Luận văn chiến lược lịch sự trong lời thỉnh cầu trong các tập phim harry potter

To study the performance of positive and negative politeness strategies in the requests by the characters in the three episodes of the movie Harry Potter.. ‘To study the efifects of S-H

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STLDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

LUONG TITANTI ONG

POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN REQUESTS IN

THE MOVIE SERIES “HARRY POTTER”

(Chiến lược Lich sự trong Lời Thinh cầu trong

cac lap phim “Harry Potter’)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60.22.15

Tlanoi — 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

LUONG THANH HONG

POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN REQUESTS IN

THE MOVIE SERIES “HARRY POTTER”

(Chiến lược Lịch sw trong Loi Thinh cau trong

các tập phim “Harry Potter’)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 60.22.15

Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyén Van Dé

Hanoi — 2012

Aims of the study

Scope of the study

1

2

3 Resvarch questions of the study

4,

$ Overview ofthe movie

a Methods of the study

Design of the study "

1.1.2 Speech acl of requesting

14 Politeness occ eee "—

1.2.4.1 Positive politeness strategies

1.2.4.2, Negative politeness strategies beens

1.3 Previous studies on request and politeness strategies

CHAPTER 2: POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN REQUESTS IN THE MOVIE

SERIES “HARRY POTTER”

2.1 Politeness strategies in requests in the movie series “Harry Potter”

2.2 The frequency of Politeness strategies in Requests in the movie series “Larry

Potter”

2.2.1 Sampling, process

2.2.2 The frequency of politeness strategies in requests

2.2.2.1, Positive politencss strategics

2.2.2.2 Negative politeness strategies

2.3 Politeness slralcgics in requasts in the movic

relationship

2.3.1 Positive politeness strategies and S- LJ relationships

2.3.2 Negative politeness strategies and S- II relationships

2.4 Sunary "_

PART 3: CONCLUSION

3.2 Implications for teaching politeness strategies in requests

3.3 Limitations of the study

3.4 Suggestions for further research

MA? Master of Arts

Therefore, the effectiveness of communication is affected considerably During the

development of civilized society, human beings have been founding standards and values

describing appropriate behaviors as well as communicative strategies and language structures

which are considered being polite in specific situations and specific cultures There are a

number of studies on politeness issue because of its significance in communication However, cach resvarcher has a different point of view For exarple, Lakoff and Leech study potilencss

under communicative strategies, Brown and Levinson consider politeness as behaviors saving

face Although politeness seems to be quite familiar and very ald, in fact it still develops non- stop and actually offers me many interests, which inspires me to carry out a research on such

issuc However, to achicve politeness in communication, it is necessary to give out suitable

politeness strategies for each certain context Ihus, the study on politeness as well as

ics

movies is ono of my biggest hobbies and offers me much interest Especially, the movie s

recently have been the best ones produced by Wamer Bros - a very famous movie producer in the United States, so I believe that the reliability of the content quality is much relevant to my study

Finally, T would expect the result of my research: Politenens Strategies in Requests in the Movie Series "Harry Potter” will have a great meaning to teaching and learning as well as using politeness strategies in requests appropriately and effectively In addition, it will be much easier for people to choose and employ politeness strategies, which actually offers effectiveness in daily communieatien

2, Aims of the study

1 To study the performance of positive and negative politeness strategies in the requests

by the characters in the three episodes of the movie Harry Potter

2 ‘To study the efifects of S-H relationship on the choices of politeness strategies in the requests of the characters in the three opisodcs of the movie Harry Poller

3 Research questions

1 What are the positive and negative politeness strategies in the requests by the

characters in the three episodes of the movie [larry Potter?

How docs S-H relationship affect the choices of positive and negative politeness strategies in making requests of the characters in the three episodes of the movie Harry

Poticr?

