Transcript Teaching Consecutive Interpreting

Research Methods
for T&I Studies I
Politeness Phenomena
Grice’s Cooperative Principle

Grice’s Cooperative Principle (CP)
 Make
your conversational contribution such
as is required, at the stage at which it occurs,
by the accepted purpose or direction of the
talk exchange in which you are engaged
(Grice 1991: 307).
Grice’s Conversational Maxims
Maxim of Quantity
 Maxim of Quality (try to make your
contribution one that is true)
 Maxim of Relation (be relevant)
 Maxim of Manner (be perspicuous)

Politeness
Extra maxims in addition to 4 maxims in
the cooperative principle?
 Social maxim: Be polite
 Politeness Theory

 Brown
& Levinson 1997
Politeness

… a great deal of the mismatch between
what is ‘said’ and what is ‘implicated’ can
be attributed to politeness, so that concern
with the ‘representational functions’ of
language should be supplemented with
attention to the ‘social functions’ of
language, which seem to motivate much
linguistic detail. (Brown and Levinson
1987:2-3)
Politeness and the Cooperative
Principle

“the only essential presumption is what is at the
heart of Grice’s proposals, namely that there is a
working assumption by conversationalists of the
rational and efficient nature of talk. It is against
that assumption that polite ways of talking show
up as deviations, requiring rational explanation
on the part of the recipient, who finds in
considerations of politeness reasons for the
speaker’s apparent irrationality or inefficiency”
(Brown & Levinson 1987:4).
Politeness and the Cooperative
Principle

“The CP defines an ‘unmarked’ or socially
neutral (indeed asocial) presumptive
framework for communication; the
essential assumption is ‘no deviation from
rational efficiency without a reason’.
Politeness principles are, however, just
such principled reasons for deviation”
(Brown & Levinson 1987:5).
Politeness

Face
 The
public self-image that every member
wants to claim for himself, consisting of two
related aspects
Negative face
 Positive face

Face

Negative Face
 the
basic claim to territories, personal preserves,
rights to non-distraction i.e. to freedom of action and
freedom from imposition

Positive Face
positive consistent self-image or ‘personality’
(crucially including the desire that this self-image be
appreciated and approved of) claimed by interactants.
 the
(Brown & Levinson 1987:61)
Politeness

The means we employ in interaction to
show awareness of someone else’s face
 Socially

Respect, deference
 Socially

distant
close
Friendliness, solidarity
 Different
types of politeness marked
linguistically
Politeness

Face wants
 Need
to feel independent
 Need to be part of a group and be accepted by
members of that group

Face: a universal feature?
 Cultures
where positive face is much more important
than negative face (Japan)

Face: Can be lost, threatened, maintained or
enhanced
Politeness

Face Threatening Acts (FTAs)
 On

record
A speaker goes on record if it is clear to the
participants what the intention of the utterance is – i.e.
when there is no ambiguity regarding the speaker’s
intention. Going on record becomes an FTA when it
threatens the hearer’s positive or negative face. So,
saying ‘I want you to open this door for me’ is an on
record statement that threatens the hearer’s negative
face, because it involves direct, unmitigated imposition.
‘You look awful’ would threaten the hearer’s positive
face.
Politeness

FTAs
 Off

record
Going off record means that there is more than
one intention that can be attributed to the speaker
(more ambiguity), which means that the speaker
cannot be said to have committed him/herself to
one particular intent, e.g. ‘It’s really hot in here’.
Politeness

FTAs
 Reasons



for FTA on record
when the relevance of face demands may be
suspended in the interests of urgency or efficiency (e.g.
‘Watch out’, ‘Move away from the fire’, etc.);
when the danger to the hearer’s face is very small, for
example in the case of requests, offers, and
suggestions that are in the hearer’s interest. e.g. ‘Come
in’, ‘Sit down’, ‘Do be careful’;
when the speaker is vastly superior in power to the
hearer or can “enlist audience support to destroy H’s
face without losing his own”.
Politeness

On record FTAs
 Going
on record without redressive action,
baldly

‘I want you to open the door for me’
 Going

Positive Politeness


on record with redressive action
Oriented towards the hearer’s positive face
Negative Politeness

Oriented towards the hearer’s negative face
Politeness

Positive Politeness



the speaker may soften the FTA by appearing to notice or attend
to the hearer’s interests, wants or needs, e.g. ‘You must be
hungry by now. How about some lunch?’.
the speaker may soften the FTA by using in-group identity
markers, including address forms that signal solidarity or ingroup membership, e.g. ‘Help me with this bag here, will you
son/luv/pal/mate?’, ‘Let me have that dear’. Also use of in-group
language or dialect.
the speaker may soften the FTA by showing token agreement
with the other participant, e.g.


A: What is she, small?
B: Yes, yes, she’s small, smallish, um, not really small but certainly
not very big.
Politeness

Positive Politeness (cont.)

use of hedges: e.g. ‘I kind of want him to win the race, since I’ve
bet on him’, ‘I don’t know, like I think people have a right to their
own opinions’. Hedges are particularly effective in softening
FTAs of suggesting or criticizing or complaining, by blurring the
speaker’s intent a bit


‘You really sort of botched it, didn’t you?’; ‘You really should sort of
try harder’; ‘My husband is always sort of at me, you know’.
joking: jokes may be used as a politeness strategy to put the
hearer at ease.

For example, a joke may minimize an FTA of requesting, e.g. ‘OK if I
tackle those cookies now?’; ‘How about lending me this old heap of
junk?’ (a new Cadillac).
Politeness

Negative Politeness

Apologise for doing the FTA. The most straightforward way of
expressing negative politeness is to express reluctance to impose


‘I hate to impose, but ..’, ‘I hesitate to bother you with this, but ..’, which is a
type of apology. Other ways of apologising for the imposition include giving
overwhelming reasons for the imposition (‘I can think of nobody else who
could do this for me ...’, ‘I’m absolutely lost ...’, ‘There’s no one else I could
ask’) and begging forgiveness (‘Please forgive me for troubling you ..’,
‘Excuse me, but ...’).
Don’t coerce: express pessimism about the hearer’s ability to oblige

‘I don’t suppose you could lend me a hand with this?’ ‘I could do with some
help, but I expect you’re too busy right now’; ‘I don’t suppose you can spare
a cigarette?’.
Politeness

Negative Politeness (cont.)

Go on record as incurring a debt, or as not indebting the hearer:
explicitly claim indebtedness to the hearer, OR disclaim any
indebtedness of the hearer to you.


Impersonalize speaker and hearer


‘It appears that x is needed’; ‘It’s time to ..’; ‘Further details should have been
sent to us ..’; ‘One shouldn’t do things like that’.
Use diminutives


E.g. for requests: ‘I’d be eternally grateful if you would ...’ ‘I’ll never be able
to repay you for ..’ - OR, for offers: ‘It’s no trouble at all, I have to go there
anyway’.
Could I have a little look at your paper?
Use lexical misrepresentation

Could I borrow an egg?