Demystifying Students' Observance and Violation of Gricean Maxims in Online ESL Classes

Cailvin Reyes

Cailvin Reyes Don Honorio Ventura State University

Keywords: Gricean Maxims, Cooperative Principle, ESL Classroom, Conversational Implicature, Language Pedagogy

Abstract

The Gricean maxim construct remains a focal point of linguistic research today. According to Bakoko & Pratiwi (2021), the Cooperative Principle is one of the central guidelines facilitating effective language learning. Language teachers must understand how students communicate and the issues they encounter. This study examines conversations between teachers and students in online ESL classes, focusing on students' observance and violations of Gricean maxims and the implicatures drawn from their utterances. Using a qualitative research design, the researcher transcribed five recorded synchronous ESL discussions in a higher education institution. The transcribed conversations were analyzed to determine observance or violation of Grice’s maxims. Findings indicate that students violated all Gricean Maxims—Quantity, Quality, Relevance, and Manner—during interactions. The maxim of Manner was the most observed, while the maxim of Quantity was the most frequently violated. Interestingly, the maxim of Quality showed no violations across the 48 conversations analyzed. The study suggests that implicatures resulting from violations could be leveraged to enhance pedagogical strategies.

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