4 Scape of the stuily

Dre to the time and limitation of a minor thesis, it is impossible for me to investigate

poliicness strategics in requests in all their aspects So, T would liks to focus om verbal communication, but other important factors such as non-linguistie factors (facial expression, gestures, zye contact, ete.), paralinguistic factors such as intonation, pause, speed of speech,

cle are nat taken into consideration in my study Morzover, positive and negalive politer

strategies based on the theoretical framework of Brown and Levinson (1987) are under the

investigation of all the requests in three episodes: Ldarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,

Harry Potter and the Gohlet of Fire, and Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince of thc

movie Harry Potter

5 Overview of the movie

The Harry Potter movie scrics are British- American onc based on the Harry Potter

novels by the British author J.K Rowling The senes are distributed by Warner Bros and

consist of sight episodes beginning with [larry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) and culminating with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2 (2011), They are the highest movie series of all- time in inflation unadjusted dollars, with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts, ‘he movie series are also a otitical success and noted by audiences for growing

sed

visually darker and more mature as cach cpisorle was rel

The movie series revolve around Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard Wizard ability is inborn, but children are sent to wizarding school to leam the magical skills novessary to succeed in the wizarding world Harry is invited to attend the boarding school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Each movie episode chronicles

one yoar in Harry's Tife, and most of the events take place al Hogwarts, As ho strugeles through adolescence, Harry learns to overcome many magical, social and emotional hurdles

6 Methods of the study

This study employs the Quantitative method which focuses nmch more on the collection and analysis of numerical data and statistics Counting and measuring are common forms of quantitative methods ‘The result of the research is a mumber ot series of number prescnicd in tables and charts,

7 Design of the study

‘The thesis consists of three main parts:

PART 1: INTRODUCTION:

Thus part of the thesis presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope, method and design of the study,

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

Thus is the nuclear part of the thesis containing two chapters:

Chapter 1: Theoretical Background

This chapler establishes a overview of the thoories on Specch Acts, Spectr act of Request and Politeness theory which are the basis for the following analysis in the next chapter

Chapter 2:

olileness siraLegies in requests in (he series of movies Tlarry Potter

‘This chapter studies how the characters in the movie series use the politeness strategies

in their requests and how 8-H relationship affects their choices of politeness strategies when making requests

PART CONCLUSION

In this parl, the author recapitulates the study, offers implication, limitations and suggestions for further research

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROEND 1.1 Specch Acts

1.1.1 Speech act theory

Many actions arc carticd oul by using languages during human communication Although they are expressed variously, they are all called speech acts, Speech act is one of the most issues that interests researchers most It has been investigated seriously by different theorists such as Austin (1962), Grice (1957, 1975), Hymes (1964), Searle (1969), Levinson (1983), Brown and Yule (1983), Yule (1996), ete so that human communication can be carried out irr the most offsclive way

Austin’s theory

Speech act theory is originally developed by Austin in his famous book entitled “L/ow

fo do things with words” Is presented a new picture of analyzing meaning in relationship antong linguistics conventions couclated with words/ sentences, the situation where the speaker actually says something to the hearer, and associated intentions of the speaker

Austin (1962) defines sp

pacts as the actions porformed in saying something Actions parformed through utterance production are called speech acts such as requesting, apologizing, complaining, promising, etc Speech acts consist of three related acts, namely locutionary acl, iHlocutionary act and perloculionary acl

© Lecutionary act, 2 basic acl of producmg a meaningful linguistic expression, includes phonetic acts, phatic acts and thetic acts, Phonetic acts are acts of

Pronouncing sound, phatic acts are acts of uttering words or sentences in

accordance with the phonological and syntactic rules of ths language to which they belong, and zhetic acts arc one of uttering a sentence with sense and more

or less definite reference

© Tlocutionary act is an act performed via the communicative force of an utterance such as requesting advising, promising inviting, et

Perlocutionary act is “what we bring about or achieve by saying something, such as convincing, persuading, deterring and cven, say, supriing or misleading” (1962: 109)

Austin also focuses on illocutionary acts where we might find the force of the

statement and demonstrate its performative nature [le classified illocutionary acts into 5

calegories

sed on perforrnalive verbs

‘Verdlictives arc typified by the giving of verdiel by a jury, arbitralor or umpire (eg, erade, esliznalc, diagnose)

Exercitives are the exercising of power, rights or influence (e.g appoint, order, wam)

Commissives refer to the amusing of obligation or giving of an undertaking, (e.g, promise, undertake)

Behabitives relate to attitudes and soctal behaviors (e.g apologize, compliment, congratulate)

Expositives address the clarifying of reasons, arguments or expressing

communication, There are three different types of speech acts:

