Politeness and Interaction July 2011 Teacher

8/6/2019 Politeness and Interaction July 2011 Teacher

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POLITENESSAND

INTERACTION


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Owing to rapid progress in

transportation and communicationsystem, people who previously

engaged in face to face interaction

among acquaintances are now

confronted by the need to

communicate with people fromdifferent backgrounds and with

unfamiliar communicative styles.


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However, what is appropriate

in communication differs from

culture to culture and

subculture to subculture.


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People use language to transmit

information, but to do it effectively,

language must be used in a mannerthat will not cause conflicts between

the participants. (either face to face or

electronic media)


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Politeness

Politeness is a form of social interaction

that is conditioned by the sociocultural

norms of a particular society.

Lakoff (1975:45) defines it as forms of

behavior that have been "developed in

societies in order to reduce friction inpersonal interaction".


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Rationale

Understanding politeness properly might

constitute an important key to the

understanding of a number ofsociolinguistic problems.


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In order to make sense of what is said in

an interaction, we have to look at variousfactors which relate to

1) social distance/ closeness2) powerrelations


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In our daily talk, there are ways to getthings we want.

When we are with friends, we can beinformal with them.

However, when we are talking to

adultsand people wedo not knowwell, we must be more formal andmore polite.


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POLITENESS

Brown and Levinson (1978) suggestthat a need to be polite is common to

all cultures. The concept of politeness has been

depicted in the literature as formality,

as deference, as indirectness, asappropriateness, as etiquette, as tact.


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Learning a foreign language involves notonly knowing how to speak and write, butalso how to behave linguistically;

therefore, the speakers and and users ofthe language must be equipped withpoliteness formulas in speaking and mustbe aware of how to use politeness indifferent communicative acts in their dailylife.


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Brown and Levinsons theory

rests on 3 basic notions:

1) face

2) facethreateningacts (FTAs)

3) politenessstrategies.


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So, to show awareness ofanother

personsface politeness


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Showing the equivalent awareness when

the other is socially close is oftendescribed in terms offriendliness,

camaraderie, orsolidarity.

(as opposed to respectordeference)


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Friendliness VS Respect

Professor A: Hey Lisa, gotaminute?

Professor B: Sure.

Student A: Excuseme ProfessorBlack,

but can I talk to youforaminute?Professor: Certainly.


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Face Wants

People generally behave as if their expectations

concerning their public self-image, or theirface

wants, will be respected.

If a speaker says something that represents a threat to

another individuals expectations regarding self-image,

it is described as a facethreateningact.

The speaker can say something to lessen the

possible threat. This is called a facesavingact.


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Concept ofFACE

Politeness showingawareness ofanotherpersonsface

Face-threateningact athreattoanotherpersonsself- image

Face-savingact sayingsomethingthat lessensthepossiblethreattoanothersface.


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Face threatening act

Givemethat!

A direct speech act can give the impressionthat you have a social power over the other

person.


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Face saving act

Couldyougivemethat?An indirect speech act in the form of a

question removes the assumption of power.


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Peoplehavetwo faces

1) POSITIVE FACE

is the need to be accepted, even liked, byothers, to be treated as a member of the

same group, and to know that his or her

wants are shared by others.


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POSITIVE FACE

Positive Facerefersto one'sself-

esteem,

theneedto be connectedandamemberofthegroup.

L

ets do it together. You and I have the same problems.

Appeal to positiveface


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2) NEGATIVE FACE

refers to one's freedom to act, the need tobe independent, to have freedom of

action, and not to be imposed on by

others.


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Someones face can be challenged in 2

ways

1) by tellinghim whatto do, which implies the

speaker has power over him

2) by showingyoudisagree with or do not

appreciate his values and beliefs.


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NEGATIVE FACE

Theneedto beindependentandfree

Im sorry to bother you.

I dont think you are right.

Appeal to negativeface


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If you challenge someones face, they will

challenge you back!

We use politeness with other people sothat they will not attack us.


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People can choose between a

variety ofexpressions which

show varying degrees ofpoliteness and face-saving.

See examples below


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1) Thestraight command, such as Shutthe door, does not respect a personsright to have control over their own body.

