Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Readings:
Y. Kachru & L. Smith,
Chapter 3;
Kyung-Ja Park
The concept of politeness is crucial in any
communication, but particularly in cross cultural
communication
Communication with others must take culture
into consideration
Norms of politeness
vary from culture
to culture
Politeness in High and Low Context Cultures
◦ What is meant by a ‘high context message’?
◦ What is meant by a ‘low context message’?
◦ What is meant by a ‘high’ or a ‘low context culture’?
◦ Is the understanding of this concept important? If
so, in what way? If not, why not?
All languages have devices to indicate
politeness and formality.
◦ Linguistic markers of status, deference,
humility
◦ Posture, facial expressions, gestures, etc.
Politeness is closely
tied to cultural values.
One must know the
cultural values in order
to function successfully
in a society.
Face
Status
Rank
Role
Power
Age
Sex
Social Distance
Intimacy
Kinship
Group membership
The public self-image that every member
wants to claim for him/herself
Negative face – the claim to freedom of
action and freedom from
imposition.
Positive face –
the positive
self-image of the
conversation
partners.
Negative face-threatening speech acts threaten
to restrict addressee’s freedom of action or
freedom from imposition
◦ Could you lend me $100 until next month?
◦ If I were you, I’d consult a doctor. That sounds serious.
◦ You’re so lucky to have such a good job!
Positive face-threatening speech acts threaten
the positive self-image of the addressee by
signaling undesirable qualities or disagreement
◦ Wasn’t that report due today?
◦ I’m not sure I agree with your interpretation of that.
◦ ‘Mabel thinks you have put on some weight.’
Are all requests considered threatening to the
negative face of the interlocutor(s) in other
cultures?