Pragmatics and Society - Volume 14, Issue 6, 2023

Abstract

At present, Epistemics is a popular theory in Western conversation analysis, but few scholars investigate the responses to the advice resistance on phone-ins from the perspective of Epistemics. This paper explores the responses to the advice resistance on Chinese phone-ins of family problem counseling from the perspective of Epistemics. It is found that when responding to the caller’s advice resistance, the host often implements two conversation practices, such as maintaining his/her original higher epistemic status or constructing higher epistemic status in another epistemic domain. These practices are consistent with the possibility of the host’s knowledge orientation to strong self-confidence in his/her own professional knowledge but the lack of confidence in the caller’s relevant knowledge. This study can provide enlightenment for the smooth development of advice interaction on phone-ins of family problem counseling and expand the application scope of Epistemics.

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how male-identified and female-identified individuals use reflexive metadiscourse in the construction of affiliative communication, i.e., a mode of communication traditionally coded as feminine. Specifically, it examines requests made in the public context of group email. Both reflexive metadiscourse and affiliative communication are analysed with the concept of indexicality, and two novel sub-categories (i.e., directing and committing) are added to an existing taxonomy. The findings show that whether communicating to institutional subordinates, equals, or superiors, female-identified and male-identified senders displayed great similarity in their use of reflexive metadiscourse in the construction of affiliative communication. Amongst other things, reflexive metadiscourse indirectly indexed the following communicative behaviours associated with affiliative communication: sharing contextual information, expressing supportive feedback, constructing diminutive personas, and suppressing personal agency. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and directions for future research.

Abstract

This study investigates the interactional norms of a manosphere discussion forum known as The Red Pill (TRP), and asks whether it can be conceptualised as a self-help group. 2104 posts and comments from regular users and high-status users in the community were analysed qualitatively to determine how the community is characterised by certain speech acts, and how these speech acts correspond to face-enhancement and face-threat as well as to certain impression management strategies.

Since personal disclosure, advice-giving, and face-enhancement are key characteristics of TRP, it could be argued that TRP shares some functional characteristics with self-help communities. However, much of the advice given is unsolicited, a disproportionately high rate of face-enhancement is directed towards high-status users, and speech acts such as elaborating, and some advice-giving and personal disclosure seem to be used for self-promotion purposes. Furthermore, the prevalence of unhedged face-threats sets TRP apart from traditional supportive communities.

Abstract

Intertextuality refers to the quality that connects the author and the reader within a single text or, more broadly, the relationship between texts. This study considered the author’s implicit textual intention and the expected effect on the text reader to analyze intertextuality. This study’s subject was the news text from the Russian news program Vesti Nedeli. The motivation behind this study was that anchor briefings are often used in news reports and that the anchor’s value judgments are often highlighted. Using previous researchers’ framing and orientation criteria, I examined how these factors manifested themselves in the news text under investigation. Furthermore, I proposed additional analysis criteria for strategic exposure and metaphor usage. Strategic exposure refers to empowering the text’s development and the text producer’s logic by intentionally exposing a specific scene, whereas metaphors emphasize an object’s positive or negative connotations by using a specific image.

Abstract

This paper examines the role of assessments in the design of interviewees’ answers in news interviews settings on two Arabic networks. It employs a Conversation Analysis approach, in addition to quantitative analysis, to observe the most recurrent positions for emerging assessments in interviewees’ answers. In addition, it examines the role of these assessments in providing evasive answers to interviewers’ questions. The data consists of twenty-eight hours of recorded Arab news interviews from four shows: Liqāʾ Xāṣ (Special Interview) and Bilā Ḥudūd (Without Bounds) on Aljazeera and Nuqṭat Niḏ̣ām (Point of Order) and Muqābalah Xāṣah (Special Interview) on Al-Arabiya. The findings reveal that assessments emerge in recurrent positions in interviewees’ answers and play a role in their design. Likewise, they show the role of assessments in the design of evasive answers.

Abstract

This paper analyzes the influence of the educational level of speakers on speakers’ preferences of the Turkish discourse markers (DMs) şey ‘uh’, yani ‘I mean’, and işte ‘you know’. 56 participants from age groups 33–50 and over 50 participated in the study. Speech data from each participant in two speech corpora (planned vs. spontaneous) were gathered via face-to-face interviews. Although various trends have been observed in two speech conditions in terms of the educational level of the speakers in the current data, the frequency rates of these markers were mostly higher in the speech of (especially male) participants with a lower educational level, compared to those of participants with a higher educational level. Educational-level related differences were also observed in further analyses of the functions of the three DMs under focus.

This article reviews Exploring identity work in Chinese communication9781350169326