scholarly journals The Directness Levels of Criticism: A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of Korean and American Youtuber

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-119
Author(s):  
Aan Anisah Agustini Safari
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Cross Culture ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
The Way

Background: Different countries may have different cultures that are influenced by their religion, traditions, or norms. These differences affect the way they speak, such as when they are commenting or giving opinions. Due to the way people express speech acts can be varied and lead to misinterpretation because of their differences, the researcher was intrigued to conduct this study. Methodology: This cross-cultural study was carried out to observe and compare the speech act of criticism between Korean and American YouTubers and to investigate the role of their cultural background in influencing the directness level they conveyed. First, the researcher selected three Korean Youtubers and Americans as well with food review content. Second, the researcher watched one video from each channel and took notes on every expression of criticism they used. Findings: The result of this study demonstrates that in American YouTubers speech, direct strategy emerges more frequently than the indirect one. Conversely, Korean YouTubers tend to use the indirect one. The finding also indicates that their speech behavior is related to their cultural norms, in which American culture encourages clear personal opinions, while Korean culture is a restraint to express their opinion or feeling clearly. Conclusion: Due to the considerable difference between Korean and American YouTuber speech, it can be concluded that culture takes a significant part in shaping one’s speech behavior. That is why people with different cultural backgrounds may have different ways of speaking.  Keywords: Criticism; cross-culture pragmatic; directness-indirectness.

scholarly journals Contrastive Pragmatics: Apologies & Thanks in English and Italian

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Cuneyt Demir ◽  
Mehmet Takkac
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
American English ◽  
The Status ◽  
Language Competency ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Remedial Strategies

<p>Awareness of language or language competency has greatly changed from the focus of language itself as form and structure to language use as pragmatics. Accordingly, it is widely accepted that different cultures structure discourse in different ways. Moreover, studies have shown that this holds for discourse genres traditionally considered as highly standardized in their rituals and formulas. Taking inspiration from such studies, this paper employs a corpus-based approach to examine variations of the apology and thanking strategies used in English and Italian. First the apology itself as a form of social action is closely analyzed and then thanking. This study also pays special attention on analyzing and contrasting apology and thanking strategies in American English and in Italian in terms of Marion Owen’s remedial strategies (Owen, 1983), and Olshtain &amp; Cohen’s semantic formulas in the apology speech act set (Olshtain &amp; Cohen, 1983). The purpose of the study is not only to compare apology and thanking speech acts but to also learn their contextual use. The findings suggest that the status and role of the situation affect the speakers’ choice of apology and thanking strategies, and semantic formulas are of great importance.</p>

scholarly journals A Cross-Cultural Approach to Speech-Act-Sets: The Case of Apologies

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvie Válková
Keyword(s):  
Set Theory ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Language Community ◽  
Cultural Approach ◽  
Corpus Data

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to contribute to the validity of recent research into speech act theory by advocating the idea that with some of the traditional speech acts, their overt language manifestations that emerge from corpus data remind us of ritualised scenarios of speech-act-sets rather than single acts, with configurations of core and peripheral units reflecting the socio-cultural norms of the expectations and culture-bound values of a given language community. One of the prototypical manifestations of speech-act-sets, apologies, will be discussed to demonstrate a procedure which can be used to identify, analyse, describe and cross-culturally compare the validity of speech-act-set theory and provide evidence of its relevance for studying the English-Czech interface in this particular domain of human interaction.

scholarly journals Request Strategies in Everyday Interactions of Persian and English Speakers

SAGE Open ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401667947
Author(s):  
Shiler Yazdanfar ◽  
Alireza Bonyadi
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
American English ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Daily Interactions ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
American English Speakers

Cross-cultural studies of speech acts in different linguistic contexts might have interesting implications for language researchers and practitioners. Drawing on the Speech Act Theory, the present study aimed at conducting a comparative study of request speech act in Persian and English. Specifically, the study endeavored to explore the request strategies used in daily interactions of Persian and English speakers based on directness level and supportive moves. To this end, English and Persian TV series were observed and requestive utterances were transcribed. The utterances were then categorized based on Blum-Kulka and Olshtain’s Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Pattern (CCSARP) for directness level and internal and external mitigation devises. According to the results, although speakers of both languages opted for the direct level as their most frequently used strategy in their daily interactions, the English speakers used more conventionally indirect strategies than the Persian speakers did, and the Persian speakers used more non-conventionally indirect strategies than the English speakers did. Furthermore, the analyzed data revealed the fact that American English speakers use more mitigation devices in their daily interactions with friends and family members than Persian speakers.

