politeness and interaction, by dr.shadia.pptx

A linguistic interaction is

necessarily a social

interaction.

POLITENESS AND INTERACTION

By:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJAR

http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

5/17/2009 1Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

�A linguistic interaction is necessarily a

social interaction.

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 2

�In order to make sense of what is said in an

interaction, we have to look at various factors

which relate to social distance and closeness.

�Some of these factors are established prior to an

interaction and thus are largely external factors.

�They typically involve the relative status of the

participants, based on social values such as age


participants, based on social values such as age

and power.

�We take part in a wide range of interactions

(mostly with strangers) where the social distance

determined by external factors is dominant.

�Internal factors such as amount of imposition

or degree of friendliness can result in the initial

social distance changing and being marked as

less, or more, during the course of the

interaction.

�They are typically more relevant to participants

whose social relationships are actually in the


whose social relationships are actually in the

process of being worked out within the

interaction.

�Both external and internal factors have an influence not only on what we say, but also on how we are interpreted.

The interpretation of what is uttered usually goes beyond what was intended to be expressed, and includes evaluations in terms of politeness. Therefore, one can clearly observe that much more is communicated than is said during a socio-linguistic interaction (Yule, 1996).


linguistic interaction (Yule, 1996).

Brown and Levinson (1978) suggest

that a need to be polite is common

to all cultures.

POLITENESS


: being polite -

showing good manners and consideration

for other people (e.g. open the door for a

lady, give your seat to an elderly person

in public transport).in public transport).

Linguistic politeness: the way people

choose to speak and how the hearers

react to their speech.


•Brown and Levinson (1978) have concluded that, in order

to enter into social relationships, all people must

acknowledge the face of other people.

•As a technical term, face means the public self-image of

a person. It refers to that emotional and social sense of

self that every one has and expects everyone else to

recognize.

THE CONCEPT OF FACE


recognize.

POLITENESS, in an interaction, can be defined as the means employed to show awareness of another person’s face.In this sense, POLITENESS can be accomplished in situations of social

POLITENESS


accomplished in situations of social distance or closeness.

�Showing awareness for another person’s face

when that other seems socially distance is often

described in terms of respect or deference.

�Showing the equivalent awareness when the

other is socially close is often described in terms

of friendliness, camaraderie, or solidarity.


Hey, Bucky, got a

minute?

FRIENDLINESS


PROFESSOR

RESPECT


PROFESSOR STUDENT

FACE WANTS•People generally behave as if their expectations

concerning their public self-image, or their face

wants, will be respected.

•If a speaker says something that represents a

threat to another individual’s expectations regarding

self-image, it is described as a face threatening act.

•The speaker can say something to lessen the


•The speaker can say something to lessen the

possible threat. This is called a face saving act.

Perhaps you could just ask

him if he is going to stop

soon because it’s getting a

bit late and people need to

get to sleep.

FACE SAVING ACT


I’m going to tell

him to stop that

awful noise right

now!

FACE THREATENING ACT

CONCEPT OF “FACE”:

• Politeness – “showing awareness of another person’s

face” (Yule, 1996: 134).

• Face-threatening act – “a threat to another person’s

self - image” (Yule, 1996:134).

• Face-saving act – “saying something that lessens the

possible threat to another’s face”.possible threat to another’s face”.


FACE THREATENING ACT

• A direct speech act can

give the impression that

you have a social power

over the other person.

• Give me that!

FACE SAVING ACT

• An indirect speech act

in the form of a

question removes the

assumption of power.


• Can you give me that?

People have two faces:�Negative face: the need to

be independent, to have

freedom of action, and not to

be imposed on by others.

�Positive face: is the need to

be accepted, even liked, by


be accepted, even liked, by

others, to be treated as a

member of the same group,

and to know that his or her

wants are shared by others.

Negative Face Positive Face

Negative and Positive Face

Negative FaceThe need to be independent

and free.

• I’m sorry to bother you.

• I know you’re busy.

• Appeal to negative face

Positive FaceThe need to be connected and a

member of the group.

• Let’s do it together.