Utterance acts consist of units of expression such as words and sentences

Propositional acts arc those matters having to do with referring and predicting

TIh mtionary aels lave lo do with the intents of speakers such as requesting, promising, commanding, etc

le also classified illocutionary acts into five clear and usefull categories:

Representatives: speaker is committed to the truth of a proposition: affirm, conclude, believe, deny, report

Directivi

: speaker tries to get the hearer to do something: ask, command, request, insist

e Commissives: speaker is committed to a course of action: guaraniee, pledve, promise, swear, vow

© Expressives: speaker expresses an attitude about a state of affairs: qpologize,

congratulate, regret, thank, welcome

¢ Declarations: speaker alters the extemal status or condition of an object ar

situation, solely by making the ullerancs: 7 announce you husband and wife

1 1.2 The Speech act of Requesting

According to Searle (1969: 66), a request is defined as “a directive speech act which

counts as an attempt to get H ‘ihe hearer) to do an acl which S ‘ihe speaker) wants H to do,

and which § believes that H is able to do; and which it is not obvious that H will do in the

normal course of events or of Li's own accord.” \'rom this point, it is very clear that the speech

acl of request consists of three b

Jements: the speaker (S), the hearer (A) and the Act itself Thus, in order to make a successful request, it is believed that the hearer is able and willing to do the act intended by the speaker

Searle (1975: 71) continued to develop Austin’s notion of felicity condition that holds for a successful speech act by proposing the conditions for requesting as follows

© Preparatory condition: H is able to perform A

* Sinccrity condition: § wants H to do A

» Proposi

mal condition: § predivales ä fulure uct A of H

© Essential condition: count as an allempl by $ to get H to do A

In the view of Blum- Kulka eta! (1989), the realization of request can be seen from four aspects:

© Hearer dominance: Can you open the door?

© Speaker dominance: Do you think I could borrow your cat?

* Speaker and Hearer dominance: Could we talk now?

» Impersonal or the use of unspecific agent such as people, anyone, they, ole.: Can anyone help me?

Although a request is realized in any perspectives, it possesses similar basic

characteristics Firstly, it gives us an idca about the cxpectations of the § and the H with

regard to verbal or non-verbal action (Blum-Kulka et al 1989: 11), Secondly, like other speech acts such as refusal, apology, requesting is inherently ice-thueatening in that it allows the Hs to interpret it as an intrusive act towards their freedom of action (Brown and Levinson

1978) ‘Lhirdly, it indicates the power of the interlocutors: the superior tends to produce mare

direot requests while the inferior tends ta produce more indireet requests, Finally, Brown and Levinson 1987 also pointed out that the conventionalized realwzations of requests, as well as its frequency, are vivid indicators of whether a society is a positively or negatively oriented socicty “A positive sovicty” is a sovicty in which speakers’ necd for approval and belonging (in groupness) are emphasized whereas showing of deference and keeping distance are canphasized in “nogatively-oricnled society”

1.2 Issuey of Pt

1.2.1 Definition of Politeness

leness

Politeness is one of the most noticeable issues in the research of intercultural

communication and cross-cultural communication of human beings According to the

foreword of Gumperz (cited in Brown and Levinson, 1987: xiii), “politeness is basic to the production of social order and a precondition of human cooperation, so that any theory

which provides an understanding of this phenomenon at the same time goes to the foundations

of huanan social life.”

During the vast development of linguistics, many tescarchers have been interested in the field of politeness with various points of view and from different aspects However,

according to Nguyen Quang (2004: 10), three main important approaches to politeness are

mentionsd:

* Set the ideal standard for polite acts to refer such as Grice

s in communication in the form of do’s and

© Propose the principles of polilen:

don'ts like IakofT, Leech

© Specify the necessary strategies to encounter Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) in communication as in Brown and Levinson, 1987

Thus, what is the definition of politeness? There is a variety of different points of view

Yule (1996: 60) mantiened conecpi of politonass together with the concept of fave

“Politeness, is in an interaction, can be defined as the means employed to show awareness of

another person's face." Moreover, politeness is recognized as “the idea of polite social

behavior, ar etiquette, within a culture.” Specifically, politeness is “a manber of different general principles for being polite, in social interaction within a particular culture.”

