Conversational Maxims Revisited in Holy Trinity College’s Online Platform
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67903/ijroms0448Keywords:
Conversational Maxims, Pragmatic Competence, Online Discourse, Facebook Interactions, Student CommunicationAbstract
This study examined how Grice’s conversational maxims of Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner were manifested in student-generated comments on Holy Trinity College’s official Facebook platform during Academic Year 2025–2026. An initial set of 150 comments was screened using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, after which 50 comments were retained as the final analytical dataset. Each retained comment was examined against all four maxims, yielding 200 comment–maxim analytical instances. Twelve comments were selected as representative cases for detailed qualitative presentation. The study employed a descriptive qualitative design informed by pragmatic analysis. In the final dataset, Quantity was observed in 38 instances and violated in 12; Quality was observed in 27, flouted in 21, and violated in 2; Relation was observed in 20 and violated in 30; and Manner was observed in 6 and violated in 44. No flouting was identified for Quantity, Relation, or Manner. The findings indicate comparatively stronger adherence to informativeness and apparent truthfulness, while relevance and clarity presented greater challenges. Quality flouting was associated with irony, sarcasm, figurative language, and wordplay. A communication guide was developed to translate these findings into practical guidance for clearer, relevant, truthful, and contextually appropriate online communication. The study contributes localized evidence on pragmatic meaning-making in a Philippine higher-education Facebook environment.
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