The impact of face systems on the pragmalinguistic features of academic e-mail requests

Aslan, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4174-5493 (2017) The impact of face systems on the pragmalinguistic features of academic e-mail requests. Pragmatics and Society, 8 (1). pp. 61-84. ISSN 1878-9714 doi: 10.1075/ps.8.1.04asl

Abstract/Summary

This study investigates the impact of power/distance (PD) variables operationalized as face systems on the pragmalinguistic features of academic e-mail requests. A corpus of 90 academic e-mails was classified into four face system groups: hierarchical (sender +P), hierarchical (recipient +P), deference, and solidarity. Request perspectives, strategies, and mitigating supportive moves were analyzed. The analysis revealed that the speaker and hearer dominance were the most frequent request perspectives in the hierarchical (recipient+P) and deference groups. The impersonal perspective was more common in the hierarchical (sender+P) group. The preparatory was the dominant request strategy in all groups, relatively more frequent in the hierarchical (recipient+P) and deference groups. The most common supportive move was the grounder, which occurred more frequently than other supportive moves. The findings of the study indicate that face systems influence the request patterns in academic e-mail communication. The study offers implications for future research on pragmatics of computermediated communication (CMC).

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/67255
Identification Number/DOI	10.1075/ps.8.1.04asl
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Literature and Languages > English Language and Applied Linguistics Arts, Humanities and Social Science > International Study and Language Institute (ISLI) Arts, Humanities and Social Science > Language Text and Power
Publisher	John Benjamins
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