

Methodology

Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative research method, where observation technique suitable for this research is involved. This method as viewed according to Ary et al (2002) deals with data that is in the form of words rather than numbers and statistics. The study centres strictly on the phenomenon of Implicature, taking into consideration how the Cooperative Principles are observed by the interviewer (host) when his interviewees flout or violate the four conversational maxims in the BBC HARDtalk and what implicature is generated as a result of flouting or violation of the maxims

Data Presentation and Analysis

This research adopts conversational implicature, a type of implicature proposed by Grice (1975) to describe how the host and his guests flout the conversational maxims during their conversations in the BBC HARDtalk interviews. In doing so, four (4) utterances from different interviews that flout the Gricean maxims were collected, this has been presented thus:

Datum (1)

Interview with Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai of Nigeria on war against Boko Haram

1. Host: General welcome to hardtalk.

2. Guest:Thank you.

3. Host: A couple of years ago, your president sent you a clear mission to eradicate Boko Haram, he said it could be done in months. Will it be fair to say that you failed in the mission?

4. Guest: we’ve not failed, we’ve achieved that particular mandate as at that time. We were appointed on the 13th of July on the day of our decoration, we were give that mandate to end Boko Haram by the end of December, 2015, and we set out to work...

5. Host: I’m going to stop you to make this as simple as possible…by the end of December, 2015, there were claims from both the military and the presidency that Boko Haram had been eliminated…

6. Guest: You’re right, but, I don’t think anybody has said Boko Haram has been eliminated.

Analysis

In (1) of sample 1, the host’s introduction ‘General welcome to HardTalk’, observes the maxim of manner as he tries to be brief and orderly in his introduction, while his guest’s response in (2) turns out to fulfil the maxim of relevance as the response he gives ‘Thank you’ is in line with the host’s introductory words. Again, the host’s statement and question in (3) go a long way to observe the maxim of quantity and that of manner while the guest’s answer to the question in (4) ‘We’ve not failed, we’ve achieved that particular mandate as at that time. We were appointed on the 13th of July on the day of our decoration, we were give that mandate to end Boko Haram by the end of December, 2015, and we set out to work...’ flouts the maxim of manner as he fails to provide a clear answer to the question. Furthermore, the host’s statement in (5) ‘I’m going to stop you to make this as simple as possible…by the end of December, 2015, there were claims from both the military and the presidency that Boko Haram had been eliminated…’ draws his host’s attention that he should bear in mind the observance of the maxim of manner and in as much as his host tries in (6) to be as brief in his response as possible, ends up flouting the maxim of quality when he says what is believed to be false ‘You’re right, but, I don’t think anybody has said Boko Haram has been eliminated’.

Datum (2)

Interview with Ambassador Liu Xiaoming of China on Covid-19

1. Host: Ambassador Liu Xiaoming, welcome to Hardtalk.

2. Guest: Thank you. Good to be with you again.

3. Host:  We are delighted to have you on our programme in this difficult time. Let me start  actually with a very simple direct question: Do you accept that Covid-19 has its origins in China?

4. Guest: It was first discovered in Wuhan, but I can’t say it’s originated from Wuhan. According to many reports including BBC, it can be anywhere. It can be found on aircraft carriers. It can even be found in the submarine. It is found in groups of people who have never been in China. So we cannot say it’s originated from China.

5. Host: I’m a little confused that answer. Clearly, it is a new virus. It originated somewhere. It seems, according to all of the immunologists and virologists, they crossed from animals to humans. And there was a first case and then it spread. There is no doubt that the first case was in China. I’m wondering why you are telling me that it spread all over that world and people who caught it had never been to China. That is clear because it’s become a pandemic. But the question that matters so much is: Where did it start?

6. Guest: I think the question is still up for scientists to decide. I read the report that the first case in China was reported on the 27th December by Dr. Zhang Jixian to Chinese local health authorities. But I also read reports that some of the cases were found to be much earlier than that. We read even the report by your newspapers yesterday that your scientists, medical advisers, even warned your government that there might be a virus unknown to us, much earlier, last year. So all I can say is that the first reported case in China was on 27th of December in Wuhan.

