Teasing in informal contexts in English as an Asian lingua franca
-
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 theJournal of English as a Lingua Franca ,Studies in Higher Education , andTESL-EJ , among others.
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.
About the author
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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©2016 by De Gruyter Mouton
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- The Asian Corpus of English – introduction to the special issue
- Identity regionalism and English as an ASEAN lingua franca
- Teasing in informal contexts in English as an Asian lingua franca
- The linguistic features of ELF by Chinese users in China–ASEAN communication contexts
- The role of vowel quality in ELF misunderstandings
- Phonological patterning for English as a lingua franca in Asia: Implications for norms and practice in multilingual Asia
- Heuristic theory in corpus compilation
- Topic & Comment
- Doing justice to an English as a lingua franca paradigm
- Book Reviews
- Bowles Hugo, and Alessia Cogo: International perspectives on English as a lingua franca: Pedagogical insights
- Solly, Martin & Edith Esch: Language education and the challenges of globalisation: Sociolinguistic issues
- Plo Alastrué, Ramón and Carmen Pérez-Llantada: English as a scientific and research language
- Pandey, Anjali: Monolingualism and linguistic exhibitionism in fiction
- Skinner, David: The story of Ain’t. America, its language and the most controversial dictionary ever published
- Conference Announcement
- ELF & Changing English
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- The Asian Corpus of English – introduction to the special issue
- Identity regionalism and English as an ASEAN lingua franca
- Teasing in informal contexts in English as an Asian lingua franca
- The linguistic features of ELF by Chinese users in China–ASEAN communication contexts
- The role of vowel quality in ELF misunderstandings
- Phonological patterning for English as a lingua franca in Asia: Implications for norms and practice in multilingual Asia
- Heuristic theory in corpus compilation
- Topic & Comment
- Doing justice to an English as a lingua franca paradigm
- Book Reviews
- Bowles Hugo, and Alessia Cogo: International perspectives on English as a lingua franca: Pedagogical insights
- Solly, Martin & Edith Esch: Language education and the challenges of globalisation: Sociolinguistic issues
- Plo Alastrué, Ramón and Carmen Pérez-Llantada: English as a scientific and research language
- Pandey, Anjali: Monolingualism and linguistic exhibitionism in fiction
- Skinner, David: The story of Ain’t. America, its language and the most controversial dictionary ever published
- Conference Announcement
- ELF & Changing English
