Jenny Thomas is a significant figure in the field of pragmatics, particularly known for her contributions to the understanding of **pragmatic failure**. Her seminal work, notably the 1983 article "Cross-cultural Pragmatic Failure," laid the groundwork for analyzing how misunderstandings occur in communication across different cultures.
## Key Concepts of Jenny Thomas's Pragmatics
### **Pragmatic Failure**
- **Definition**: Thomas defines pragmatic failure as "the inability to comprehend what is intended by what is spoken" [1]. This concept highlights the challenges that arise when speakers and listeners come from different cultural backgrounds, leading to misinterpretations of meaning.
- **Types**: She categorizes pragmatic failures into two main types:
- **Pragma-linguistic failure**: This occurs when there are misunderstandings about the pragmatic force of an utterance, often due to different linguistic contexts.
- **Socio-pragmatic failure**: This type arises from differing beliefs about social norms, rights, and expectations in communication [3][4].