Lakaff (1975:64), who wok an allention on politeness from the very beginning, considered politeness as consisting of forms of behaving which have been “developed in

societies in order to reduce friction in personal interaction” Politeness is defined as “a

systent of interpersonal relations designed to facilitate interaction by minmizing the potential

for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange” She also pointed out three

different rules that a speaker should follow to be pol

Rule I: Do not impose

It is the most formal politeness rule It is appropriately employed when there is difference in power and status between the participants such as between a student and a dean,

an cmployce and a boss A spcaker who is considered polite regarding this rule will avoid, or ask permission or apologize for making the addressee do anything which he does not want to

do

Rule 2: Offer options

It is a more informal politeness rule and appropriate to situations in which the interloculors have quite equal stalus and power, bul arc nol socially close such as a businessman and a client Ottering options means expressing oneself mn such way that one’s opinion or request can be ignored without being contracted ot rejected

Rule 3: Encourage feelings of camaraderie

The parborpants are intimate or close friends

Leech (1983) formulates a more comprehension framework in comparison with Lakolt’s rules with a number of taxims which stand in the same relationship to the Politeness principle by Grice (1967) basing on the concepts of “cost” and “benefit”

« Tact maxim: “minunize the expression of beliets which imply cost to other; maximize the expression of beliefs which imply benefit to other”

10

Generosity maxim; “minimize the expression of benefit to self, maximize the expression of cost to self”

Approbation ntaximx “minimize the expression of beliefs which express dispraise

of alher; maximize the expression of beliefs which express approval of olhier”

Modesty maxim: “minimize the expression of praise of self, maximize the expression of dispraise of scl?”

Agreement maxim: “rinimizs the expression of disagreement between self and other; maximize the expression of agreement between self and other”

Sympathy maxim; “minimize antipathy between self and other; maximize sympathy between self and other”

Leech considers the Tacl maxim as the most important kind of polilsness in the English-speaking societies, He believes that his model could be applied universally across cultures, But in reality, it might be best applied to English culture whare social distance is given higher value especially in formal situations It shows that it is inappropriate for all situations and socictics where social intimacy is highly valued,

The most influential theory of politeness was originated by Brown and Levinson (1978

and revised in 1987) The significant point of their theory of potileness is the concept of

“face”, The term “face” in the sense of “reputation”, or “good name” was developed from

Goffiman’s concept of “face” (1955) to explain the use of politeness phenomena

According to Brown and Levinson (1987:66), fice tefers lo the public sebPimage that

every member (of a society) wants to claim for himself consisting of two relaied aspects:

Negative face: the basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to nor- distraction, i.e ta freedom of action and freedom from imposition

Positive face the positive consistend self-image or personality (crucially including the

desire that this self-image be appreciated;

In ofher words, negative face is he need to he indgpendent and positive face is the

need to be connected

Moreover, face is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost,

inaintained or enhanced, and must be coustanily atlended to in interaction In general, people

1

cooperafs (and assume each other’s cooperation) in maintaining face in interaction, such

cooperation being based on the mutual vulnerability of face That is, normally everyone’s face

depends on everyone else’s being maintained, and since people can be expected to defend

their face if threatened, and in defending their own to threaten others’ faces, it is in general in

every participant's bes! inlerzs lo maintain each alher’s face (Brown and Levinson, 1987)

Concerned with “positive face” and “negative face”, the concepts of positive and

negative politeness are developed

According to Yule (1996:69), negative politeness is a face saving act which oriented to

the person’s negative face will tend to show deference, emphasize the importance of the other’s lime or concerns, and cverrinchide an apotogy for the imposition or interruption

Brown and Levinson state that “negative politeness is redressive action address to the

addressee’s negative face: his want to have his freedom of action unhindered and his attention

unimpeded” (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 129) Thus, negative politeness focuses on

individualism and avoids intruding others’ privacy It is also the most preferred in English

culture

Unlike negalive poliloness, positive polileness a face saving acl which is concerned

with the person’s positive face will tend to show solidarity, emphasize that both Ss and Hs want the same thing, and that they have a common goal (Yule, 1996-69)

According lo Brown and Levinson (1987:1019, positive politeness is redress directed 10 the addressee’s positive tice, his perennial desire that his wants should be thought of as

desirable

ntioned four kinds of F

They also m Threatening Acts (FTAS) so thal people could

respect others’ face, feelings and avoid FTAs

1 Acts threatening to the hearer’s negative face by indicating that the speaker does not intend lo aveid impeding the hearer’s Geedom of action Eg: ordering,

suggesting, threatening, requesting, promising, ete

2 Acts threatening to the hearer’s positive face by indicating that the speaker does

not care about the addressee’s feclings and wants E.g.: disapproving, contempting, compluining, criticiing, disagreeing.