Analysis

In (1) above, the host’s introduction ‘Ambassador Liu Xiaoming, welcome to Hardtalk’ fulfils the maxim of manner for being as brief as possible in his introduction while the guest’s response ‘Thank you. Good to be with you again’, flouts the maxim of quantity for saying more than what is required, meaning the guest’s response would have fulfilled the maxim of quantity (being brief as required) only if it ended at ‘Thank you’. Again, in (3), the host’s statement and question‘we are delighted to have you on our programme in this difficult time. Let me start actually with a very simple direct question: Do you accept that Covid-19 has its origins in China?’ still observes the maxim of manner by trying to be brief and orderly as possible while his guest in (4) flouts the maxim of quality by trying to provide a false information ‘It was first discovered in Wuhan, but I can’t say it’s originated from Wuhan’.thereby not being orderly and as such flouts the maxim of manner as well and also then confuses the host when he says in (5) ‘I’m a little confused with that answer’. Also, by the host asking the guest in (5) ‘Where did it start?’ he still draws the guest’s attention to the direction of where the argument of the discussion is headed as such fulfils the maxim of manner but the guest in (6) instead of saying he lacks the knowledge of where the pandemic started, he still goes ahead to say ‘I think the question is up for the scientists to decide’ and proceeds again by saying ‘I read the report that the first case in China was reported on the 27th December by Dr. Zhang Jixian to Chinese local health authorities. But I also read reports that some of the cases were found to be much earlier than that.’ thereby goes ahead to flout the maxim of quality by saying what he lacks concrete evidence.

Datum (3)

Interview with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

1. Host: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, welcome to the HARDtalk. Let us start with the international political climate. Donald Trump is now the president of the US. He talks about protectionism. He talks about ripping up trade deals that have been bad for America. How dangerous is this new political climate for Singapore?

2. Guest: We are watching it very carefully. We of all countries depend most heavily on trade. Our foreign trade is 3.5 times our GPD, probably the highest in the world. We have free trade agreements with many countries, including US. We participate actively in the WTO and we have depended on the system which America has built and upheld to maintain an open, global intercourse of trade, commerce, investment, finances, which has prospered most countries most of the time. There is a new mood in America. President Trump reflects that, and we will have to watch carefully what policies he pursues.

3. Host: Tell me your reaction when Donald Trump says things like this, and this is a quote, ‘the globalized trading system has led to the greatest job the theft in the history of the world’.

4. Guest: There are many views on that and in Singapore’s case, it has not done that to us. In America’s case, there are many American companies which have prospered because they are all over the world and therefore there is a base in America. But this is a view which a segment of Americans hold and I think the president reflects that.

5. Host: Worried? Alarmed?

6. Guest: It depends on what he actually does because campaign rhetoric is always slightly overheated and then when the administration comes in, the settle in and they confront the realities and they have make the choice.

7. Host: So Prime Minister, we already know one key act which he has already taken, which is to walk America away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a deal which Singapore was very much a part of and now the Americans want no profit of it.

8. Guest: Yes, we were disappointed by that because we all spent a long time negotiating it. It was a hard won deal-carefully balanced. The Americans bargained hard and so did the other countries. Singapore particularly felt that it was important not just economically because it was 40 per cent of the world’s GDP brought in by the participants, but also strategically, because it can deepen American’s engagement in Asia and give a rationale for America to take a close interest in Asia and try to make things work out well in Asia.

Analysis

From the above presented data, the host’s statement in (1) ‘Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, welcome to the HARDtalk’ fills the maxim of manner as he tries to be as brief and informative as possible while his guest in (2) instead of him to respond to the host’s welcome address before he proceeds to give an answer to the question, flouts the maxim of manner as he deviates from the conversational principle of being orderly' when he say ‘We are watching it very carefully’. Again, in (4), the guest instead of say exactly what is his stand on the host question in (3), flouts the maxim of quality for when he says more than what is required of him. Furthermore, the guest in (6) instead of providing a simple answer of ‘we or I neither worried nor alarmed’ goes ahead to explain why he or they should not be worried or alarmed and as such, flouts the maxim of manner as he provides an answer that is not in line with the question in (5) ‘Worried? Alarmed?’.

Datum (4)

Interview with of Dr. Adnan Shihab Eldin 2015

1. Host: Dr. Adnan ShibabEldin, welcome to HARDtak.

2. Guest:Thank you.

3. Host:In your view, what is the right price for a barrel of oil?

4. Guest:I think it’s a price that keeps everybody happy. Consumers should be able to enjoy affordable prices, to continue robust economic growth, the producers should also get a fair return on their investment, fair streams of revenues to finance their development and at the present time we have moved into a new price regime that we are trying to find what is a good and fair price for everybody.

5. Host:Well, trying to find- in the end OPEC must come up with a view on what it believes is the right price for a barrel of oil. For several years you stuck to the idea that it should be between 22 and 28 US dollars a barrel, now it seems you don’t really know because prices have gone so far ahead of what your target price was, so what are you going to do now? Are you going to come up with a new price?

6. Guest:We are looking into trying to find what would be the best price or most acceptable price for everybody in the new era, so to speak.

7. Host:The world is waiting. We can’t wait too long can we? Everybody in this world of ours needs to know roughly what the price of oil is going to be for economic planning. OPEC is a crucial part of that and yet, at the moment, you seems all at sea.

