In the following pages, I will investigate the connection between globalization and politeness and will try to divide the influence of globalization into positive and negative aspects, so I am able to make a conclusion at the end. To ensure this, it is necessary to deal with the terms “politeness” and “globalization” first. The term politeness has a long history, which goes back to the 16th century and describes some extent “the quality of being polite” (Eelen, 2001: i).
Automatically terms such as good manners, consideration and sophisticated are associated with it. Consequently, it can be concluded that politeness is “having or showing that one has good manners and consideration for other people” (ibid.). Another explanation describes the standards of behavior with the meaning of speech styles and formality. Here, the maxims of politeness and the face-saving and the face-threatening acts are of great importance. “There are standards of behaviour in any society and in any according to which the speaker is deemed to have spoken politely or not” (Locher, 2004: 60). However, I will not go into the maxims of politeness and the acts because they do not play a major role in the further course of the study work.
A third and final definition of politeness, which may also fits best to the central question, describes politeness as a field of intercultural pragmatics, which has gained extremely importance in recent decades, since “empirical studies have proliferated, examining – individually and cross-culturally – languages and language varieties from around the world” (Hickey & Stewart, 2005: 1). This approach therefore describes the increasing importance of politeness thanks to the global empirical studies on language learning and diversity. A first impression can be found here in what way politeness and globalization fit together.
Table of Contents
1 Introdurction
2 Globalization, Culture and Politeness
3 Formality and indirectness in requests
4 Apologies in English and Chinese
5 Australian and Taiwanese conception of im/politeness
6 Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper investigates the multifaceted relationship between globalization and politeness, aiming to determine whether the global spread of communication norms and Americanized linguistic styles poses a risk to local politeness conventions or represents a chance for cultural integration. The study explores how these forces influence interpersonal communication across different cultures.
- The theoretical intersection of globalization, culture, and politeness
- The impact of formality and indirectness on requests
- Cross-cultural analysis of apologies in English and Chinese
- Empirical evaluation of im/politeness perceptions in Australian and Taiwanese participants
- The role of communication technology in shaping modern social interaction
Excerpt from the Book
5 Australian and Taiwanese conception of im/politeness
In this section I will briefly present an empirical experiment of Wei-Lin (2011: 424-426), which investigates the conception of im/politeness of Australian and Taiwanese citizens. The 50 participants were all born in their countries and were native speakers of either (Australian) English or (Mandarin) Chinese. In addition, all of the Chinese-speaking Taiwanese were also qualified English-speaker, therefor the questionnaire was in English language. “The age of the Australian respondents ranged from 18 to 51 years, and that of the Taiwanese participants from 20 to 45 years, with 12 males and 13 females in each sample […] all of the respondents can be described as coming from educated, middle-class backgrounds.” (Wei-Lin, 2011: 424).
A prepared telephone call between an Australian and a Taiwanese formed the basis of the questionnaire, on which the participants then had to rate situations of the call ranging from “very impolite”, “impolite”, “neither polite nor impolite”, “polite”, through to “very polite” (see appendix 1 and 2) (ibid.). The participants first listened to the conversation and as well as being given a transcription of the above-mentioned discussion. After answering the questionnaires, 28 participants, including 14 of each nationality, were then selected for follow-up interviews to clarify their responses (ibid.). This path differs from earlier studies of rated perceptions of the so-called “sentence politeness”, thus most previous approaches only concentrate on single sentences or utterances to analyze the assessments of the participants.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introdurction: The author defines key concepts such as politeness and globalization and outlines the study's intention to analyze their interplay.
2 Globalization, Culture and Politeness: This chapter examines the fears regarding Americanization and the homogenization of global communication norms, while acknowledging the dialectical nature of global and local forces.
3 Formality and indirectness in requests: The text explores how degrees of formality influence the use of indirect requests and discusses the general "casualization" of everyday speech in Western cultures.
4 Apologies in English and Chinese: A comparative analysis highlighting cultural differences in apology strategies and the weight assigned to them within English and Mandarin-speaking contexts.
5 Australian and Taiwanese conception of im/politeness: This chapter presents an empirical study evaluating how different cultural groups perceive and rate politeness in mediated telephone conversations.
6 Conclusion: The author summarizes that globalization should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a risk, emphasizing the reciprocal nature of cultural and linguistic influence.
Keywords
Globalization, Politeness, Intercultural Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, Americanization, Indirectness, Apologies, Communication Norms, Cultural Identity, Im/politeness, Discourse Analysis, Australian English, Mandarin Chinese, Language Homogenization, Social Interaction
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this research paper?
The paper examines the intersection of globalization and politeness to evaluate whether the global expansion of specific cultural norms constitutes a risk to local behavioral conventions or offers new opportunities for cross-cultural communication.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The core themes include the definition of politeness, the impact of globalization on language and culture, the casualization of speech, and comparative studies of apology strategies across different nations.
What is the primary objective of the study?
The objective is to explore the connection between globalization and politeness, specifically investigating how the two forces influence each other and whether this leads to the homogenization of discourse norms.
Which scientific methodology is applied in the paper?
The paper employs a literature-based theoretical review combined with an analysis of empirical experiments, specifically referencing a comparative telephone call study between Australian and Taiwanese participants.
What topics are covered in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the theoretical definition of key terms, the phenomenon of globalization in relation to "Americanization," the role of formality in requests, cross-cultural differences in apologies, and an empirical case study on im/politeness.
Which keywords best characterize the research?
The research is characterized by terms such as globalization, intercultural pragmatics, sociolinguistics, discourse norms, and cross-cultural communication.
How do Australian and Taiwanese perspectives on politeness differ according to the study?
The study found that Taiwanese respondents showed significantly less variance in their ratings and perceived certain apology interactions more negatively than the Australian participants, suggesting different underlying weightings of the concept of "politeness."
What conclusion does the author reach regarding globalization?
The author concludes that globalization should be perceived more as a chance than a risk, arguing that while homogenization exists, cultural influence is essentially reciprocal.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Anonym (Autor:in), 2015, Politeness and globalization. Chance or risk?, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/489454