A cross-generational and cross-cultural study on demonstration of attentiveness

Pragmatics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeko Fukushima
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
The Other ◽  
Questionnaire Data ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Verbal Cues ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
The Relationship

This paper looks into whether there are any differences in demonstration of attentiveness between different generations and different cultures. By attentiveness I mean a demonstrator’s preemptive response to a beneficiary’s verbal/non-verbal cues or situations surrounding a beneficiary and a demonstrator, which takes the form of offering. When and how often one would demonstrate attentiveness may vary according to such factors as generation and culture. Three groups of people from different generations and different cultural backgrounds (Japanese and Americans) served as the participants (280 people for the questionnaire data and 18 people for the interview data). It was investigated whether there were any differences among the participants in demonstration of attentiveness, in the reasons for demonstration of attentiveness, and in rating degree of imposition to demonstrate attentiveness. It was also examined whether there was any relationship between degree of imposition to demonstrate attentiveness and demonstration of attentiveness; and in which relationship (the relationship between a demonstrator and a beneficiary of attentiveness varied from very familiar to not very familiar at all) attentiveness was demonstrated. The data were collected using a questionnaire with six situations, based on field notes; and the interviews were conducted using the same six situations. The results show that in most situations there were no major differences among the participants in the choice of demonstration of attentiveness and the reasons for it. The participants chose to demonstrate attentiveness in four situations in the questionnaire, because they wanted to be of help to the other party. There was a relationship between degree of imposition to demonstrate attentiveness and demonstration of attentiveness in four situations. Overall, the interview data confirmed the questionnaire data.

scholarly journals Apologizing in Spanish

Pragmatics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
María-Isabel González-Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
University Students ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Completion Test

This article provides insights into the strategies used by a group of university students of Canarian origin to perform the speech act of apologizing. Though Canarian Spanish has been recognised as one of the most deeply studied dialects in the Hispanic world (Medina 1996; Álvarez 1996; Corrales, Álvarez and Corbella 2007), little has been said about this variety at the socio-pragmatic level, and, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have been carried out on the issue of speech acts, let alone about apologies in Canarian Spanish. This article attempts to start filling this gap by describing the most frequent apology strategies used by one hundred university students at the ULPGC (Canary Islands, Spain) when apologizing in eight different situations. Following the lines of many other studies, we obtained the data through the application of a Discourse Completion Test, slightly adapted from the well-known CCSARP (Cross-cultural Speech Act Realisation Project). Gender differences are explored, along with the role of other situational factors such as degree of familiarity between the participants, severity of the offense and age of the offended person. Suggestions for further work in the fields of intercultural pragmatics and EFL teaching and learning are also given.

scholarly journals Wartościowanie i ironia w tekście w świetle teorii aktów mowy

2020 ◽  
pp. 181-197
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Kukowicz-Żarska
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Detective Novel ◽  
Research Material ◽  
Collective Beliefs

This article focuses on the issue of valuation and the presence and role of irony in text in the light of speech act theory. The research material used for the analysis comes from the novel by Philip Kerr "March Violets", which is a representative of the historical detective novel genre. The article does not aim to criticize the book's translations, but focuses its attention on the message itself, which, through them, reaches the recipient and makes a specific impression on him/her. This specific impression, evoked by said speech acts and thoughtfully encoded in the text, is subject to the analysis here. Sociolinguistic assumptions have been adopted as the basis for these considerations, which seems to be justified in so far as language within such analytical framework can be treated as a binder among social groups, nations, communities and may play a significant role both in shaping them, shaping their collective beliefs, ideas, and cultural norms.

