Politeness and Interaction Group 5

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Thanh Thu (group leader) u Nguyn Huyn Thng Nguyn Th Hi Yn V Bch Ngc Phm Ton Thin Ng Minh Phng Nguyn Phng Thanh Nguyn Lan Phng Nguyn Tr My Nguyn Ngc Phng Nguyn Hu T Thng Phan Thanh Thy

Outline
I. II.
1. 2.
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Politeness
Concepts, Factors and Principles

Face
The concept of face Face wants
Face-threatening acts Face- saving acts

3.

Negative and positive face

III.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Politeness strategies
Self and other: say nothing Say something: on and off record Positive and negative politeness Strategies Pre- sequences How to be polite?

IV.

Politeness and interaction in Vietnamese

POLITENESS
1. Concepts of politeness 2. Factors relating to politeness 3. Politeness principles

A linguistic interaction is necessarily a social interaction.

Concepts of Politeness
POLITENESS... is one of the constraints of human interaction, whose purpose is to consider others feelings, establish levels of mutual comfort, and promote rapport. (Hill et al. 1986: 282) what we think is appropriate behaviour in particular situations in an attempt to achieve and maintain successful social relationships with others. (Lakoff 1972: 910) is the set of social values which instructs interactants to consider each other by satisfying shared expectations (Sifianou 1992: 86)

Factors which relate to social distance and closeness: 1. External factors

The relative status of the participants, based on social values such as age and power.
lower status =>higher status speakers = last name, (Mrs. Jones, Mr. Adams, Dr. Miller)

2. Internal factors: - amount of imposition / degree of friendliness. the initial social distance changed (e.g., moving to first name basis) - these factors social relationships within the interaction.

Both types of factors (external/internal) have an influence on what we say and how we are interpreted. => interpretation includes also evaluations such as rude, considerate or thoughtful

Common sense: being polite showing good manners and consideration for other people. Linguistic politeness: the way people choose to speak and how the hearers react to their speech.

POLITENESS MAXIMS

Face
1. 2. The concept of face Face wants - Face-threatening acts - Face-saving acts 3. Negative and positive face

The concept of face

Brown and Levinson (1978) concluded: in order to enter into social relationships, all people must acknowledge the face of other people FACE:
the public self-image of a person emotional and social sense of self every one has and expects everyone else to recognize.

Face wants
Face: status of somebody in the eyes of others Wants: something that you desired

Face wants: public self-image expectations

 Everybody wants his/her face to be respected. Showing awareness for another persons face:
who is socially distance = respect or deference. who is socially close = friendliness, camaraderie or solidarity.

 Face threatening act: the act that threats anothers self-image expectations. It often happens when somebody gets mad on another one. Face saving act: in this action, people says something to lessen the possible threat, which affects others face.

Im going to tell him to stop that awful noise right now!

Perhaps you could just ask him if he is going to stop soon because its getting a bit late and people need to get to sleep.

Negative and positive face

Negative face: the need to be independent, to have freedom of action, and not to be imposed on by others.

Positive face: the need to be accepted, even liked, by others, to be treated as a member of the same group, and to know that his or her wants are shared by others.

Politeness Strategies

Self and other: Say nothing

Example:
You arrive at an important lecture. You want to take notes but realize that you do not have a pen. There is a person sitting next to you. First choice: say something or not
rummage in your bag, search through your pockets, go back to the bag other person offers pen

 Many people prefer to have their needs recognized by others without having to express them (less imposition) a case of communicating more than what is said.

Say something: Off and On record

1. Off record
Off-record is an indirect stategy Not specify speakers intention in direct way Eg: There are A and B in a room.
A says: wow, its getting cold in here. You think so? B replys: oh, wait a minute. Ill turn up air conditioner now.

 Not directly addressed to another person.

Eg: - Looks like someone had a good time last night. - Yeah, hes such an genius.

Off-record is referred as a hint.

Eg: While searching for a pen you say: Dear pen, where are you? Your neighbour may hear it and lend you his/her pen.

Off-record strategies
Give hints: It's a bit cold in here. Be vague: Perhaps someone should have been more responsible. Be sarcastic, or joking: Yeah, he's a real Einstein (rocket scientist, Stephen Hawking, genius and so on)!

On-record strategies
Bald-on record: using imperative forms, commonly found with people who know each other very well such as close friends and family. Eg:
An Emergency: HELP!! Task oriented: Give me that! Request: Put your coat away. Alerting: Turn your headlights on! (When alerting someone to something they should be doing)

 Mitigating devices: using politeness

factors to soften the demand such as please, would you, if, can... Eg: Shut the door ,please. Could you pass the salt please =>Command hidden as a question.

 imperative forms are often used by close relationships without meaning of commands all imperatives commands Example:
Want some more wine? Maybe we could go for a walk.