12

3 Acts threatening to the speaker's negative face F.g accepting an offer excusing, promising unwillingly

4 Acts threatening to the speaker's positive face E.g.: apolagizing, confessing

Brown and Levinson also point out five tacrostmtogies that speakers can sock te

avoid these above Face Threatening Acts

Lesser Fstinmated risk af fact pares

` 4, Off-tecord XS 3, Negative politeness

§.Dan't da the FTA Greater

Circumstance determining choice of strategy

In the context of the mutual vulnerability of face, the speaker has two choices: he may seek to avoid the FIA (Don’t do the FI'A) or decide to Do the FTA

The speaker goes on record in doing an acl A, if his statement is direeily addressed to

the hearer Doing an act on record consists of doing it

- without redressive (baldly) - the most clear, unobsecure possible way For example

in requesting, we say “Do it!”

- or with redressive action - giving “Face” to the hearer to prevent from the face

damage of the PTA with some allernations and additions There are two forms of action which

rely on which aspect of face (positive or negative) emphasized

On the other hand, the speaker goes off in doing an act of A, if there is “more than one

umambiguous atiributable intention” or the speaker avoids imposition on the hearer Speaker is

usually recommended te use the strategy marked by the cmploy of metaphor, irony, rhetorical,

questions, understatements, tautologies and all kinds of hints

13

1.1.2 Social factors afTecting politeness strategies

Brown and Levinson (1987:15) propose that three sociological factors are crucial in determining the level of politeness which a speaker (S) will use to an addressee (H); they are

relative power (P) of 1] over S, the social distance (1D) between S and II, and the ranking of the

imposition (R) involving in doing the fcc threatening acl (FTA)

P which is an asymmetue social dimension of relative power is the degree to which H can impose his own plans and his own self-evaluation (face) at the expense of S’s plans and sclf-cvaluation In general there arc two sources of pragmatics, cither of which may be authorized and authorized-material control (over economy distribution and physical force) and metaphysical control (over [ho actions of olhers, by virtue of metaphysical [Droos subscribed to

by those others)

D is a symmettic social dimension of similarity/difference within which $ and 11 stand for the purposes of this act In some situations, D is based on an assessment of the frequency

of interaction and thc kinds of material or non-material goods (including facc) cxchanged

hetween S and H (or parties or representing $ or H, or for whom S$ and H are representative)

An important part of the assessmant of D will usually be mcasuras of social dislartz based on stable social attributes The retlex of social closeness is, generally, the reciprocal giving and receiving of positive face

R is a culturally and situationally defined ranking of impositions by the degree to which they are considered to interfere with an agent’s wants of self-determination or of approval (his negative and positive face wants) In general, there are probably two such scales

or ranks thal arc identifiable for negalive-face FTAs: a tanking of immposilious in proportion io

in specific circumstances, so do the negative facc rankings Besides, that there are also

14

personal rankings can he explained why some people object to certain kinds of PTAs and

some do not

Asit can be seen obviously, all three dimensions P, D, and R have a great contribution

to the seriousness of the I'I4 which will determine the appropriate type of strategy to be used

1.2.3 Politeness and Indirectness

The notions of indireotness and politeness play an important role in the negotiation of

face during the realization of speech acts In fact, there are many studies on the relationship

between politeness and indircctness such as Leech (1983), Brown and Levinson (1987), Blum-

Kulka (1987), LoCastro (2003)

Leach (1983) states thal “indirect ilocutions tend to be more polite because they

increase the degree of optionality and because the more indirect an Hlocution is, the more

diminished anal tentative its force tends to be." \t means that the degree of politeness depends

on the frequency of using more indirect kind of illocution and relates closely to that of

optionality speaker gives to the hearers

Brown and Levinson show that there is a close relationship between the use of indirect

speech acts and politeness The degree of indircetness relates to the degree of face threatening,

Moreover, negative politeness is more polite than positive politeness because the speaker puts

more effort in face- preserving work of the hearer in the use of more indirect speech acts

LoCasiro (2003) points out the tink betwee

indireetness and politeness further

supported by Searle’s observation that “politeness is the most prominent motivation for indirectness in requests, and certain forms tend to became the conventionally polite ways of making indirect requests” (cited in Dung, 2008)

However, Blum- Kulka (1987) has a different view on the selationship between

politeness and indireciness when studying perception of politeness and indirectness in requests

s Sha

in Hebrew and English She shaws thal indizecinzss dogs nol nee ssarily imply politer

also argues that too much indirecmess may be perceived as lack of clarity which is a marker of

impoliteness.

