Something I realized today was that yes, maybe in verbal contexts it is easy to convey politeness and utilize (however unconsciously) the maxims that Leech talks about. However, when we look at non-verbal aspects of communications, such as via MSN, SMS, e-mails, letters etc, the whole concept of politeness and face management seems to be a lot harder to analyze.
I realized this because of the group activity we did in class – the one where we analyzed a string of SMSes. My group didn’t think much of the message “Do you want the answer twice?? :))” and we just assumed it was on record-baldly, until someone pointed out that there was a smiley face there. Then we all realized how easy it was to overlook something like that because it seems so trivial and yet the inclusion of the smiley face showed positive politeness.
Given that we all communicate much more via non-verbal modes (especially since most students have unlimited SMS schemes so it’s easier and cheaper to type than to call), it’s quite interesting how we use these non-linguistic cues strategically, as a means of overcoming the shortfalls of our mode of communication.
I realize that I do use a lot of smiley faces and emoticons in my messages, particularly if I am making a request. I guess the use of these figures help to mitigate the effects of negative politeness – in a way if I said:
“Sorry to bother you, but could you loan me your CD?”
I suppose I could say better with:
“Sorry to bother you, but could you loan me your CD? (:“
I guess there are also other ways people overcome this issue, such as using “haha” or “lol”, so that the request doesn’t seem so formal or like you’re asking for too much. I wonder if this sort of strategy is a kind of a universal norm, because I’ve never really sms’d/online chat with people from other countries and cultures… This is more of an observation of what I see myself and my friends doing.
I suppose we might learn more of this soon when we focus on computer mediated communication…
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hey stephanie! good point there about politeness in non-verbal circumstances. I think with the advent of short-forms, things have become even more icky.
ReplyDeleteSay for example adding a "Jk" (just kidding) behind every phrase we want to disclaim responsibility for.
Like "Your performance was horrible. Just kidding".
or the ever-used smiley, like you said, softens comments that may otherwise be harsh to the ears.
I suppose that one big function of using emoticons is to show our emotions and attitudes, very much like we laugh and wink in face-to-face communication. Related to this function is probably one to show that we intend our message to be spoken or conversational rather than written, informal rather than formal. In this sense, it can be a positive politeness strategy.
ReplyDelete