 In Emergency situations,commands have no social/politeness component Eg: Dont run! Stand up straight.

 Generally, bald on record expression are associated with speech events where the speaker assumes he/she has power over other. In everyday, interaction between social equals are avoided as face threatening acts.

Positive and negative politeness

Positive politeness
Seen in groups of friends/ social situation when people know each other fairly well.

Minimize the distance between speakers (S) and hearers (H) by expressing friendliness and solid interest in the hearer's need to be respected . leads the requester to appeal to a common goal, even friendship Eg: How about letting me use you pen?

Positive Politeness strategies

1.)Claim common ground Attend to the hearer: S takes notice of Hs conditions Thats a nice haircut you got; where did you get it Avoid disagreement: white lies and hedges A: What is she, small? B: Yes, yes, she's small, not really small but certainly not very big. Assume agreement: S seeks ways to agree with H. So when are you coming to see us?

2.)Convey that S and H are cooperators Convey that S and H are cooperatively involved in the relevant activity. Offer and promise : Ill try to get it next week! Ill wash the dishes later! Be optimistic : Youll lend me your apartment-key for the weekend, I hope . Include both S and H in the activity : Lets go to the zoo ! Give (or ask) reasons : Why not lend me your jacket for the weekend? Assume or assert reciprocity : Yesterday I ve washed the dishes, so today its your turn!

3.)Fulfill Hs wants some x S decide to redress Hs face directly by fulfilling some of Hs wants Give gifts to H (goods, sympathy, understanding, cooperation)

Negative politeness
Redressive action addressed to the addressees negative face Addressee (H) wants to have his freedom unhindered and his attention unimpeded Specific and focused to minimize the particular imposition that the FTA effects Politeness in Western cultures is always considered with negative politeness behaviour.

Strategy 1: Be conventionally indirect:

Opposing tensions: desire to give H an out by being indirect, and the desire to go on record Use of phrases and sentences with unambiguous meanings Examples:
Can you please shut the door? You couldnt possibly tell me the time, please?

Strategy 2: Question, hedge

Hedge Examples: Im pretty sure, Ive seen that movie before. I rather think you shouldnt do that. Mary is a true friend. A salmon is a sort of fish. Youre quite right.

 Strategy 3: Apologize: By apologizing for doing an FTA Examples: I hope this isnt going to bother you too much:... I hate to impose, but... Im absolutely lost... Please forgive me if...

Strategy 4: Impersonalize S and H

Phrase the FTA as if the agent were other than S and the addressee were other than H Examples: Do this for me It looks to me like It would be appreciated if... One shouldnt do things like that We feel obligated to inform you about... We cannot help you His majesty is not amused I was kind of interested in knowing if...

 use of positive politeness forms > solidarity strategy (used more by groups than individuals) - includes personal information, nicknames, even abusive terms (esp. among males), shared dialect/slang expressions, inclusive terms ('we', 'let's' etc.) Eg: Come on, let's go to the party. Everyone will be there. We'll have fun. use of negative politeness forms > deference strategy - formal politeness, more impersonal, can include expressions that refer to neither the speaker nor the hearer, emphasizing hearer's and speaker's independence, no personal claims Eg: There's going to be a party, if you can make it. It will be fun.

Pre-sequences
The concept of face saving maybe helpful in understanding how participants in an interaction inevitably understand more than is said.

 The risk of losing face is great when there is the need to involve others to accomplish something or putting others in a difficult situation =>We need a pre-request to avoid awkwardness. This pre-request gives others an opportunity to halt the risky act.

Example: Sister: Are you going out? Brother: Yea Sister: Get me some yogurt on your way back. Brother: Okay An example to prove the affect of pre-sequence: Sister: Are you tired Brother: yea. Why? Sister: Nevermind.

(=pre-request) (=go ahead) (=request) (=accept)

(=pre-request) (=stop)

 General pattern of pre-requests Example: Sister: Do you have a spare pen? Brother: Yea, sure.( Hands over a pen) The action of handing over the pen responses to the unstated request

 Other Functions:
pre-invitation: Example: Sister: What are you doing later? Brother: Nothing. Sister: Wanna grab a bite? Brother: Why not. Sister: Are you busy this afternoon. Brother: Im covering my shift. Sister: Oh, okay.

(pre-invitation) (go ahead) (invitation) (Accept) (pre-invitation) (stop) (stop)

Example: Sister: Do you mind if I use your phone? Brother: Yea, sure? The answer yea, sure = an acceptance response.

It can also be use to make announcement Example: Sister: You cannot believe what happened today Brother: Im busy Sister: Its amazing though announcement) Brother: I dont care.

(pre-announcement) (stop) ( pre(stop)

How to be polite?
Rule 1: Dont impose Rule 2: Give options Rule 3: Make your receiver feel good

Politeness and Interaction in Vietnamese