Speedwell, cat's eye alka bird's eye.
Polite Messages: An Exercise in Interpersonal Communication
This exercise is designed to
help explain the concept of politeness in terms of positive and negative face
(Brown & Levinson, 1987; Cupach & Metts, 1994; Goffman, 1967;
Goldsmith, 2007; Holmes 1995; Metts & Cupach, 2008).
To Know
In Brown and Levinson’s
(1987) theory of politeness, based in part on Goffman’s (1967) concept of face,
we all have basically two needs: (1) the need to maintain positive face and (2)
the need to maintain negative face. Positive face refers to the desire
to be viewed positively by others, to be thought of favorably, to be held in
high esteem. Negative facerefers to the desire to be autonomous, to have
the right to do as you wish, to not be imposed upon.
Politeness in interpersonal
communication, then, refers to behavior that allows others to maintain both
positive and negative face; and impoliteness refers to behaviors that attack
either positive face (for example, you criticize someone) or negative face (for
example, you make demands on someone).
To help another person
maintain positive face, you speak respectfully to and about the
person, you give the person your full attention, you say “excuse me” when
appropriate. In short you treat the person as you would want to be treated. In
this way you allow the person to maintain positive face through what is called
positive politeness. You attack the person’s positive face when you speak
disrespectfully about the person, ignore the person or the person’s comments,
and fail to use the appropriate expressions of politeness, such as “Thank you”
and “Please.” It is attacks on positive face—sometimes called FTAs for Face
Threatening Acts—that the term dissing is meant to capture. Made
popular in the 1980s in rap music, the term refers to a form of impoliteness in
which you criticize, act rudely, insult, put down, offend, or disrespect
another person, verbally and/or nonverbally. It attacks a person’s positive
face needs, the need to be approved of, to be respected.
To help another person
maintain negative face, you respect the person’s right to be
autonomous and so you request, rather than demand, that they do something; you
say, “Would you mind opening a window” rather than “Open that window!” You
might also give the person an “out” when making a request, allowing the person
to reject your request if that is what the person wants. And so you say, “If
this is a bad time, please tell me, but I’m really strapped and could use a
loan of $100” rather than “You have to lend me $100.” If you want a
recommendation, you might say, “Would it be possible for you to write me a
recommendation for graduate school?” rather than “You have to write me a
recommendation for graduate school.” In this way you enable the person to
maintain negative face through what is called negative politeness.
To Do
Indicate how each of the
following examples is impolite in terms of attacking positive and/or negative
face by filling in as many boxes as you can in no more than 10 minutes.
|
Behaviors
|
Violation of Positive Face
Needs
|
Violation of Negative Face
Needs
|
|
1. Failure
to return the eye brow flash.
|
||
|
2. Not
indicating liking or +1 for a friend’s post.
|
||
|
3. Criticizing
another’s religious beliefs.
|
||
|
4. Texting
during dinner with a romantic partner.
|
||
|
5. Cat
calls.
|
||
|
6. Asking
for a favor.
|
||
|
7. Interruptions
which take over the speaker’s turn.
|
||
|
8. Walking
into another’s office without knocking.
|
||
|
9. Not
using normally expected honorifics such as Dr., Professor, General, or
Officer.
|
||
|
10. Accusing
someone of some misdeed.
|
To Discuss
After all have completed this
exercise, discussion might center on such issues as these:
1. Under
what circumstances can each of these behaviors become less impolite?
2. Do
you notice a gender difference in the use of these behaviors? If so, in what
specific ways?
3. What
are some other examples of behaviors that violate our face needs?
To Read [References]
1. Brown,
P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals of language
usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2. Cupach,
W. R., & Metts, S. (1994). Facework. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3. Goffman,
E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on face-to-face behavior. New
York, NY: Pantheon.
4. Goldsmith,
D. J. (2007). Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory. In Explaining
communication: Contemporary theories and exemplars (pp. 219–236), B. B.
Whaley & W. Samter (eds.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
5. Holmes,
J. (1995). Women, men and politeness. New York, NY: Longman.
6. Metts,
S., & Cupach, W. R. (2008). Face theory. In Engaging theories in
interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 203–214), L. A.
Baxter & D. O. Braithwaite (eds.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
http://tcbdevito.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/polite-messages-exercise-in.html
A
practical overview of Turbo
Charged Reading YouTube
How
to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?
Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com which takes
advantage of the experience and expertise of others.
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com
just for fun.
To
quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will
know.
The
more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”
No comments:
Post a Comment