This paper outlines the main assumptions of relevance theory (Sperber & Wilson 1985, 1995, 1998, 2002, Wilson & Sperber 2002), an inferential approach to pragmatics. Relevance theory is based on a definition of relevance and two principles of relevance: a Cognitive Principle (that human cognition is geared to the maximisation of relevance), and a Communicative Principle (that utterances create expectations of optimal relevance). We explain the motivation for these principles and illustrate their application to a variety of pragmatic problems. We end by considering the implications of this relevance-theoretic approach for the architecture of the mind. 1

This article describes a contrastive study of rhetorical differences between Italian and English ‘For Your Information’ (FYI) letters. It is assumed that cultural differences affect discourse genres traditionally considered as standardized, ritual or even formulaic, written business communication being a case in point. It was our goal to investigate how information is presented in business correspondence and what rhetorical strategies are used to elicit compliance by a given readership in a given culture. To answer these questions of an essentially pragmatic and ethnolinguistic nature, our research focused on analysing contrastively a corpus of authentic Italian and English business letters. At the macro-textual level, the analysis focused on rhetorical structure, mainly drawing on the notion of move. At the micro-textual level, the analysis concentrated on the pragmatic use of mood, modality, reference system and metadiscourse. This article focuses on the cultural preferences that Italian and English writers show – both at the macro- and micro-textual level – when engaged in ‘For Your Information’ letter writing. It will be shown that in both languages there are differences in the way in which discourse patterns are organized as well as in the use of politeness.

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Written communication scholarship has shown that successful social change requires discursive stability. This study was designed to investigate how this stability is created. Critical discourse analysis of 30 corporate university articles investigated claims authors made about the expansion of market-based values into contexts of organizational learning and academic higher education. In total, 243 claims were examined for uses of modality, hedging, presupposition, and the progressive aspect. Results claim that articles used modality, hedging, and the progressive aspect to create strategic ambiguity that was resolved ideologically through presuppositions that reflect the assumptions of “the new capitalism. ” Results indicate that discursive stability is not solely a semantic issue but may occur pragmatically and syntactically as texts are structured to displace existing knowledge within contested spaces. Results also indicate that a heavy reliance on pragmatic features may characterize technologized texts, texts designed to create social change without input, democratic participation, or consensus building. Keywords: corporate universities; change; ideology and change; language technologies; critical discourse analysis; systemic functional linguistics Although not a new focus for rhetorical study, social change is receiving renewed attention in textual research. For example, several recent reports have argued for a stronger awareness and articulation of the role discourse plays in processes of change (Faber, 2002; Grabill, 2001; Author’s Note: I would like to thank Linn Bekins, Donna Kain, Martin Nystrand, Stephen Witte, and the anonymous reviewers at Written Communication for their advise on previous drafts of this article. I would also like to thank the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for supporting my research on corporate universities.