MODULE 2

Meaning and discourse in English

COOPERATION, POLITENESS
AND FACE
Lecture 14
1

Cooperation and politeness

Cooperative principles (Grice)

Cooperation and speaker support
Politeness
Positive and negative face
Analysing cooperation
2

A:

Will you condemn the violence on the picket lines?

B:

I condemn the police and the National Coal Board

This is an uncooperative
response because it is not
relevant

A:

Im tired

B:

Theres the Leonardo Hotel

This is a cooperative response.

We assume that it is relevant and
that B is telling the truth

A:

When was your first sexual experience

B:

What wonderful weather were having?

Bs response is not relevant so we

assume that B does not want to
cooperate

Grices maxims

1. Quantity - make your contribution as

informative as required
2. Quality -be true; do not say what you
believe to be false
3. Relation - be relevant
4. Manner - avoid obscurity of
expression, ambiguity; be brief, orderly
6

A:

Could you pass the salt please?

B:

Could you give me 100 please?

As request doesnt need mitigation

Bs request is inappropriate
because it is more imposing and
needs more mitigation
7

The more polite you are, the more

you risk losing the message

Its very windy here.

Im very sorry but I wonder if you could move over a bit?
Could you move over please?
Can we move please?
Please move
Move!

The level of politeness used in an

utterance depends on the role of the
person you are talking to and the
Oh,
sorry.
I heard voices
I wondered
who it was.
power
relations
that and
exist
between
speaker
and
hearer
Please could you stop talking Im trying to work
9

- yes, it is

This
foodits
isadelicious
- Im afraid
bit overcooked
- Im glad you like it
If you have cooked the meal, which is the most
appropriate response?
Why do we respond in this way?
10

Catch-22 situation

If you do not agree with them you are

threatening their positive face

11

Speaker support

Speakers usually work together to help

and reassure each other. This is called
speaker support. It is important to
recognise the techniques used in a
conversation for speaker support (e.g.
for showing agreement, for checking
understanding
12

Politeness

Sometimes a speakers role gives them

the authority to challenge others.
Presenting a challenge to someone is
difficult but there are various politeness
techniques which help us to do it (see
summary)

13

POSITIVE POLITENESS NEGATIVE POLITENESS

Show interest in hearer Be conventionally
indirect
Claim common ground
Minimise imposition on
with hearer
hearer
Seek agreement
Ask for forgiveness
Give sympathy
Give deference

14

The concept of face

(Brown and Levinson)

B and L (looking at politeness in different

cultures) suggest that we must acknowledge
the face of other people if we want to enter into
social relationships with them.

Talk may be a face-threatening act which may

damage negative face and positive face

15

Positive face = wanting to be

liked and approved of

Positive face is I have a value system that I do not

want challenged

Disagreeing with another person threatens their

positive face

If you want not to threaten positive face you should

show interest and seek agreement

Thanking another person does not threaten another

persons positive face

16

Negative face
dont tell me what to do. I
want to be free

Negative face is I do not like to be imposed

on

Telling someone what to do threatens their

negative face

17

Being polite

The more politeness we use in our speech,

the more indirect we are.

The advantage of using politeness terms is

that there is no threat to face. The
disadvantage is that a polite message might
be so indirect that it doesnt come across (its
very windy here)
18

Lakoffs maxims of politeness

Dont impose

Give options

Make the hearer feel good

19

Analysing cooperation

Features of interaction

Markers of politeness

Markers of respect

Vague language
20

Features of interaction

Questions (open,
closed, tag, + options)
Commands
Interruptions
Overlaps
Pauses
Topic management

Grices maxims (are

they followed?)
Discourse markers
(see previous
lessons
Markers of
politeness and
respect
21

Markers of politeness

Specific words (please, thanks)

Hedges (if its not too much trouble)
Hidden commands (could you pass the
salt please)
Provisional language (if would, can) to
show negotiation is possible
Qualifiers, modifiers (quite, a bit)
22

Markers of respect

Inclusive pronouns - we, us

Similar vocabulary, dialect, colloquial
language
Pseudo-agreement - (Would you like
to come to my house? Well, Id love
to another time)
This avoids saying no or disagreeing
with a speaker
23