University of Social Sciences and Humanities

Ho Chi Minh City

Mid-term

CLASS: Introduction to Linguistics

Topic

HOW MEDIA EXAGGERATES “INSOLENT

STATEMENTS" BY CELEBRITIES:
A LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE

STUDENT NAMES:
1. Pham Tran Thuy Trang
STUDENT ID: 235L603031

HO CHI MINH CITY – NOVEMBER 23, 2023

WORD COUNT: 1499. EXCLUDING REFERENCES

 INTRODUCTION:

Communication is a crucial skill, but it is not always accessible in real life because
sometimes, not all utterances can be understood due to speaker variations. This is easily
demonstrable given the current state of Vietnam's entertainment industry. According to Assoc.
Prof. Dr Thai Nguyen, "The behaviour of Vietnamese artists in the media, specifically on social
media, in recent times, is problematic." For example, Miss Y Nhi, whose comment, "My
boyfriend has to change to keep up with me," is deemed excessively assertive or provocative and
is referred to as having an "insolent mouth."
Why does she say things like that? Does she disregard the audience, or do they have
illusions of power? In reality, this is only true for a small group within the entertainment industry.
From a linguistic perspective, this phenomenon can be explained by the artists'
carelessness in communication, which results in deliberate or inadvertent violations of
conversation. Bernsen et al. (1996) said that Grice" 's four maxims are identified to improve
understanding and enhance communication. By not adhering to conversational principles,
especially the quantity maxim. their conversations become lengthy or lacking information,
allowing dirty media to cut, criticise, and mock them in their speech.

BODY:
● Online Interview and Aims:
A discussion is "How dirty communication exaggerates 'insolent statements' by artists," mainly
via Media Tour interviews of Miss World Y Nhi. The purpose is to examine how artists break the
quantity maxim in communication and utilise the press to characterise their remarks as "reckless
remarks." Finally, finding ways to lessen this circumstance.

● Background of the Study :

Maxims of Quantity:
According to Rebekka Sinaga (2020), the Maxim of quantity allows speakers to be as
articulate in a conversation as is appropriate for the exchange's current intent.
This principle of conversation requires speakers to take responsibility for the information they
provide, ensuring that the listener can comprehend and obtain the necessary information.
Here is an example that illustrates adherence to the Maxim of Quantity:
Student: Can you tell us the content of next week's English test?
Teacher: "Yes, of course. The final English exam assesses writing and speaking skills, covering
12 tenses."

Flouting maxims of quantity:

(Okta Alfina & Subiyanto, 2016) When someone contributes more or less information
than is required, it can be said that people violated the Quantity maxim. There are some
manifestations as the Maxim of quantity is broken:
a. Uninformative
b. Provide lack of information
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c. Only add more information to your contribution if necessary.
d. Repeats certain words.

The example below will explain how the speaker violated the Maxim of quantity:

A: How are you?

B: For me, this is the week's most exhausting day. I go to school all day, but I have five deadlines
for assignments, and I need to complete them. After that, I still have another evening shift to
work.
In this instance, B gives more details than Person A asks. They go beyond the necessary
details, adding information about tasks, study, and B's extra work. Providing more information
than is necessary to address the straightforward question violates the Maxim of Quantity.

ANALYSIS:
According to Thomas Ritter, if the speaker rambles on without saying anything new or
informative, the addressee will quickly lose interest in the discourse and stop paying attention
(Davies, 2000). This is a short conversation during the Media Tour; Y Nhi often provides
excessive information, making it hard for the audience to focus on critical points and obscuring
the intended message. The communication strategy involves splicing her answers to depict her as
"insolent," exploiting the verbosity of her responses. Edited segments highlight controversial
content, emphasising startling remarks to captivate attention and provoke discussion.

