Impoliteness in polylogal intercultural communication among Asian EFL learners
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Zhaoyi Pan
Zhaoyi Pan holds a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the English as an International Language Program, the Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. He is now working as an English specialist in the English Language Coordinating Section, the School of Information Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. His research interests are interlanguage pragmatics, intercultural pragmatics, corpus linguistics, and learner corpus research.
Abstract
By regarding impoliteness as a dynamic process, this research examined impoliteness in the polylogal intercultural communication among Asian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), including the impoliteness acts by the face-threat initiators, and the responses to the impoliteness acts by both the face-threat recipients and the face-threat witnesses. Moreover, it attempted to identify the factors that caused impoliteness in intercultural communication. Eighty-four Asian EFL learners from five Asian countries were engaged in this research. This research used group discussions to collect the nearly naturally occurring communication. The result illustrated that Asian EFL learners used the criticize/dispraise the hearer impoliteness strategy most frequently. Two new impoliteness strategies were identified, namely the use of the face-threat initiator’s first language (L1), and the use of inappropriate English expressions. In addition, a new reaction was used by both the face-threat recipients and the face-threat witnesses, namely the confirmation of impoliteness. A dynamic model of impoliteness based on the results of this research was proposed. Furthermore, six factors that caused impoliteness were discussed, including different individual cultural variations, accommodation to the intercultural communication, the degree of mindfulness, the individual prior experience of knowledge about the English language, the English proficiency levels of the EFL learners, and differences in individual salience that resulted in the failure of cooperative intention by the interactants in the intercultural communication. This research attempts to fill the lacuna in impoliteness studies in the fields of intercultural communication and intercultural pragmatics.
About the author
Zhaoyi Pan holds a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the English as an International Language Program, the Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. He is now working as an English specialist in the English Language Coordinating Section, the School of Information Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. His research interests are interlanguage pragmatics, intercultural pragmatics, corpus linguistics, and learner corpus research.
Appendix: Transcription conventions
All participants’ names are pseudonyms.
| &- | Marking filled pauses |
| (.) | Unusual short pause |
| (..) | Unusual middle pause |
| [/] | Single word repetition |
| <>[/] | Multiple words repetition |
| [//] | Retracing |
| xxx | Unintelligible utterance |
| & = laughs | Speaker’s laugh |
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Presuppositions cross-linguistically: A comparison of soft and hard triggers in Chinese and German
- Negotiating epistemic asymmetries during crisis management exercises: Pre-emptive and corrective practices
- Impoliteness in polylogal intercultural communication among Asian EFL learners
- What is lost when a language dies?
- Book Reviews
- Daniel N. Silva and Jacob L. Mey: The Pragmatics of Adaptability
- Grace Zhang and Vahid Parvaresh: Elastic Language in Persuasion and Comforting: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Presuppositions cross-linguistically: A comparison of soft and hard triggers in Chinese and German
- Negotiating epistemic asymmetries during crisis management exercises: Pre-emptive and corrective practices
- Impoliteness in polylogal intercultural communication among Asian EFL learners
- What is lost when a language dies?
- Book Reviews
- Daniel N. Silva and Jacob L. Mey: The Pragmatics of Adaptability
- Grace Zhang and Vahid Parvaresh: Elastic Language in Persuasion and Comforting: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
