Speech Functions, Politeness and Cross-cultural
Speech Function
Expressive function: to express personal feelings,
thoughts, ideas and opinions, with different choice words, intonation, etc.
These expressions are submissive to social factors and to the nature of the
expression as negative (I'm very gloomy tonight) or positive (I'm
feeling very good today).
¢ Directive
function: giving orders or making requests by using imperative statements.
An imperative statements may express a strict demand such as saying (open
the door) or it can seem less demanding by using the politeness strategy
such as saying (open the door, please) or through using question tags in
the case of informality between mother and son (Max the TV is still on!)
¢ Referential
utterances comment on language itself, e.g. :
At the third stroke it will be three o’clock precisely
¢ Metalinguistic
Function: it is used to describe parts of language such as grammar, or
words that describe language itself (I is a personal pronoun)
¢ Poetic
Function: using poetic features such as rhyming words, alliteration or
paronomasia and antithesis (An apple a day keeps the doctor a way).
¢ Phatic
or Social function: it is one of the most common speech acts in everyday
interactions; it consists of greetings, complements, gossip, etc. for greeting
a friend, a speaker can say (hi/hello). As for greeting a
stranger, the speaker can use (hello), but the more formal greetings
between strangers are (good morning/afternoon/evening).
¢ Heuristic
Function: Halliday identified this function of language which concerned
with learning, the main concentration of researching this function of speech is
to identify the spoken language of learning children.
¢ Commissives:
it involves using threats and promises (I will clean my room, I promise).
Directive
¢ Directives
are concerned with getting people to do things.
¢ The
speech acts which express directive force vary in strength.
¢ Social
factors: social distance, relative status, formality context
¢ See
this example below:
There are many ways of expressing directive:
¢ Sit
down (Imperative)
¢ You
sit down (Imperative)
¢ Could
you sit down? ( Interrogative with modal)
¢ Sit
down, will you ? (Interrogative with tag)
¢ Won’t
you sit down? (Interrogative with Neg-M)
¢ I
want you to sit down (Declarative)
¢ I’d
like you to sit down (Declarative)
¢ You’d
be more comfortable sitting down (Declarative)
Directive: Social Distance
¢ Higher
social status tend to express imperative than interrogative and declarative
¢ Interrogative
and declarative are considered to be more polite
Ex:
Teacher: open your book page 32
Boss: copy this document now
Directive: Relative status
¢ People
who are close friends or intimates use more imperative
Ex: Within a family
- Roll over
- Set the table, robie
- Wash your hands, children
Directive: Formality context
¢ Formal
context often uses Declarative (More polite)
Ex:
Now I call on Vice-Chancellor to read the citation for our
distinguished guest
Directive: routineness
¢ A
boss produce more polite ways (Interrogative) and Indirect way to order his
subordinates to do things out of ordinary jobs
¢ Ex:
Could you stay a bit later tonight, do you think and finish
this job?
That’s job taking longer than we predicted. I don’t know
what to do if it is not finished yet
Directive: gender
¢ Women
tend to use more polite and less direct for directive
Ex:
Tom: Give me that, I need it now
Grant: Get out of my house
Maria: My turn now, eh ?
Meg: It’s time for tea, you may go home now
Directive: lower class community
¢ People
in lower class community, insecure and unpleasant places often use more direct
and more imperative
Ex:
Grab that there hand truck!
If you don’t want to work, get out of the field !
Politeness
Politeness is best expressed as the practical
application of good manners or etiquette. It is a culturally
defined phenomenon, and therefore what is considered polite in one culture can
sometimes be quite rude or simply eccentric in another cultural context.
Negative
politeness:
Making
a request less infringing, such as "If you don't mind..." or "If
it isn't too much trouble..."; respects a person's right to act freely. In
other words, deference. There is a greater use of indirect speech acts.
Positive politeness
Seeks
to establish a positive relationship between parties; respects a person's need
to be liked and understood.
aspects
of positive politeness because:
– they
show an awareness that the relationship is strong enough to cope with what
would normally be considered impolite (in the popular understanding of the
term);
– they
articulate an awareness of the other person's values, which fulfills the
person's desire to be accepted.
In sociolinguistics, politeness related with attitude and
social level.
We will use words “please, I’m sorry, thank and ect” to make
a conversation more polite.
For example:
- Could you take my bags up?
- Could you take my bags up, please?
Passenger: Turn
the light on, please.
Driver: What?
Passenger: Turn
the light on, please.
Driver: It disturbs
me.
Passenger: I
wanted to read.
Cross-
Cultural Communication
The domain of
cross-cultural communication
is defined by
interaction (spoken and written) between participants who have significantly
different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
(Saville-
Troike)
Cross-Cultural Communication (also
frequently referred to as intercultural communication) is a field of study that
looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar
and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavour to communicate
across cultures.
Cross-cultural communication
describes the ability to successfully form, foster, and improve relationships
with members of a culture different from one's own. It is based on knowledge of
many factors, such as the other culture's values, perceptions, manners, social
structure, and decision-making practices, and an understanding of how members
of the group communicate--verbally, non-verbally, in person, in writing, and in
various business and social contexts.
Effective communication with
people of different cultures is especially challenging. Cultures provide people
with ways of thinking—ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting the world.
Hence the same words can mean different things to people from different
cultures, even when they talk the "same“ language. When the languages are
different, and translation has to be used to communicate, the potential for
misunderstandings increases.
Non Verbal
Communication Actions Speaking Louder Than Words
Non Verbal Communication are
messages that are conveyed through body movements, facial expressions, and the
physical distance between the sender and receiver.
Non-verbal Communication
Cultures may be either Low-‐context or High‐context: Low‐context cultures rely
more on content rather than on context. They give value to the written word
rather than oral statements. High‐context cultures infer information from
message context, ratherthan from content. They rely heavily on nonverbal signs
and prefer indirectness, politeness &ambiguity.
In some countries
punctuality is considered important
and being late would be considered
as an insult. However, in other countries
being on time does not carry the same sense of urgency.
In most cultures, maintaining
face is of great importance. Being recognized and treated as a human being
worthy of dignity and respect is an integral part of self esteem and
confidence. In the absence of respect and the where another’s behaviour can be
construed as degrading/demoralizing the potential arises for conflict.
Polite Acceptance and Refusal
Example 21 (P. 275)
Hostess : Have another helping.
Guest : No thanks, I am thoroughly fed up
Different Cultures
Example 22 (P. 276)
When Rebecca arrived in New
Zealand from Nottingham, she and her family were invited to a Christmas party
at a neighbour’s house. Bring a
Plate! Her host told.
Intercultural
Communication Balances
1. Knowledge
(about other cultures, people, nations,
behaviors…)
2. Empathy
(understanding feelings and
needs of other people)
3. Attitude
(Compassion, Trust, Openness,
Honesty, Non Judgmental)
Improving
Intercultural Communication
¢
Avoid
using slang and idioms, choosing words that will convey only the most specific denotative
meaning;
¢
Listen carefully and, if in doubt,
ask for confirmation of understanding (particularly important if local accents
and pronunciation area problem);
¢
Recognize that accenting and intonation can
cause meaning to vary significantly; and
¢
Respect the local communication formalities
and styles, and watch for any changes in body language.
¢
Investigate their culture's
perception of your culture by reading literature about your culture through
their eyes before entering into communication with them. This will allow you to
prepare yourself for projected views of your culture you will be bearing as a
visitor in their culture.
thx mas
ReplyDelete