The Salient Features of the Politeness Theory - Essay Example

THE POLITENESS THEORY (The salient features of the theory) of (affiliation) Location of Honesty Statement: Introduction All living animals use communication to convey important messages among their own group or relay threats and warnings to other species. Some living things communicate by other means such as through chemicals like scent to warn other members of the same species about a specific intent like the presence of predators or to signify a readiness to mate. In this regard, Man as the highest form of living species communicates through a variety of media because of highly- developed intelligence. Man utilizes both sound language through words and speech while at the same time also uses a variety of non-verbal communications such as through hand gestures, eye gaze (or specific types of eye contact known as oculesics), facial expressions (a smile or frown), touch or tactile messages (known as haptics), the approximate distance when speaking to another person (known as proxemics), and the speaking style used (together with the tone, pitch, volume, and rate of speaking the words such as harried, urgent, or demanding, known as prosody). It is collectively termed as kinesics or the study of body language (Birdwhistell, 2011). Modern civilization came about as the result of the use of sophisticated communications through verbal and non-verbal means; the spoken word, speech, and language are used to convey ideas and thoughts to other people. While this is a cultural universal (meaning it appears in all the cultures of the world), there are certain specific meanings or nuances involved in each type of culture where language is used. While kinesics is admittedly an important emerging field of study for sociologists, highly-evolved societies employ a variety of means to convey messages in a way that kinesics cannot. People in all cultures value the importance of a positive self-image as a way to structure the hierarchy in a society that in turn helps people to maintain harmony. Discussion When people interact with each other, it is the spoken word that is primarily used to aid in conveying a message but this process is a complex one as it involves both the speaker and the listener. Put differently, a speaker has to make a careful choice of words to ensure his listener is not put in a bad light or in a difficult situation; messages and their meaning must be conveyed in the right way to avoid unintentional embarrassment, possible conflict or undue misunderstanding which can harm interpersonal relationships and negate the very purpose of communication. This desire to maintain excellent social relationships gives rise to the concept of face or self-image. Theory Selected – discussion in this paper is centered on the Theory of Politeness. It is in essence a theory which states how people value their self-image in society or the notion of maintaining a public face towards society in general. It plays a major role in how people interact with others in every culture as it helps to shape the character and perception of the speaker from the vantage point of his listeners (Seiwald, 2011) who are in turn affected by what he is saying as verbal communication is a two-way street to a big extent. Politeness Theory is based on the very universal concept of a social self-image (notion of face) that people always try to protect by doing certain actions and speaking certain words which project this valued sense of self-image. This politeness theory was first defined by Goffman in 1967 but was further developed by the spouses Stephen C. Levinson and Penelope Brown in 1978 who were influenced by the earlier works of Austin in the Speech Act Theory and that of Grice in the Cooperative Principle. In the main, Politeness Theory is a valuable and useful tool when studying people in various cultures. Research Question – how is the politeness theory applied in a particular culture? Evidence Collected – Western and Eastern societies differ a lot about the ways certain nationalities convey their messages and meanings through the spoken word. This is termed as the communication styles of each particular culture, in what sociologists call as either low context or high context styles of communication. In the low-context styles of the Western world such as in America and Europe, the use of language is precise and specific; in other words, the language is direct and frank (characterized by twin expressions of “I dont understand” and “say what you mean”) while in the Eastern style, it is a high-context in the sense people communicate in subtle ways using other means such as a smile, aphorisms, metaphors, similes, anecdotes, jokes or even silence in which a strong message is still delivered but without diluting its significance (Norales, 2006). The listener is left to decipher the meaning of the message but it is often understood. In most Asian countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea where Confucian ethics are still so prevalent, the people in these countries pay particular attention to message included in the high-context communication style which their societies still manage to deliver to the listener. A good example of a high-context FTA message was when the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of Japan held a press conference to update the press about the extent of the damage caused by the very strong earthquake and the subsequent tsunami an hour later on the countrys nuclear power plants located