Interviewer: There's a lot of pressure in today's world; young people, for instance, frequently
believe in more relaxed activities like visiting bars and clubs or playing games to relieve stress.
As a Gen Z, Would you act similarly to modern youth if you were ever overwhelmed?
Nhi: To be honest, Nhi is pretty conventional. You can do many other stress-relieving activities:
travelling with friends or listening to music. Nhi enjoys taking family vacations because Vietnam
boasts lots of breathtaking scenery…
Context: Following Y Nhi's victory, the discussion centres on issues like life pressure. After
discussing how young people relax, the interviewer asks Nhi about her thoughts and solutions.
Analysis: The interviewer presented straightforward questions and examples in this section,
allowing the interviewee to visualise the context. Initially, Nhi responded with enough
information. If the answer had stopped there, it would have been perfect.
But then Nhi broke the Quantity maxim by disclosing too much personal information
about herself. Specific details could be left out to keep the narrative more succinct and narrowly
focused, even though they might be relevant to the plot.
Moreover, it is against the Quantity maxim to use phrases like pressure, motivation, and
becoming a beauty queen repeatedly. Nhi's nearly 4-minute response (1:31–5:20) may cause the
audience to lose attention as they focus solely on her final statement:" Unlike my peers spending
time sleeping, playing, having milk tea, and hanging out with friends, I participated in beauty
pageants. I've grown and secured a job.” Nhi continues to be uninformative in this section,
which is against this maxim. Her conclusion regarding the traits of young people and the
self-comparison is not well-supported by the evidence she offers. As a result, the media divided
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the public into two groups—beauty queens and ordinary people—by using ambiguous language,
classifying Nhi into one distinct group and fostering conflict.

Subsequently, the Media exploited Nhi, who continued to violate other quantity maxims
by providing insufficient information.
Interviewer: After the final night, did your boyfriend send congratulations? Did anyone offer
you advice?
Nhi: My boyfriend sent congratulatory messages and expressed his pride in me. He talked about
a girl who used to be sheltered and loved by her boyfriend and family but has completely
transformed into a strong, confident, and shining woman today.
She should have provided more information about her family's advice. Instead of elaborating on
this matter, Nhi focused on using words to praise herself, such as "strong," "confident," and so
on. This is another mistake that the media could exploit to exaggerate and create sensationalised
stories about her.

During the interview, Nhi almost violated the Maxim of quantity; however, it cannot be
denied that there were instances where she adhered to this maxim.
Interviewer: After you win Miss World, the media will focus more on your life—especially
your personal life.
Do you feel uncomfortable when receiving such significant attention?
Y Nhi: This is a significant change but not entirely surprising. Honestly, as a model, people got
used to my presence before.
Analyse: Presenters must provide sufficient and thorough supporting information when
introducing concepts.
Once again, it is affirmed that Nhi followed the quantity maxim throughout the interview,
although instances of adherence were relatively rare. This may be attributed to her hectic
schedule, affecting her ability to focus and express herself clearly. However, the media ignored
this aspect and concentrated only on instances where Nhi violated the quantity maxim by
providing excessive and unnecessary information, contributing to a biased narrative. Writer
Huong H (2023) emphasises, "We should not condemn the young girl for undeserving reasons."
Nhi's contentious remarks were probably made accidentally due to her speech's lack of
preparation, which led to unjustified criticism.

CONCLUSION:
The media took advantage of Nhi's violation of the maxim of quantity, amplifying a
negative portrayal of her as "arrogant" and "disregarding young people and her boyfriend" online.
Celebrities should clarify distorted media reports on their statements to address crises arising
from shocking remarks and minimise harmful exaggerations. They must present concise and
logically structured segments adhering to conversational rules to obscure breaches and provide
evidence thanks to various media channels like press releases, Facebook, TikTok, etc,.. People
should exercise caution when sharing information, ensuring it is comprehensive while avoiding
unnecessary details to facilitate conversations smoothly and prevent the rapid spread of false
information.

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 REFERENCES:
Carolina, C. (2015). An analysis of non-observance maxims in humorous conversation in How I
Met Your Mother season 2. Core.ac.uk. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/reader/45361017

Hamid, W., & Hayif , E. (2023). Analysis of Adjacency Pairs of Cristiano's Interview | Al-Adab
Journal. Aladabj.uobaghdad.edu.iq. Retrieved from
https://aladabj.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/aladabjournal/article/view/4326

Huong, H. (2023, August 7). Nhà văn Hoài Hương: “Hoa hậu Ý Nhi nên học thêm sách lịch sử,
văn hóa” . Retrieved from https://s.net.vn/zRCq

Alfina, E. O. (2016). THE MAXIM VIOLATION ON MATA NAJWA TALK SHOW “Selebriti
Pengganda Simpati”. https://core.ac.uk/download/76933163.pdf

Rebekka, sinaga. (2020). AN ANALYSIS OF FLOUTING MAXIM IN TALK SHOW" THE ELLEN
DEGENERES SHOW": Retrieved November 12, 2023, from
http://repository.upbatam.ac.id/352/1/cover%20s.d%20bab%20III.pdf

Thao Dung. (2021, June 22). Nghệ sĩ lộng ngôn trên mạng xã hội: “Rác” văn hóa cần loại bỏ.
Retrieved November 22, 2023, from website: https://s.net.vn/t0ns

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