Requests And Culture : Politeness In British English And Japanese

List of Tables 15(2) List of Figures 17(2) CHAPTER 1 Introduction 19(6) 1.1. Introduction 19(2) 1.2. Contextualising This Study 21(2) 1.3. Structure of This Study 23(1) 1.4. Conclusion 23(2) CHAPTER 2 Politeness Theories 25(38) 2.1. Introduction 25(1) 2.2. Definitions of Politeness 26(2) 2.3. Four Views of Politeness 28(20) 2.3.1. The Social-norm View 28(1) 2.3.2. The Conversational-maxim View 28(8) 2.3.2.1. Grice 29(3) 2.3.2.2. Lakoff 32(1) 2.3.2.3. Leech 33(3) 2.3.3. The Face-saving View 36(10) 2.3.3.1. Face, Universality and Politeness Strategies 36(5) 2.3.3.2. Variables determining Politeness Strategies 41(1) 2.3.3.3. Cross-cultural Variation and Distribution of Politeness Strategies 42(4) 2.3.4. The Conversational-contract View 46(1) 2.3.5. The Theoretical Position of This Study 47(1) 2.4. Criticisms of Brown and Levinson 48(12) 2.4.1. Face and Universality 48(5) 2.4.1.1. Japanese Criticisms 48(3) 2.4.1.2. Chinese Criticisms 51(2) 2.4.2. Evaluation of Criticisms 53(23) 2.4.2.1. Japanese 53(6) 2.4.2.2. Chinese 59(1) 2.5. Conclusion 60(3) CHAPTER 3 Requests and Responses to Requests 63(38) 3.1. Introduction 63(1) 3.2. Requests and Speech Act Theory 64(2) 3.3. Indirectness in Requests 66(2) 3.4. Types of Requests 68(4) 3.5. Payoffs of Different Types of Requests 72(2) 3.6. Structures, Forms and Categories of Requests 74(2) 3.7. Variables Affecting Requesting Strategies 76(13) 3.7.1. Relationship of Variables and Requesting Strategies 76(3) 3.7.2. Components of Variables 79(6) 3.7.2.1. Power 79(2) 3.7.2.2. Distance 81(3) 3.7.2.3. Imposition 84(1) 3.7.3. Variables Included in This Study 85(4) 3.7.3.1. Power 85(1) 3.7.3.2. Social Distance 86(2) 3.7.3.3. Imposition 88(1) 3.8. Responses to Requests 89(10) 3.8.1. Types of Responses to Off-record Requests 91(1) 3.8.2. Definitions of Solicitousness 92(2) 3.8.3. Conditions of Solicitousness 94(1) 3.8.4. Status of Solicitousness in Politeness Strategies 95(1) 3.8.5. Interpretations of Solicitousness 96(2) 3.8.6. Solicitousness and Face 98(1) 3.9. Conclusion 99(2) CHAPTER 4 Cultural Dimensions of the Study 101(26) 4.1. Introduction 101(1) 4.2. What is Culture? 101(8) 4.2.1. Definitions of Culture 101(3) 4.2.2. The Anthropological View 104(3) 4.2.3. Problems Concerning Culture 107(2) 4.3. Collectivism-Individualism 109(16) 4.3.1. Definitions 110(2) 4.3.2. Criticisms 112(1) 4.3.3. Features of Collectivism and Individualism 113(8) 4.3.3.1. The Concept of Group/individual 113(3) 4.3.3.2. Communication Patterns 116(5) 4.3.4. A Brief Summary of Collectivist Cultures and Individualist Cultures 121(1) 4.3.5. Japanese Culture and British Culture: Collectivist or Individualist? 122(3) 4.4. Conclusion 125(2) CHAPTER 5 Research Design and Methodology 127(40) 5.1. Introduction 127(1) 5.2. Research Questions 127(3) 5.3. Hypotheses 130(3) 5.3.1. Hypotheses of Situational Assessment 130(1) 5.3.2. Hypotheses of Requesting Strategies 130(2) 5.3.2.1. Hypotheses of Requesting Strategies by British and Japanese Subjects 130(1) 5.3.2.2. Hypotheses concerning the Correlation between the Situational Assessment and the Choice of Requesting Strategies 131(1) 5.3.3. Hypotheses of Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 132(1) 5.3.3.1. Hypotheses of Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests by British and Japanese Subjects 132(1) 5.3.3.2. Hypotheses concerning the Correlation between the Situational Assessment and the Choice of Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 132(1) 5.4. Review of Methods for Data Collection 133(8) 5.4.1. Naturally Occurring Data 136(1) 5.4.2. Elicited Data 137(4) 5.4.2.1. Role Plays 137(1) 5.4.2.2. Written Questionnaires 138(3) 5.4.2.2.1. Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs) 138(2) 5.4.2.2.2. Multiple-Choice Questionnaires (MCQs) 140(1) 5.5. Data Collection and Research Instruments 141(22) 5.5.1. Method of Data Collection 141(10) 5.5.1.1. Previous Stages of the Present Study 141(9) 5.5.1.1.1. Project 92 141(1) 5.5.1.1.2. Project 93 142(1) 5.5.1.1.3. Pilot Study 142(3) 5.5.1.1.4. Changes Made as a Result 145(1) 5.5.1.1.5. Situational Assessment (SA 96) 146(4) 5.5.1.2. The Method for the Present Study 150(1) 5.5.2. Instruments 151(4) 5.5.2.1. Names used in the Instruments 151(1) 5.5.2.2. Request Situations 152(1) 5.5.2.3. Situational Assessment 152(1) 5.5.2.4. Requesting Strategies 153(2) 5.5.2.5. Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 155(1) 5.5.3. Subjects 155(2) 5.5.4. Procedures 157(2) 5.5.4.1. Situational Assessment 157(1) 5.5.4.2. Requesting Strategies 158(1) 5.5.4.3. Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 158(1) 5.5.5. Data Collection 159(1) 5.5.6. Translation of the Instruments 159(4) 5.5.6.1. Translation Procedure 159(1) 5.5.6.2. Problems and Solutions 160(3) 5.6. Data Analyses 163(2) 5.6.1. Situational Assessment 163(1) 5.6.2. Requesting Strategies and Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 164(1) 5.6.3. Correlation between Situational Assessment and Requesting Strategies and Correlation between Situational Assessment and Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 164(1) 5.7. Conclusion 165(2) CHAPTER 6 Results 167(12) 6.1. Introduction 167(1) 6.2. Results of Situational Assessment 167(2) 6.3. Results of Requesting Strategies 169(2) 6.4. Results of Correlation between Situational Assessment and Requesting Strategies 171(2) 6.5. Results of Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 173(2) 6.6. Results of Correlation between Situational Assessment and Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 175(2) 6.7. Conclusion 177(2) CHAPTER 7 Discussion 179(30) 7.1. Introduction 179(2) 7.2. Situational Assessment 181(4) 7.2.1. Power Difference 182(1) 7.2.2. Social Distance 182(1) 7.2.3. Imposition 183(2) 7.3. Requesting Strategies 185(13) 7.3.1. The Choice of Requesting Strategies 185(11) 7.3.1.1. Requesting Strategies employed by British and Japanese Subjects 185(7) 7.3.1.2. Categorisation of British and Japanese Cultures from the Perspective of Requesting Strategies 192(4) 7.3.2. The Relationship between the Choice of Requesting Strategies and the Three Variables 196(2) 7.4. Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 198(8) 7.4.1. The Choice of Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 198(7) 7.4.1.1. Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests employed by British and Japanese Subjects 199(5) 7.4.1.2. Categorisation of British and Japanese Cultures from the Perspective of Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 204(1) 7.4.2. The Relationship between the Choice of Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests and the Three Variables 205(1) 7.5. Conclusion 206(3) CHAPTER 8 Conclusion 209(18) 8.1. Introduction 209(1) 8.2. Summary of Findings 210(3) 8.2.1. Situational Assessment 211(1) 8.2.2. Requesting Strategies 211(2) 8.2.3. Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 213(1) 8.3. Evaluating This Study 213(5) 8.3.1. Strengths 214(2) 8.3.2. Limitations 216(2) 8.4. Implications of This Study 218(1) 8.5. Suggestions for Further Research 219(5) 8.6. Final Remarks 224(3) Bibliography 227(18) Appendices Appendix 1. Graphs 245(18) 1.1. Requesting Strategies 245(10) 1.2. Responding Strategies to Off-record Requests 255(8) Appendix 2. Questionnaires in English 263 2.1. Pilot Study 263(16) 2.2. Situational Assessment (SA 96) 279(23) 2.3. Main Study 302