8. Guest:Well OPEC is only one of the players. Let’s remember, the prices are set in New York and London where future contracts for oil are being sold. That’s what sets the price. What OPEC tries to do is influence the price into a regime that is good for everybody. Previously in 2000-2003 OPEC set a target 22-28 as a comfortable regime for everybody and it was successful. Everybody accepts that. What happened over the last two years- a number of factors have contributed to raising the price level to what we have seen right now. Even for WTl’s above 50 and the OPEC basket has been hovering between 40 and 50…

9. Host:You lost control, basically, of the price.

10.  Guest:Well, we don’t control the price- let’s be very frank about that…

11.  Host:The point is that you represent 11 of the most significant oil producers. You tailor your production targets to what you think the price ought to be on the open market, so you are very influential.

12.  Guest:That’s only one of the objectives.

13.  Host:Yes, but it’s a key objective.

14.  Guest:It is a key objective (Nods and smiles)

15.  Host: And my point is that you seem to have lost control of your ability to control the price.

16.  Guest: No. We have not, because we have done what it takes to influence the price and that is to ensure that there are enough supplies in the market that the buyers of the oil will find the oil to buy. In 2004 when demand grew by close to 3 million barrel a day OPEC pumped 3.5 million barrel extra oil and ensured that there was a surplus in the market in 2004. Now that surplus should normally have allowed prices to find a reasonable regime. It did not happen that quickly. We are still in a regime where there is robust demand for oil coming from China, coming for the United States- luckily OPEC had the spare capacity. You can imagine what would happen if OPEC did not have the spare capacity.

17.  Host: Well, I want you, if you would, to come up with a figure for me. When do you think, ultimately, given the new demand… pressures that we have, where do you think OPEC is going to put the price? It’s moved away, obviously, from the 28 dollars, it’s moving it seems towards 40 or 50 dollar price. Where do you see the target price resting?

18.  Guest: The market is trying to find that out and we will look at the market, but let me be very frank about this, there are a number of factors that contribute to the increase in prices. You have inflation, currency exchange, fluctuations between the dollar and the euro, the demand itself, and the reduced spare capacity- all these things have contributed to this increase. If you look in real terms at today’s dollar, March or April 2005 and look back twenty years and see historically where are the prices- they were between 30 and 40, 45 for the basket.

19.  Host: Well, Qatar’s Oil Minister, Abdulla Al-Attiyah, who obviously you know very well- he says ‘I think the 40-50 dollar range is a reasonable price in the medium to long term’, so is that where we are now looking?

20.  Guest: It appears that it has been around 30 for the basket by just looking historically, even 2000-2004, it was above 30 in real times in today’s dollars. Now, the upper limit is a bit problematic because you really don’t want prices to go too high to begin…

21.  Host: (Interupts)… What is too high?

22.  Guest: If they start impacting global economic growth.

23.  Host: Well, to be specific, what’s too high?

24.  Guest: So far we have been lucky enough that even with prices hovering around 50 in 2004 and continue to hover around 50 the global economic whgrowth have been able to cope with minimal impact.

In (1) above, the host’s introduction ‘Dr. Adnan ShibabEldin, welcome to HARDtak’ fulfils the maxim of manner for being as brief as possible in his introduction while the guest’s response ‘Thank you’ in (2) as well fulfils the maxim of manner for being brief as required, but guest’s in (4) ends up flouting the maxim of quality by providing answer to the question in (3) that without proper evidence or false, meaning he fails to give the actual price that is right for a barrel of oil. Again, the host instead of directly asking his guest the question in (5) goes ahead to bring in other issues before going to the question thereby and as such ends up flouting the maxim of manner. As well, the guest when asked by his host in (5) whether they were going to come up with a new price for a barrel of oil, fails to directly give an answer in (6) of either ‘we are going to come up with a new price or we are not going to come up with a new price’, but rather flouts the maxim of quality for providing an answer that lacks adequate evidence. Also, in (8), the guest tries to shift the responsibility of having the obligation of stabilizing the price of oil and as such flouts the maxim of quality for deviating from the truth thereby providing an answer that is not in line with the question in (7).

Findings, Discussion and Conclusion

 

1. From the samples presented and analyzed above, this paper shall conclude that, as the host and his guest converse, the guests most if not all the times, flouts or violates all the conversational maxims while the host does nothing but to observe the maxim of manner so as to see that his guest provides information that are not by any means against the cooperative principle.

2.  In Hardtalk interviews, maxims are flouted deliberately by the guests so as to avoid giving clear explanations to some questions.

3. It was also discovered that, as the host and his guest’s converse, the guests most at times, flout either of the four maxims while the host does more of observing instances where the maxims are being flouted by the guests.

4. Again, there are two types of implicature as discovered during the course of this work and for better understanding of the work, it was discovered that the use of the particularized type of implicature in opposition to the generalized type was more suitable for this research since all the data presented and analyzed therein, depended solely on a particular context (host and guest).

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