Direct commands like this are only issued

by a superior to an inferior. Giving straight

commands like this can be rude or

patronizing.


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2) To avoidthisrudeness, politeness

factorshave beenintroducedinto the

language,

Please Shutthedoorplease.

Hedges Ifitisnttoomuch trouble . . ..

Commandshiddenas questions,

Couldyoupassthesalt

please?


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The number of hedges or politeness factors in

a request or command is inproportionto the

amount that the speaker feels she or he is

imposing on the listener.

If it wouldnt be too much trouble, I meanif you dont mind, Id be grateful if youd

pick up the phone

What do you think of this utterance?


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3) Sometimes, to saveface, thespeaker

makestherequestasimpersonal and

indirectaspossible,

e.g. if this letter was typed, Id be very

grateful.


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4) Speaker can also respect a listeners valuesystem and appreciate it byimplyingmembership of the same groupas the listener.

usingthepersonal pronouns, weand us,

e.g. lets go swimming;

usingthesamein-groupvocabulary, e.g. using dialect or colloquial language when someone

else does;

usingpsuedo-agreement whichavoidssaying no or

disagreeing withaspeaker,

e.g. Would you like to come to my house?

Well, Id love to at another time.


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Summary

Politeness is showing awareness andconsideration to another persons face.

There are 2 kinds of face needs:

Negativefaceneeds: need to not be imposedupon.

Positivefaceneeds: needto be liked andadmired.


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Brown and Levinson sum up human

politeness behavior in 4 strategies:

bald on record,

positive politeness,

negative politeness,off-record-indirect strategy.


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Bald on-record

The bald on-record strategydoes

nothing to minimize threats to the hearer's

face

Do the dishes. Its your turn.

Shut up!I want some beer.


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Anemergency: Help!

Watch out!

Task oriented: Give me those!Pass me the hammer.

Request: Put your jacket away.

Alerting: Turn your headlights on!(while driving)


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Any advantage ofbald on record?


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Positive (or solidarity)politeness

Positivepolitenessmeans being

complimentary and gracious to the

addressee.

Thepositive politeness strategyshows

you recognize that your hearer has a

desire to be respected. It also confirms

that the relationship is friendly andexpresses group reciprocity.


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1) Attendto thehearersinterests,wantsLiz, you look sad...Can I do anything?

You must be hungry..its a long time since breakfast.

How aboutsome lunch?

2) Usesolidarity, in-groupidentitymarkers

Heh, mate, can you lend me a dollar?

Can you bring me the key, honey?3) Include bothspeakerandhearerinactivity

Ifwe helpeach other,Iguess, wellboth sinkorswiminthis

course.

Positive politeness


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4) OfferorpromiseIfyou wash thedishes,Illvacuumthefloor.

5) Exaggerateinterestinhearerandhis

interests

Thatsanice haircutyou got; wheredidyou getit?

6)Using compliments

Youmakesuch greatcoffee! Wouldyou.?


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Any advantage ofpositive politeness?


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Negative politeness(showrespect & maintain socialdistance)

The negative politeness strategyalso

recognizes the hearer's face. But it alsorecognizes that you are in some way

imposing on them. Some other examples

would be to say, Idon'twanttobother

youbut... or Iwas wonderingif...


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Examples of negative politeness

Hedging: Er, could you, er, perhaps, close the,

um , window?

Pessimism: I dont suppose you could close the

window, could you?

Indicatingdeference: Excuse me, sir, would you

mind if I asked you to close the window?

Apologizing: Im terribly sorry to put you out, butcould you close the window?

Impersonalizing: The management requires all

windows to be closed.


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Any advantage ofnegative politeness?


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Off-record indirect(indirectrequest)

This strategy uses indirect language and

removes the speaker from the potential to

be imposing.

This strategy takes some of the pressure

off of you.


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Examples ofoff-record indirect

Givehints:

Its a bit cold in here.

It would be so nice to have a blanket.

Bevague:Perhaps someone should have been more

responsible.

These fries would taste great with some salt.

Besarcastic, or joking:

Yeah, hes a real Einstein!


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Any advantage ofoff-record indirect?

Documents

Politeness and Interaction July 2011 Teacher