Volume 4, Issue 1

This article offers an intra-cultural pragmatic analysis of some aspects of the interactional behaviour of Uruguayans (Montevideans) in non-emergency service calls to two telephone service centres. In both sets of calls customers telephone to confirm delivery of a service for which there has been some delay. In particular, this study investigates the strategies employed by service representatives to apologize for a perceived company's shortfall. The findings show similarities in the overall organization of both sets of calls as well as in the type of apologizing sub-strategy deployed. Service representatives in both companies coincided in choosing explanations as an expression of remedial work. Although explanations figured in both sets of calls, those given by the call-takers of one of the companies consisted of justifications for the service shortfall and contained explicit expressions of apology, while those of the other company comprised excuses and expressions of evasion of responsibility. The choice of apologizing sub-strategy is explained by the fact that the offence was regarded as non-severe and by the state of consumer rights in the country. The variation observed in the way the explanations were constructed is attributed to the different micro cultures of the companies.

Brown and Levinson's (1978 [1987]) politeness theory has frequently been criticized (e. g., by Culpeper 1996, 2005; Eelen 2001; Bousfield 2006) on the grounds of its apparent failure to account for impoliteness. The primary purpose of this article is to explore whether impoliteness can indeed be accommodated within their model. The article examines a corpus of naturally-occurring spoken French where speakers, on the whole, share a rapport challenge orientation (Spencer-Oatey 2000) towards each other. It explores how speakers exploit ambivalence inherent in authentic spoken discourse as a face protective device largely aimed at protecting their own face against not only potential threats from their addressee but from ratified auditors. I supplement their frame with Goffman's (1981) and Linell's (1994) views on footing and alignment and with Chilton's (2004) views on the strategic use of language in interaction to show that face protection may be part of a strategy to coerce, de-legitimize and ensure that one's own representation of a situation prevails; an approach that may, in the subjective judgement of the addressee or others present, be deemed to be impolite. I argue that where face-protective strategies are involved in interaction, Brown and Levinson's model can provide a useful framework within which to consider impoliteness.

This paper explores the relationship between speech acts and cultural conceptualizations by examining the degree to which compliment responses produced by Persian speakers in their L1 and L2 (English) are informed by the Persian cultural schema of shekasteh-nafsi ‘modesty’. The schema, which appears to be rooted in certain cultural-spiritual traditions of Iranian society, motivates the speakers to negate or scale down compliments, downplay their talents, skills, achievements, etc., and return the compliment to the complimenter. The schema also encourages the speakers to reassign the compliment to a family member, a friend, God, or another associate. In this study, a Persian and an English version of a discourse completion test (DCT) were used to collect data from a group of Persian speaking learners of English in Iran. The participants completed the English DCT first and then received and completed the Persian version after an interval of two weeks. The results revealed that speakers of Persian instantiated the cultural schema of shekasteh-nafsi , in varying degrees, in their responses to compliments both in their L1 and L2. A significant finding of the study was that even where this cultural schema is reflected in a speaker's compliment response in his/her L2 it may be absent from the corresponding L1 response. The findings also suggest that the schema may be instantiated differently according to the context of receiving the compliment. These observations point to the dynamic nature of the relationship between language and cultural conceptualizations. The paper ends by presenting a discussion of the implications of the findings for the teaching and learning of English as an International Language.

This study examines one type of dispreferred response, refusals, and analyzes (socio)pragmatic variation in two sociocultural contexts, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, when refusing an interlocutor of equal status, but with different degrees of social distance (+D, −D). Thirty-six male university students participated in the current study (18 Mexicans and 18 Dominicans), and data were collected in each country in face-to-face interactions. Each participant interacted with a native speaker of Mexican or Dominican Spanish in three refusals: one to a request; one to an invitation; and one to a suggestion. Data were analyzed across the interaction using Scollon and Scollon's (2001) framework of face: involvement and independence. The 108 interactions were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (t-tests) statistics and the results show that although situational variation was the norm between both groups, the Mexicans used a significantly higher number of refusal strategies across the interaction than the Dominicans, whose strategies were employed in fewer and shorter turns. The Mexicans showed a preference for independence face (mostly indirect refusals and the use of mitigation), whereas the Dominicans demonstrated an orientation toward involvement face through direct, unmitigated refusals. The results are discussed in light of previous studies on (socio)pragmatic variation, dispreferred responses, and politeness.

This paper examines Greek learners' deviations in the dimensions of internal and external modification. It investigates the way Greek non-native speakers of English use lexical and phrasal downgraders and external supportive moves in order to soften the force of their English requests in three power-asymmetrical situations. Such power-asymmetrical social situations are more demanding in that they generally require greater pragmatic skills and are particularly difficult for non-native language speakers. For this reason, the study aims to investigate the extent to which the learners' use of mitigating devices deviates from that of British English native speakers and to relate any deviations to issues of politeness and culture. Additionally, the extent to which the social variables of power, familiarity and imposition of the requested act affect the learners' use of request mitigation is also pursued. Results from this study have shown that the amount and type of modification used by the Greek learners present some deviations from native speakers' use. It has been argued that these deviations can be seen as being due to native influence and therefore to pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfer, as well as to the different politeness orientation of the two groups.

Allan, Keith and Kate Burridge (2006). Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language . New York: Cambridge University Press. Paperback ISBN 0-521-52564-0; Hardback ISBN 0-521-81960-1; 303 pp. Price: £ 17.99. House, Juliane and Jochen Rehbein (eds.), (2004). Multilingual Communication . Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. ISBN 90-272-1923-0 (Eur.) / 1-58811-589-5 (US); 358 pp. Price: Euro 75.00 / USD 101.00. Placencia, Maria E., and Carmen Garcia (eds.), (2007). Research on Politeness in the Spanish-Speaking World . London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-8058-5227-1; 456 pp. Price £ 55.00 / USD $ 99.95. Sampson, Geoffrey (2005). The “Language Instinct” Debate . Revised Edition. London/New York: Continuum. Hardback ISBN 0-8264-7384-9; Paperback ISBN 0826473857; 224 pp. Price: Hb: £ 65.00. Pb: £ 19.99.