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Speech Function, Politeness, Cross Cultural Communication

This document discusses speech function and politeness in cross-cultural communication. It covers six functions of speech including expressive, directive, referential, metalinguistic, poetic, and phatic functions. It also discusses how politeness influences language choices and address forms as well as differences in individualistic and collective cultures.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
46 views38 pages

Speech Function, Politeness, Cross Cultural Communication

This document discusses speech function and politeness in cross-cultural communication. It covers six functions of speech including expressive, directive, referential, metalinguistic, poetic, and phatic functions. It also discusses how politeness influences language choices and address forms as well as differences in individualistic and collective cultures.

Uploaded by

Kenny
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Week 5

Speech Function, Politeness, Cross


cultural communication
FUNCTION OF SPEECH
QUESTIONS
1. Why do we select one way rather than another
another to convey message ?
Ex. : Mr.Tom, John, Bob, ferry.
Which one is appropriate ?
2. How politeness influence the choice between
different address forms?
3. What is speech function?
Function of language from
Socilinguistivs PoV

2.To Convey an
1. A Means of 3. To Establish
Information
Communicating Social
About the
Information Relationship
Speaker
1. Why do we select one way rather than another
another to convey message ?
Ex. : Mr.Tom, John, Bob, ferry.
Which one is appropriate ? >>>>>> the factor is
politeness.
2. How politeness influence the choice between different
address forms?
• The social dimension which determine what is
considered Polite in different situation & diff.
communities
• A matter of selecting linguistic forms considered as
Being polite
In our society, language function known as a key means of
communication. Speech function is ways in communication to
deliver someone’s ideas to make listeners understand the ideas.

Two broad functions of speech:


a) Affective (or Social) function, refers to initial greetings or small talk
b) Referential (or Informative) function, when the conversation starts to
become more oriented towards information
Expressive

Phatic Directive

Languange
Function

Phoetic Referential

Meta
Linguistic
s
Six Functions of Speech ( Linguistic form of Language)
a. Expressive funct : express feeling : I’m very well
b. directive F : to get someone to do something : sweep the floor!
c. Referential F : provide information
d. Meta linguistic F : Comment on the lang itself. (definition)
e. Poetic F : aesthetic features of the language itself :Poem
f. Phatic F : Solidarity & emphaty : Hi, how are you?
Lovely day, isn’t it ?
They are the very fundamental among others since they derive from 3
components of interactions :
• a. Expressive (the speaker)
• b. Directive (addressee)
• c. Referential ( the message)

There six ways of categorizing the functions of
speech

1) Expressive function:
to express personal feelings, thoughts, ideas and opinions,
with different choice words, intonation, etc.
For example : I’m very well.
2) Directive function: an attempt to get someone to do something.
For example : sweep the floor!
3) Referential function: to provide information.
For example, Water boils at 100 degrees
4)Metalinguistic function:
to give comment on language itself.
For example, I is a personal pronoun, nouns can be mass or count.
5)Poetic function:
focus on aesthetic features of language.
For example, a poem, motto like an apple a day keeps the doctor
away
6)Phatic function:
to express solidarity and empathy.
For example, Hi, how are you, good morning.
DIRECTIVE
Directives are concerned with getting people to do things. The
speech acts which express directive force vary in strength.
There are three ways of expressing directive, namely:

a) Imperative, for example: Sit down


b) Interrogative, for example: Could you sit down?
c) Declarative, for example: I want you to sit down

Higher social status tends to express imperative than interrogative and


declarative. Interrogative and declarative are considered to be more polite.
While, People who are close friends or intimates use more imperative.
POLITENESS
Politeness involves taking account of the feelings of
others. what is considered polite in one culture can
sometimes be quite rude or simply eccentric in another
cultural context.

There are two different types of politeness


1) Positive Politeness

2) Negative Politeness
1) Positive Politeness: Positive politeness is solidarity oriented. A shift to
a more informal style is considered as expression of positive
politeness.
For example:
When the boss suggests that a subordinate should use first
name (FN) to her, this is a positive politeness move, expressing
solidarity and minimizing status differences.

