Aspects of polite behaviour in French and Syrian service encounters: A data-based comparative study
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Véronique Traverso
Véronique Traverso is a full time researcher at the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), in Lyons ICAR (Interaction-Corpus-Apprentissages-Représentations). Her research interests include pragmatics, conversation analysis and cross-cultural communication. She is the author ofLa conversation familière (1996, Lyon: PUL), and ofL'analyse des conversations (1999, Paris: Nathan). Her work concerns talk-in-interaction in various settings (conversation, informal meetings, service encounters). She also works on interaction in French and in Arabic (Syrian dialect).
Abstract
This paper presents a data-based comparative study of polite behaviour in French and Arabic (Syrian) service encounters. It focuses on the use of conversational routines and rituals, which are not only an important component of interactions in any service encounter, but also a prominent characteristic of Arabic interaction. The first part of the paper is devoted to a presentation of these two notions. The methodological problems raised by contrastive data analysis are then discussed, especially that of choosing comparable situations for conducting fieldwork, and of establishing a linguistic grid of reference for the contrastive analysis. The results of the study presented in part four lead to a discussion of what appear to be specific features of polite behaviour in the French and Syrian corpora. The corpora are composed of interactions audio-recorded in small shops.
About the author
Véronique Traverso is a full time researcher at the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), in Lyons ICAR (Interaction-Corpus-Apprentissages-Représentations). Her research interests include pragmatics, conversation analysis and cross-cultural communication. She is the author of La conversation familière (1996, Lyon: PUL), and of L'analyse des conversations (1999, Paris: Nathan). Her work concerns talk-in-interaction in various settings (conversation, informal meetings, service encounters). She also works on interaction in French and in Arabic (Syrian dialect).
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Special issue of the Journal of Politeness
- Politeness at work: Issues and challenges
- Power distance at work: The cases of Turkey, successor states of the former Soviet Union and Western Europe.
- “Girls on tour”: Politeness, small talk, and gender in managerial business meetings
- Politeness in small shops in France
- Aspects of polite behaviour in French and Syrian service encounters: A data-based comparative study
- Politeness in the portrayal of workplace relationships: Second person address forms in Peninsular Spanish and the translation of humour.
- Politeness markers in French: post-posed quoi in the Tourist Office
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Special issue of the Journal of Politeness
- Politeness at work: Issues and challenges
- Power distance at work: The cases of Turkey, successor states of the former Soviet Union and Western Europe.
- “Girls on tour”: Politeness, small talk, and gender in managerial business meetings
- Politeness in small shops in France
- Aspects of polite behaviour in French and Syrian service encounters: A data-based comparative study
- Politeness in the portrayal of workplace relationships: Second person address forms in Peninsular Spanish and the translation of humour.
- Politeness markers in French: post-posed quoi in the Tourist Office
- Book reviews
