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A linguistic interaction is necessarily a social interaction. POLITENESS AND INTERACTION By: Dr. ShadiaY. Banjar http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJAR http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com 5/17/2009 1 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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Presentation of 'Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar, based on Yule,1996, Pragmatics.

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Page 1: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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

Page 2: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

�A linguistic interaction is necessarily a

social interaction.

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 2

Page 3: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

�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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 3

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.

Page 4: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

�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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 4

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.

Page 5: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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).

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 5

linguistic interaction (Yule, 1996).

Page 6: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

Brown and Levinson (1978) suggest

that a need to be polite is common

to all cultures.

POLITENESS

5/17/2009 6Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 7: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

: 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.

5/17/2009 7Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 8: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

•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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 8

recognize.

Page 9: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 9

accomplished in situations of social distance or closeness.

Page 10: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

�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.

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 10

Page 11: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

Hey, Bucky, got a

minute?

FRIENDLINESS

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 11

PROFESSOR

Page 12: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

RESPECT

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 12

PROFESSOR STUDENT

Page 13: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 13

•The speaker can say something to lessen the

possible threat. This is called a face saving act.

Page 14: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 14

I’m going to tell

him to stop that

awful noise right

now!

FACE THREATENING ACT

Page 15: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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”.

5/17/2009 15Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 16: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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.

5/17/2009 16Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

• Can you give me that?

Page 17: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 17

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.

Page 18: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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.

5/17/2009 18Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 19: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

�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

5/17/2009 19Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

�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.

Page 20: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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’

5/17/2009 20Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 21: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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

5/17/2009 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 21

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

Page 22: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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.’

5/17/2009 22Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 23: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

• 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.

5/17/2009 23Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 24: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

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.

5/17/2009 24Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 25: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

Robin Lakoff (1973) has summarised politeness in

three maxims:

�don’t impose;

� give options;

�make your receiver feel good.

5/17/2009 25Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

Page 26: Politeness and Interaction', by Dr.Shadia Yousef Banjar

A Model of Politeness (Brown & Levinson, 1978)

5/17/2009 26Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

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