2) Negative Politeness: negative politeness pays people respect and


avoids bothering them. It involves expressing oneself appropriately in
terms of social distance and respecting status differences.
For example:
when we want to address old people or a person in higher
status, we use their tittle with their last name to show respect.
POLITENESS IN LANGUAGE
Anyone who has traveled outside their own language community
will most likely have a miscommunication experience based on
cultural differences. Often this is related to different assumptions
originating from different "normal" environments.
For example:
Refusing invitation politely in western culture can be hard thing to do. a
simple “sorry, I have stuff to do” would be acceptable in other cultures but
in western culture people expect to be provided with more specific reason
for refusal.

Being polite in such contexts involves knowing how to express a range


of speech functions in a culturally appropriate way.
CROSS-CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
Cross-Cultural Communication (also often referred to as
intercultural communication) is a field of study that looks at how
people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, in the
same and different ways between themselves, and how they try to
communicate across cultures.
ADDRESS FORMS
Address forms are the words speakers use to point out the person
they are talking to while they are talking to them. The use of address
form has its own function which depends on the culture and context
in every conversation.

For example:
in Javanese there are some words used to show respect and
politeness to others.
Like aku, kula, dalem, kowe, sampeyan, dheweke, panjenenganipun
KINSHIP TERMS
Kinship terms are words used in a speech community to identify
relationships between individuals in a family (or a kinship unit). it
refers to the culturally defined relationships between individuals who
are commonly thought of as having family ties.

For example:
the husband can address his wife in different ways. He may
use: Jeng, Ibu, or Bu. The address term Jeng may be followed
by a nickname. The husband of this family usually addresses
his wife with Jeng Buh or Jeng Weny when wants to express
affection.
Another example:
Y : “bapak sudah makan?”
Y in here act as a daughter in a family, where the
addressing of bapak here show an example of a
kinship terms

Y : “harga mangga ini berapa satu kilonya, pak?


Y in here act as buyer, where the addressing of
‘pak’ here show an example of a address foms
INTER-CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
22

INTRODUCTION
GLOBALIZATION

INTERACTION

INTER-CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION

When conversations take place in a language


that’s not the L1 of both speakers.
LANGUAGES ARE DIFFERENT AND SO ARE CULTURES
23

Views of appropriate ways to use language in conversation


also differ across different languages.

➜ Phone rings. The technologist who is expected to answer the phone isn’t there; Ky is, and he
answers.
➜ Ky (the Vietnamese): “Lab, Ky speaking.”
➜ Dr. Smith (boss): “How’s everything going?”
➜ Ky: (not recognizing voice) “Oh, pretty good.”
➜ Dr. Smith: “This is Dr. Smith.”
➜ Ky: “Sir! Yes, sir!”
➜ Dr. Smith (gives Ky his phone number and asks to have Jim, the medical technologist, call
him when he gets back to the lab).
➜ Conversation ends.
The points:
1. What’s marked in one culture is unmarked elsewhere
2. Major themes in discussing inter-cultural
communication:
a. Do cultures favor individualism or
collectivism?
b. Do they expect messages to be indirect or
direct?
c. Do they expect relationships to be based
on hierarchy or equality?
25

DIVIDING UP SOCIETIES
Individualistic
Collective Cultures Cultures
Belonging to groups, and Individuals and their
cooperation in shared striving for self-
activities within the group. realization and
achievements.
“showing you belong to
and respect your own “speak their minds”
group”
26

DIVIDING UP SOCIETIES
➜ Equality and Personal ➜ The importance ➜ Judging what others
Freedom in-groups say/ don’t say
Collective: not everyone Collective : they Collective to
in group is perceived as choose to associate Individualistic : pushy
equal (Arab, African, with. and egotistical
Asian). Individualistic : Individualistic to
Individualistic : admired based on person’s Collective : least reserved
who act as individuals behavior in expressing opinions or
(Australia, Great Britain, ideas
Belgium, Canada).
27