Pragmatics lost?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-218
Author(s):  
Fabienne Baider
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract This article argues for a definition of online hate speech as a contextualised speech act that is part of a social process of alienation. It suggests that hate speech comes in degrees, is contextual, involves already existing power dynamics, and ‘others’ its targets by creating in/out groups. I first review the various stances towards understanding the phenomenon of online hate speech, including approaches that focus on online hate speech as an interaction shaped by its medium, while also emphasizing the need to consider the role of implicatures in speech acts when defining hate speech. Second, I argue that the relationality of online speech implies that any message is embedded in idiosyncratic socio-cultural norms, and that therefore a ‘one size fits all’ definition of hate speech is elusive. I conclude by suggesting that contextualized hate speech is embedded in a social process of alienation and should be understood as a continuum.

scholarly journals Linguistic and Pragmatic Failure of Arab Learners in Direct Polite Requests and Invitations: A Cross-cultural Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Nahed Ghazzoul
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Pragmatic Failure ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Communication Breakdowns ◽  
Different Cultures

In a cross-cultural context, the speakers' cultural disposition, linguistic codes, and social identity may influence their pragmatic behaviour; thus, lead to communication breakdowns. This paper studies the cross-cultural pragmatic failure in polite requests among Arab participants from different cultural backgrounds, and reattempts to test[ validate] the universality of Speech Act Theory, and Theory of Politeness. To that end, 96 situations have been collected from 16 Arab participants divided into two groups to examine the polite strategies they use in request and invitation situations. The results of the qualitative data analysis have shown that almost all participants favour conventionally direct strategies in requests and invitations to express politeness and hospitality. As for the Arab students who are UK citizens, the results indicated that they have a tendency to use more indirect strategies in different situations. However, this indirectness was perceived as lack of hospitality in invitations, and lack of pragmatic clarity in requests by the first group. The results of the data analysis show that there is no one formula of how politeness can be perceived by different cultures, and that the differences stem out from different socio-cultural norms. The findings also provide worthwhile insights into theoretical issues concerning Arabic communicative acts, as well as the relation between the universal pragmatic features, and culture-specific theoretical differences.

scholarly journals The Effect of Instruction on Learners' Pragmatic Awareness: a Focus on Refusals

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Alcón Soler ◽  
Josep Guzmán Pitarch
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Pragmatic Awareness ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Instructional Contexts

The benefits of instruction on learners’ production and awareness of speech acts is well documented (see Alcón and Martínez-Flor, 2008, for a review of pragmatics in instructional contexts). However, few studies examine the influence that instruction may have on the cognitive processes involved in speech act production (Félix- Brasdefer, 2008). In order to address this research gap, and taking into account the discussion in research on the concept of attention and related terms such as awareness (see Al-Hejin, 2004, for a review of the role of attention and awareness in second language acquisition research) this paper reports on the benefits of instruction on learners’ attention and awareness during the performance of refusals. Thus, based on a pedagogical proposal for teaching refusals at the discourse level, we focus on the benefits that this pedagogical proposal can have on the information attended to during the planning and execution of refusals. Secondly, we explore whether instruction makes a difference in learners’ awareness of refusals.

scholarly journals She’s Electric—The Influence of Body Proportions on Perceived Gender of Robots across Cultures

Robotics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Trovato ◽  
Cesar Lucho ◽  
Renato Paredes
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Study ◽  
User Acceptance ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Robot Design ◽  
Body Proportions ◽  
Waist To Hip Ratio ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Different Cultures

The assignment of gender to robots is a debatable topic. Subtle aspects related to gender, in a robot’s appearance, may create biased expectations of the robot’s abilities and influence user acceptance. The present research is a cross-cultural study involving more than 150 participants to investigate the perception of gender in robot design by manipulating body proportions. We are focusing specifically on the contrast between two extremely different cultures: Peruvian and Japanese. From the survey based on stimuli varying in the proportion between chest, waist, and hips, the results indicate the importance of chest-to-hip ratio and waist-to-hip ratio in the attribution of gender to robots.

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