in Fukushima. The two people meeting the mass media at that time were not consistent in their explanation, citing the radioactive leak was only some 10% of the total leak from the Chernobyl accident in Russia back in 1986 (TEPCO, 2011). Analysis of the Evidence – Japan is a wonderful country of wonderful and respectful people where social conformity is emphasized. This is because Japan is a populous country with minimal resources in a very limited land area and so people have to conform to social rules and regulations in order to put order in their society; otherwise, chaos is the very likely result if most people will not follow strictly the social norms required for conformity which is necessary so the Japanese can live harmoniously despite severe constraints on land and natural resources. This is evidenced by the emphasis put on the Japanese code of etiquette best exemplified by an elaborate custom of bowing to each other. The bow is determined by the social status of the person; if he is lower in rank, then he should bow lower while the higher-ranked person bows but not so low as a form of gesture or acknowledgment to his higher social rank. The Japanese greet each other with a bow instead which is the social equivalent of a handshake in most Western societies. Bowing as a social ceremony is just one of the many social codes of etiquette in Japan which include practically all areas of life. These codes include the famous tea ceremony, the act of removing the slippers or shoes before entering a house, and many elaborate rituals such as the emphasis put on cleanliness like taking a bath at least once a day and also in the preparation of food which are done meticulously clean too. In this regard, Japan as an Eastern or Asian country also puts a premium on the high-context communication style which means they put a high value on the concepts of face and self-image. This is where the universality of the politeness theory as propounded by Brown & Levinson has been questioned by some researchers, academicians, and sociologists due to the concept being centered solely on the idea of a Western model person. Japan in particular conceptualizes the twin ideas of face and self-image much differently than what Brown & Levinson had originally envisioned based on their Anglo-Saxon or Western model of an ideal person. In Japan, the politeness theory manifests itself and also practiced differently than in Western countries especially with regards to the idea of face-threatening acts (FTA) which can affect negatively the two kinds of face that people take great effort to maintain: a positive face and a negative face (Cutrone, 2011). Since it is often unavoidable to encounter an FTA during normal conversations, it is quite instructive how the Japanese with the strict social hierarchy utilize to the utmost the concept of face and politeness by use of backchannels. In the context of Japanese society, a speaker is very much aware of the negative face of a listener. How it could be done differently – the TEPCO Fukushima Power Plant press conference was a bit confusing to say the least because the two people from the safety agency explained the alert level was raised from 5 to the highest level on the International Radiological Events Scale of 7 (similar during the Chernobyl accident) and yet both of them claimed the radioactive leak was only about 10% compared to Chernobyl which was pretty much inconsistent with raising the level to 7 and bypassing level 6. This was why there was a lot of backchanneling done by the news reporters attending that conference as they could not understand what was really going on; the safety agency people say one thing but then it means another thing (claiming it was only 10% leak). In this press conference, the backchanneling involved questioning the claims of the two people from the agency as the reporters did not want themselves being forced to accept their statements and so engaged in positive FTA. The safety agency should have acted more honestly. Conclusion Politeness Theory explains a lot of things to sociologists who study people and societies around the world but in this regard it can be considered as a cultural universal in the sense most people value self-image and self-esteem through their positive and negative face. However, this theory developed by Brown and Levinson has a different way of being understood and practiced in Eastern countries compared to the ideal of the Western or Anglo-Saxon model of ideal person. It is therefore important to note how various cultures adapt the Politeness Theory to their own cultures depending on the circumstances such as the Japanese people where the pragmatic use of paralanguage is tempered by strict adherence to social codes of ones position in a hierarchy. References Birdwhistell, R. L. (2011). Kinesics and context: Essays on body motion communication. Philadelphia, PA, USA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Cutrone, P. (2011). Politeness and face theory: Implications for the back-channel style of JapaneseL1/L2 speakers. Language Studies Working Papers, 3(2040-3461), 51-57. Norales, F. O. (2006). Cross-cultural communication: Concepts, cases, and challenges. Youngstown, NY, USA: Cambria Press. Seiwald, R. (2011). The importance of face in politeness theory. Norderstedt, German: GRIN Verlag. TEPCO (2011, April 12). Fukushima power plant press conference. Retrieved June 8, 2014 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx2WwZQdemo Due: June 9, 2014 @5:08 p.m. Read More