HIGH AND LOW-CONTEXT


MESSAGES
Low-Context Messages
High-Context Messages

Most of the information being The words and phrases that the
conveyed rests in the context speaker produces contain the
of the interaction. main message.
Interpret what others say as an Pay attention to the literal
expression of the context; message in the words and
that is, they find meaning in phrases the speaker uses, but go
factors external to the speaker. on to base any interpretations
of the speaker’s “real” meaning
on his or her personality.
28
Deconstructing low- and high-context societies

Samovar and Porter (1991) argue that the interpretations of messages that
we develop are based on three sets of constructs.
➜ Beliefs, values, attitude systems.
➜ World view.
➜ Social organization.

Confucianism and communication patterns in East Asia

Confucianism based on good relationships and harmonious


interactions rather than some absolute good.
Communication pattern in East Asia: anticipatory communication
29

FIVE AREAS OF POTENTIAL


DIFFERENCES
1. If and when silence is valued
2. How what’s appropriate in common
conversational exchanges varies
3. What counts as politeness
4. How to make requests
5. How power differentials are verbalized.
If and when silence is valued
❑ Remaining silent unless called upon to speak is favored in many
collectivistic cultures, especially if you are the less powerful person in
a relationship. Example: American Indian Culture
❑ Silence in a conversation is uncomfortable. Example : North
American Culture

what’s appropriate in common conversational


exchanges varies
❑ Greeting routines
❑ Appreciation routines
❑ Respond routines
❑ Call-response routines
❑ Personal information

30
The Faces of Politeness

❑ Positive Face
❑ Negative Face

How To Make Request

❑ Direct/Explicit Request
❑ Non-Conventionalized indirect request
❑ Conventionally indirect request

31
Power Differentials are Verbalized

Power distance defines “the extent to which the less powerful members
of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that
power is distributed unequally”

❑ Equality and hierarchy in the family


❑ Decisions in a factory
❑ Requests as expressions of power
❑ Who speaks first or the most
❑ Negotiating status

32
33

Managing Cross-Cultural Conflict

❑ Individualists need to remember that collectivists see their


positive face (their sense of self-respect and self-worth) as an
extension of their group’s status.
❑ Individualists should try to deal with conflicts when they are
small.
❑ Individualists need to help the collectivists maintain face.
❑ Individualists need to pay special attention to how collectivists
use non-verbal communication and indirect messages.
❑ Individualists should remember that avoidance is a favorite
strategy of collectivists.
34

Managing Cross-Cultural Conflict

❑ Collectivists need to recognize that individualists tend to


separate the person with whom they are having a conflict
from the problem.

❑ Collectivists need to try to alter their unmarked


conversational strategies toward the strategies that
individualists favor.
Conclusion 35

✓ In collectivistic cultures, from childhood onwards, people


are integrated into cohesive groups. The group is the main
reference point in any individual’s life. To maintain harmony
within the group in collectivistic cultures, indirectness in
speech is favored to deflect confrontations. East Asian
societies are good examples of collectivistic cultures.
✓ In contrast, in individualistic cultures, the ties between
individuals are loose, except often those within the immediate
family. But even within the family, personal freedom is
important. In individualistic cultures, a direct style of speech
is favored; people tend to express their opinions. Many
Western societies have individualistic cultures.
Conclusion 36

✓ A related way of looking at cultural differences is to classify


cultures as high-context or low-context cultures. This
classification emphasizes the patterns of speech individuals
use with each other.
✓ Variation across a number of conversational strategies is
discussed: the use of silence; common conversational
routines varies; types of politeness; variation in appropriate
requests, and the expression of power differentials.
✓ A third way to look at cultural differences situates cultures
along an equality–hierarchy continuum (from those that
favor equality across individuals to those favoring hierarchical
relationships).
37

THANK YOU
QUESTIONs

1. What is the difference between address forms and


kinship terms
2. Give another example of negative politeness
3. what are the broad functions of speech? can you give
the example of each function?

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