Although there may be different views on the relationship between politeness and

indirecuwess in different cultures, in this study I believe there exists a positive correlation

between politeness and indirectness

1.2.4, Politeness strategles

Brown and negative strategies

1.2.4.1 Positive Politeness Strategies

1, Notice, attend to 11

ison propose 15 stralegics for achicving positive politeness and 10 for

Fou must be lumgry, it's a long time since

breakfast Taw about some hunch?

2, Exapgerate

3 Intensify interest to H

What a fantastic garden you have!

There were a million people in the Co-op

8 Joke Ok if L tackle those cookies now?

Positiv osifive 9, Assert or presuppose people's | J know you can?t bear parties, but this one

l knowledge and concern for H’s will really be good- do come!

12 Inelude both $ and II in the

Look, Tm sure you won't mind if I borrow

16

1.2.4.2 Negative Politeness Strategies

1 Re convenlionally indirzel Can you please pass the salt?

2 Question, hedge T suppose that Harry is coming

3 Be pessimistic Perhaps you'd care to help me

J just want ta ask you if { can borrew a litte

4 Minimize the imposition

paper

5 Give deference Thank you, sir

Negative 7, Impersonalize S and H Task you to do this for me

it We don’t sit on table 2 sit chuats

Politemess stale FTA as a general rule a YEE SHE OM EADIE, N08 SIE OR nhàng,

9 Nominalize Tim surprised at your failure to reply

10 Go onrecord as incwring adebt | 1 never be able io repay you if you

or off record as indebting H

(Rrown and Levinson, 1987 pp 101-135) 1.3 Previous studies on request and politeness strategy

According to Chieko ‘Takezawa in her M.A thesis at the University of Lritish

Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ‘“Poltteness and the speech act of Requesting in Japanese as a

second language” she studied how native Japanese speakers and native English speaking

learners of Japanese approached and allained their requ

sls goals while maintaining the face of both requester and requestee She used oral role play to collect data, The results showed that

there was not much difference in the use of honorific language between the Japanese and

Jeamers of Japanese But different linguistic devices were used for sentence endings,

especially request specch act endings, between the native Japanese and the learners of

Japanese,

In the Analysis of Appropriateness in a speech act of request in 1.2 linglish by Naoko

Taguchi in Pragmatics 14:4 (2006), there were fifty-nine Japanese college students of English

at two different proficiency levels evaluated for ability to produce a speech act of request in a

spoken tole play task Learners” production was analyzed quantitatively by rating performances

on a six-point scale for overall appropriateness, as well as qualitatively by identifying the

"Thảo (2010) also studied how politeness strategies manifested in requests in the novel

“The Thom Birds” by following the theoretical framework of Brown and Levinson 1987 in her minor M.A thesis at University of Languages and International Studics, Victnam National University he results show that characters in the novel use positive politeness strategies in

their requests al a little highcr frequency than negative politencss and the variation of the

proportion between positive and negative politeness strategies depending on social

relationship

Yên (2007) in her minor M.A thesis at University of Languages and International

Studics, Victnam National University camied out her study on finding the answers to two research questions: “Do British males and females differ in using politeness strategies in requesting?” and “Are female spcakers more polite than male speakers?” by using a written discourse completion task (DCT) consisting of 6 situations with 6 combinations of Power (P)

and Social Distance (D) designed to elicit the request speech act fiom 10 participants (5 males

and 5 fernales) The realization of cross gender potitenass request strategies were bused on politeness strategies by Brown and Levinson (1987) and the relationship between directness- indirectness politeness in requesting ‘The data were analyzed according to the Blum- Kulka clal’s framework (1989) on requests: alorlers, head acts, internal and extomal modifications Her study results revealed that in general both male and female participants were oriented towards politeness although women tended to be more polite than men in their requests Women wore found not lo be as direct as men They used internal and extemal modi cations more often than men whereas men were found to show their soldarity and in- groupness throngh their choice of endearment terms and informal attention getters

