Politeness theory

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Collect several examples of naturally occurring, authentic (i.e. not text-book or rehearsed) language. Try to collect complete examples, rather than just a section of a spoken text. You can use text message data, on line chat, if you wish, or social media data such Facebook or Twitter. Carry out an analysis of your texts concentrating on involvement and independence (or in Brown and Levinson’s terms positive and negative politeness). That is, look for strategies which show closeness, intimacy, rapport and solidarity (involvement strategies/positive politeness) and strategies which give the other person choices and allow them to maintain their freedom (independence strategies/negative politeness). How do the speakers use language to do this? How could you focus on involvement and independence strategies in your language teaching?

Use Chapter 3 of Discourse analysis (Paltridge, 2012) as the starting point for this assignment. Look at Paltridge (2000, Chapter 3) for examples of linguistic strategies your speakers might use to show involvement and independence. Also:

Bargiela-Chiappini, F. & Kadar, D. (2010) (eds). Politeness across cultures. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Brown, G. & Levinson, S. (2006). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. In A. Jaworski & N. Coupland (Eds.), The discourse reader. Second edition. London: Routledge.
Cutting, J. (2008). Pragmatics and discourse. A resource book for students. Second edition. London: Routledge.
Eelen, G. (2001). A critique of politeness theories. Manchester, UK: St Jerome Publishing.
Grundy, P. (2008). Doing pragmatics. Third edition. London: Hodder. Chapter 9. Politeness phenomena.
Kadar, D. & Haugh, M. (2013). Understanding politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kadar, D. & Mills, S. (eds) (2011), Politeness in East Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Leech, G. (2014). The pragmatics of politeness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Paltridge, B. (2000). Making sense of discourse analysis. Gold Coast, Queensland: Antipodean Educational Enterprises. Chapter 3.
Scollon, R., Wong-Scollon, S. & Jones, R. (2012), Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Third edition. Oxford: Blackwell.
Watts, R.J. (2003). Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sample Solution

ase study will address the concept of inflation – the rise in average level of prices sustained over time that corresponds to a fall in the internal (domestic) purchasing power of money – with regards to Venezuela. The goal here is to explore several trains of enquiry in order to critically evaluate the impact inflation has had – and may potentially have – on the national income and economic growth of Venezuela. As it stands, Venezuela’s inflation rate – 282972.8% – significantly exceeds that which holds 2nd position – Zimbabwe -175.66% (WorldEconomicForum 2019). In order to better decipher the notable disparity in inflation rates between Venezuela and the rest of the world, several areas will be analysed. This macroeconomic issue will be addressed with regards to challenges surrounding it alongside any potential benefits, it’s impact on the labour market, it’s fiscal impact in terms of taxes and government spending and potential policies that could be implemented in hope of combating it. Venezuela holds the highest recorded oil reserves in the world – possessing approximately 300 billion barrels – even surpassing Saudi Arabia. Evidently, oil is one of Venezuela’s most valuable commodities accounting for 95% of Venezuela’s exports and 25% of its gross domestic product (Independent 2018). However, during a period of time in which the global price of oil dropped, foreign demand to buy Venezuelan oil dipped simultaneously. A key factor that lead to Venezuela’s current crisis, is evidently their sole dependence on a single commodity – oil. As University of Florida’s Gamarra explains, this means “you are bound to the ups and downs of the oil price,”. Without a range of high value added assets, an economy lacks diversity and is vulnerable to ‘moments of downturns in your principal commodities (CNBC 2019).’ On an individual basis, hyperinflation renders any savings worthless due to its eroding impact on money. Consequently, people may hoard goods for instance, food due to the soaring prices. Situations such as these may lead to shortages of food supply, contributing to the issue further.

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