 |
Speech Acts Bibliography:
Giving Directions
Chodorowska-Pilch, M. (2002). Las ofertas y la cortesía en español peninsular. In Placencia, M. E. & Bravo, D. (Eds.), Actos de habla y cortesía en español (pp. 21-36). Munich, Germany: LINCOM Europa.
This article provides an analysis of naturally-occurring offers made in a travel agency in Spain. The linguistic construction and grammatical modifications of offers that encode politeness are analyzed. In addition, the author identifies various contexts in which the speaker modifies his or her offer in order to express politeness. Offers threaten both the positive and negative face of the hearer, thus, mitigation is often used to demonstrate politeness. Three classes of offers are examined. That is, direct offers (Te puedo ofrecer...), indirect offers (preguntas, a ver si, conditional, si quieres), and other mitigation markers (grammatical mechanisms). A summary of these findings includes twenty-eight offer constructions in Peninsular Spanish. The author concludes that there are determined structural and grammatical constraints for codifying politeness in offers.
Pearson, B. A. & Lee, K. S. (1992). Discourse
structure of direction giving: Effects of native/nonnative speaker status
and gender. TESOL Quarterly, 26 (1), 113-127.
Studies the results of four grad students (2
NS and 2 NNS, M/F) posing as direction seekers on Arizona State U. campus.
They asked 200 NS respondents (100 M, 100 F) for directions. A hidden
recorder got 50 exchanges, half with M/F. The seekers had a script,
which may have made NNSs sound more fluent. The majority of direction
givers included similar moves (opening, main body, preclosing, closing)
and main body submoves (directives, parenthetical remarks, orientation,
and comprehension checks). The female direction givers paused more than
the males and issued more comprehension checks; Male direction givers
used more indirect directives. Female direction seekers received more
opening combinations, more directive-types, greater complexity of vocabulary,
and more parenthetical remarks. NS/NNS status affected only hedges and
closings, with NNSs receiving fewer hedges and more closings. The conclusion
was that simplification or other interactional modifications is not
automatic with NNSs. It must be triggered by an indication of a lack
of comprehension. Also, it concluded that M/Fs both addressed females
differently from males.
Placencia, M. E. (2002). Desigualdad en el trato en directivas en la atención al público en La Paz. In Placencia, M. E. & Bravo, D. (Eds.), Actos de habla y cortesía en español (pp. 193-208). Amsterdam, Netherlands: LINCOM Europa.
Through the analysis of directives (i.e., instructions, requests for information, requests) in service encounters in La Paz, Boligivia, this article provides an example of how language maintains and produces social order. Various interactions were recorded and observed in the waiting room of a hospital and other public offices as well as from an information office at a municipal department. The results demonstrate discriminatory institutional practice reflected in the linguistic strategies employed. A marked difference was found between politeness strategies used with the white-mestizo population and with the indigenous population. Typically, the white-mestizo was addressed with formal forms (Ud.), greetings and use of titles, politeness markers, and indirect requests. On the other hand, the indigenous population was addressed with informal, familiar forms, no title or sarcastic use of titles, and direct requests. Examples of this variation were found in requests for location of people, places, and services as well as requests for payment, taking a seat, and forming a line. Social implications as well as socio-historical factors underlying these linguistic choices are discussed.
|
|
