Teasing in informal contexts in English as an Asian lingua franca: Trêu đùa trong các tình huống giao tiếp hàng ngày khi sử dụng tiếng Anh như một ngôn ngữ chung

Ian Walkinshaw

doi:10.1515/jelf-2016-0019

Article

Teasing in informal contexts in English as an Asian lingua franca

Trêu đùa trong các tình huống giao tiếp hàng ngày khi sử dụng tiếng Anh như một ngôn ngữ chung

Ian Walkinshaw
Ian Walkinshaw is a lecturer in English at the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University. His interests are in intercultural pragmatics and im/politeness, particularly in English as a lingua franca. He is the author of Learning Politeness: Disagreement in a Second Language (Peter Lang, 2009), and has published research in the Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, Studies in Higher Education, and TESL-EJ, among others.

Published/Copyright: September 14, 2016

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From the journal Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Volume 5 Issue 2

Abstract

This paper explores how speakers of English as a lingua franca (ELF) manage the interactional back-and-forth of teasing, a social action which, being fundamentally ambiguous, is open to interpretation by a target and/or other participants as aggressive in intent. The data reported here draw on the Asian Corpus of English (ACE), and describe some of the more typical teasing practices which occur among Asian ELF speakers in informal, non-task-focused contexts. More specifically, this research explores the interpersonal functions which teasing performs in ACE interactions; the teasing strategies commonly employed to serve these functions; and the responses of recipients to teases targeting them. The data show that teasing is a common practice in interaction among Asian ELF speakers, and is accomplished through a variety of strategies such as jocular mockery, jocular agreement with a target’s negative self-assessment, jocular insult, and banter. Significantly, teasing in ACE appears to be essentially jocular rather than conveying veiled aggression; markers such as laughter, heightened vocal pitch and lexical exaggeration are commonly employed to signpost the non-serious nature of such utterances. Teases are also commonly received as jocular by recipients; there are no instances of offense being expressed by a tease recipient.

TÓM TẮT: Bài viết này tìm hiểu cách những người không cùng tiếng mẹ đẻ và nói tiếng Anh như một ngôn ngữ chung (ELF) trêu đùa lẫn nhau khi giao tiếp. Trêu đùa về cơ bản là một hành động giao tiếp xã hội mơ hồ về ý nghĩa, có thể làm người đối diện và/hoặc những người cùng tham gia cuộc nói chuyện diễn giải rằng người phát ngôn đang tỏ ra hiếu thắng. Số liệu sử dụng ở nghiên cứu này được lấy từ Khối ngữ liệu tiếng Anh châu Á (ACE), và miêu tả một số cách trêu đùa phổ biến trong giao tiếp bằng tiếng Anh giữa các chủ thể là người châu Á trong các tình huống xã giao hàng ngày, không mang tính học tập hay công việc. Cụ thể hơn, nghiên cứu này khám phá các chức năng giao tiếp của hành động trêu đùa trong các tương tác thuộc khối ngữ liệu ACE; các chiến lược trêu đùa thường được sử dụng để thể hiện các chức năng này; và cách người đối thoại phản ứng lại những lời trêu đùa nhắm vào họ. Số liệu cho thấy trêu đùa là một hiện tượng phổ biến trong tương tác bằng tiếng Anh giữa người châu Á; hành động này được thực hiện thông qua một loạt các chiến lược như chế nhạo mang tính đùa giỡn, trêu đùa có sự đồng thuận khi người bị trêu chọc tự nhận xét tiêu cực về bản thân, sỉ nhục mang tính đùa giỡn, và nói đùa vui. Đáng chú ý là các hành động trêu đùa trong khối ngữ liệu ACE dường như mang bản chất hài hước hơn là ngầm thể hiện sự hiếu thắng. Các dấu hiệu như cười, cao giọng, và các từ ngữ cường điệu thường được sử dụng để thể hiện tính chất không nghiêm trọng của những lời trêu đùa. Ngoài ra đối tượng giao tiếp thường đón nhận lời nói trêu đùa một cách hài hước; không có trường hợp nào người bị trêu cảm thấy bị xúc phạm.

Keywords: Asian Corpus of English; English as a lingua franca; pragmatics; spoken interaction; teasing

TỪ KHOÁ: Khối ngữ; liệu tiếng Anh châu Á; tiếng Anh như; một ngữ; chung; ngữ; dụng học; tương tác bằng lời nói; trêu đùa

About the author

Ian Walkinshaw

Ian Walkinshaw is a lecturer in English at the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University. His interests are in intercultural pragmatics and im/politeness, particularly in English as a lingua franca. He is the author of Learning Politeness: Disagreement in a Second Language (Peter Lang, 2009), and has published research in the Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, Studies in Higher Education, and TESL-EJ, among others.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Michael Haugh, Andy Kirkpatrick, Leticia Stallone and Sophiaan Subhan, as well as the anonymous reviewers of this article. Thanks also to Nguyen Xuan Nhat Chi Mai for translating the title, abstract and key words into Vietnamese.

Notational conventions

(0.5): a time gap in tenths of a second
(.): a pause in talk of less than two-tenths of a second
=: “latching,” i. e. no discernible gap between turns at talk
[]: marks the onset and end of a spate of overlapping talk
((laughter)): indicates a non-verbal activity
wor-: sudden cut-off of a prior word or sound
wo:: a stretched vowel or consonant sound
(words): approximate transcription of unclear speech
?: a rising inflection
↑: a marked rising intonational shift
Under: speaker emphasis
CAPS: markedly louder speech
◦words◦: markedly quieter speech
<words>: markedly slower speech
>words<: markedly faster speech
*words*: audible smile
hh: voiced laughter particles
{words}: gloss for word or acronym

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Published Online: 2016-9-14

Published in Print: 2016-9-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2016-0019

Keywords for this article

Asian Corpus of English; English as a lingua franca; pragmatics; spoken interaction; teasing