• You and I have the same

problems.

• Appeal to positive face.


�someone’s face can be challenged in two ways:

�either by telling him what to do, which implies the speaker

has power over him, or

� by showing you disagree with or do not appreciate his

values and beliefs.

� If you challenge someone’s face, they will challenge you

back!

�We use politeness with other people so that they will not


�We use politeness with other people so that they will not

attack us.

�We have to make a choice and provide a balance between

getting a message across directly, which might challenge

someone, and

�Getting a message across indirectly, which is more polite

but sometimes means the message itself is lost.

People can choose between a variety of expressions which show varying degrees of

politeness and face-saving (Francesca Pridham,2001:53):

1. The straight command, ‘Shut the door’, does not respect a person’s right to have

control over their own body. Direct commands like this are only issued by a superior to

an inferior. Giving straight commands like this can, therefore, be rude or patronizing.

2.To avoid this rudeness, politeness factors have been introduced into the language,

for example:

• Please, in ‘Shut the door please’.

•Hedges, such as, ‘If it isn’t too much trouble . . .’.

•Commands hidden as questions, e.g. ‘Could you pass the salt please?’

• Using provisional language to imply negotiation is possible, e.g. ‘if’, ‘would’ and • Using provisional language to imply negotiation is possible, e.g. ‘if’, ‘would’ and

‘can’.

The number of hedges or politeness factors in a request or command is in proportion

to the amount that the speaker feels she or he is imposing on the listener.

‘If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I mean if you don’t mind, I’d be grateful if you’d

type this letter’, therefore, seems ridiculous because there are too many politeness

factors used in relation to the difficulty of the task.

3. Sometimes, to save face, the speaker makes the request as impersonal and

indirect as possible,

e.g. ‘if this letter was typed, I’d be very grateful’


How polite is it?

1. Message clear – challenge to face

negative face could cause offence.

2. ‘Please’ indicates awareness of

politeness but still could cause a

reaction as quite blunt.

3. Command hidden as question –

implies listener has some choice! This

saves face.

4. Use of personal pronoun ‘we’ implies

What was said

1. ‘Shut the door’

2. ‘Please shut the door’

3. ‘Could you shut the

window please?’

4. ‘Shall we shut the

Direct message –

threatens face

Francesca Pridham( 2001:54) Politeness techniques


4. Use of personal pronoun ‘we’ implies

we’re in the same in-group, have the

same values and are doing the task

together. This protects someone’s

positive face.

5. No challenge here! You can always

deny wanting anyone to do anything.

Message unclear. Response might

easily be ‘Is it?’ or ‘Why don’t you

shut the window then?’

4. ‘Shall we shut the

window please?’

5. ‘It’s cold here’Indirect message –

no threat to face

A speaker can also respect a listener’s value system and

appreciate it by implying membership of the same in-

group as the listener. This can be done by the following

means:

• using the personal pronouns, ‘we’ and ‘us’,

e.g. ‘let’s go swimming’;

• using the same in-group vocabulary, • using the same in-group vocabulary,

e.g. using dialect or colloquial language when someone

else does;

• using psuedo-agreement which avoids saying ‘no’ or

disagreeing with a speaker,

e.g. ‘Would you like to come to my house?’

– ‘Well, I’d love to at another time.’


• Being nice to other people.

• Linguistic politeness studies “face”

• In pragmatics your face is your public

self-image.

SUMMARY

• Politeness: is showing awareness and

consideration to another person’s

face.


Politeness refers to:

• Non-intrusive behavior.

• Expression of good-will or camaraderie.

Politeness is also defined as the concern for someone’s “face”. Face need are the basic wants.

Politeness

“face”. Face need are the basic wants.

There are two kinds of face needs:

• Negative face needs: need to not be imposed upon.

• Positive face needs: need to be liked and admired.

Polite people avoid “face-threatening” acts, and use positive polite utterance when possible.


Robin Lakoff (1973) has summarised politeness in

three maxims:

�don’t impose;

� give options;

�make your receiver feel good.


A Model of Politeness (Brown & Levinson, 1978)
