Politeness - a comparison between Chinese and English :: essays research papers

Table of contents1. Introduction 22. Politeness a theoretical approach33. the concept of limao44. Request strategies44.1. Request strategies in Chinese44.2. Request strategies in side of meat55. Forms of address65.1. Forms of address in Chinese65.2. Forms of address in English76. Chinese Politeness crossways social groups87. Conclusion9References11 1. IntroductionIn many parts of this world, former existing borders argon removed and wad move enveloping(prenominal) together. It has to be admitted that most of the time this happens due to scotch reasons, and the phenomenon of mass media has to be mentioned in this context as well. Therefore it becomes however more strategic to be able to understand cultures of different life-styles. however the success or failure of communication does non only bet on how well a language is spoken, however also on intonation and body language. Dr. Mehrabian, a prominent and successful psychologist, is perhaps opera hat known for the invest igation of the role of non-verbal communication. He published findings indicating that spoken address only account for 7% of what a listener perceives. The remaining 93% of what a listener comprehends originate from the speakers body language and tone busy in the deli precise(prenominal) of the words.Not only because of studies like this, non-verbal communication plays an important role when studying language in its social context. A very interesting topic in this large field is politeness, since forms of politeness are often misinterpreted and lead to misunderstandings. So I chose to need a closer look at the differences between politeness in Chinese and English.Since it is very difficult to collect data concerning politeness in the language of Chinese, this composing is theory-based only. Nevertheless, many books that cover this topic can be found. whatever of the books used for the research of this authorship were written by native speakers of Chinese, which is an charact er for the authors competence of the language. Therefore, collecting additional data would not only have been difficult, but also inefficient. This paper willing tidy sum with the topic of request strategies used by speakers of the Peoples land of China and the terms of address in Chinese and English. Besides, it will focusing on request strategies across societal structures and social groups. In addition, it will discuss the concept of limao, the traditional concept of politeness in China. This paper will not allow to cover all important issues concerning this topic, but it shall give a rough overview and should give the reader an incentive to have a closer look at this field of study.