According to Hoa (2010), she investigated politeness strategies in cross- cultural communication with respect to conversations found in the coursebook Inside Out (Pre-

18

Intermediate) The data analysis was conducted mainly in the light of the politeness theories

by Brown & Levinson and Nguyen Quang The results revealed that the frequency of positive and negative politeness strategies depended largely on the relationships between the speaker and the hearer In addition, some suggestions were offered and sample exercises were given for better and more effective teaching and Toarning of positive and negative politeness

strategies

1.4, Summary

In this chapter we have reviewed the major issues of Spcoch Acts, Specch Act of

Requesting, Politeness, Politeness strategies by Brown and Levinson (1987) and some

previous sludics on request and poliioness stralogios Dilfaronl, languages and cultures have different norms for the approptiate realization of speech acts, so language leamers need

instructions in order to communicate appropriately in the target language In the following

chapter, the author will present ths findings and discussions about the frequency of politeness strategies in requests by the characters in the movie Harry Potter and the effects of S-H relationship on the choices of politeness strategies in requests In the next part, the author aims

to find the answers to the research questions,

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CHAPTER 2:

POLITNESS STRATEGIES IN REQUESTS IN THE

MOVIE SERIES “HARRY POTTER”

2.1, Pollteness strategies In Requests in the movie series “Llarry Potter”

This chapler investigaizs how the ehuraclers in the series of movies Harry Poller make

their requests politely by the frequency of using politeness strategies in ther requests as well

as how S-II relation affects their choice of politeness strategies Brown and Levinson

framework of politeness stratcgics is cmploycd in this study with 15 positive politeness

strategies and 10 negative politeness strategies

1.1 The frequency of politeness strategies In requests employed im the movie serles

“Harry Potter”

2.2.1, Sampling process

The process of collecting data consists of three steps Firstly, all the request utterances

in the conversations of the characters in three movies scrics Hurry Potter and the Prisoner of

stckaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Half Blaod Prince

asc picked up and classified by the author through her careful movie watching with the useful

support of the English subtitles 313 requests found in tluee episodes of the movie Harry

Potter belong to three categories of politeness strategies employed: posifive, negative and sometimes mixed politeness stralegics Secondly, all confexis with 8-H relationships ars considered in order to see how S-H relationship affects the choice of politeness strategies in requesting by the characters in the movies Finally, all the statistics needed for the study are cnleulaled carefnilly and presented in the following tables as well as chars

2.2.2, The frequency of politencss strategics in requests employed in the movie scries

“Larry Potter”

Positive politeness ‘Negative politeness Mixed politeness

105 33.55% 184 38.78 mM 7.67

Table }: The statistic of positive, negative and mixed paliteness strategies

The statistics can be converted into Pie-chart 1 as follows:

Pie- chart 1: The frequency of positive, negative and mixed politeness strategies

It can be seen clearly from the chart, the frequency of negative politeness strategies is

quite 1.5 times higher than the frequency of positive and mixed politeness strategies This

seems that the presumption of Brown and Levinson about the usage of politeness strategies is

quite appropriate in Western countries It means that negative politeness strategies are

preferred much more than positive ones because Western culture attaches more importance on

individual territory However, according to Nguyen Quang (2002), Vietnamese people in

particular and Oriental ones tend to be more in favor of positive politeness and familiar

interactions as they wish to show their concer to or for others, and thus, narrow the distance

between S and H

2.2.2.1 Positive politeness strategies in requests in the movie series “Harry Potter”

Strategy 1: Notice, attend to H (his interest, wants, needs, goods)

This strategy is commonly used in communication in order to satisfy an aspect of

positive face It is when you perform an action (which is often considered to be good), you

have something changed positively, or you possess a beautiful thing, etc and you always try to

attract others’ notice and comments

In this study, characters seem not to prefer using this strategy in making requests with

just only 1.53%

E.g.: I gotta tell you something Let me get it straight

Malfoy, are you ok? Let's go

(in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Strategy 2: Exaggerate