An investigation into syntactic and pragmatic features in the language of negotiation used in english business correspondence

UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES ------ SCIENCE RESEARCH Topic: AN INVESTIGATION INTO SYNTACTIC AND PRAGMATIC FEATURES IN THE LANGUAGE OF NEGOTIATION

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UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES

- -

SCIENCE RESEARCH

Topic: AN INVESTIGATION INTO SYNTACTIC AND

PRAGMATIC FEATURES IN THE LANGUAGE OF

NEGOTIATION USED IN ENGLISH BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE

Student : HUỲNH THỊ HỒNG NHUNG

Class : 17CNATM03

Department of English for Specific Purposes

Danang, May 2021

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UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES

Scientific group : Social science

Student : Huỳnh Thị Hồng Nhung

Class : 17CNATM03

Course : 2017 - 2021

Department of English for Specific Purposes – Business English

Da Nang, May 2021

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES 5

LIST OF FIGURES 5

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5

ABSTRACT 8

1 INTRODUCTION 9

1.1 RATIONALE 9

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 10

1.2.1 Aims 10

1.2.2 Objectives 10

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 11

1.4 RESEARCH SCOPE 11

2 LITERATURE REVIEW & THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 11

2.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES 11

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 13

2.2.1 Definition of negotiation 13

2.2.2 Definition of business correspondence 13

2.2.3 Syntactic features in the language of negotiation 14

2.2.4 Pragmatic features used in the language of negotiation 15

3 METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES 19

3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

3.2 DATA COLLECTION 19

3.3 DATA ANALYSIS 19

4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 19

4.1 SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF THE LANGUAGE OF NEGOTIATION 19

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4.1.1 Passive voice 19

4.1.2 Transitional sentences 20

4.1.3 Summary of syntactic features 21

4.2 PRAGMATIC FEATURES OF THE LANGUAGE OF NEGOTIATION 21

4.2.1 Positive politeness strategies 21

4.2.1.1 Exaggerate (interest, approval or sympathy) with the H 21

4.2.1.2 Offer & Promise 22

4.2.1.3 Give (or ask for) reasons 23

4.2.1.4 Give gifts to H (goods, sympathy, understanding, cooperation) 23

4.2.2 Negative politeness strategies 24

4.2.2.1 Hedging words and phrases 24

4.2.2.2 Plural noun 25

4.2.3 Speech act 25

4.2.3.1 Directives 25

4.2.3.2 Expressives 26

4.2.4 Summary of pragmatic features 26

5 CONCLUSION – LIMITATIONS – RECOMMENDATION 27

5.1 CONCLUSION 27

5.2 IMPLICATION OF THE STUDY 28

5.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 28

5.4 RECOMMENDATION 29

6 REFERENCES 30

APPENDIX 34

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 The synthesis of analysed factors in syntactic features……….……… 14

Table 2 The synthesis of analysed factors in pragmatic features……… 17

Table 3 The frequency of some factors in syntactic features………20

Table 4 The summary of distribution of pragmatic features……….25

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 The frequency of “exaggeration”(%) ……….20

Figure 2 The frequency of “Offer & Promise”(%)……….21

Figure 3 The frequency of “Give (or ask for) reasons”(%)… ……….……….21

Figure 4 The frequency of “Give gifts to H”(%)……….……… 22

Figure 5 The frequency of “hedging words and phrases”(%) ………23

Figure 6 The frequency of “Plural noun” (%)……… ……… 23

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

H Hearer

FTA Face Threatening Act

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ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

THÔNG TIN KẾT QUẢ NGHIÊN CỨU CỦA ĐỀ TÀI

1 Thông tin chung:

- Tên đề tài: “Nghiên cứu về đặc tính cú pháp và ngữ dụng trong ngôn ngữ đàm

phán được sử dụng trong thư tín thương mại tiếng Anh”

- Sinh viên thực hiện: Huỳnh Thị Hồng Nhung

- Lớp: 17CNATM03

- Khoa: Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Năm thứ: 4

- Người hướng dẫn: ThS Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Phượng

2 Mục tiêu đề tài: Khảo sát và phân tích các đặc tính cú pháp và ngữ dụng của ngôn ngữ

đàm phán được sử dụng trong thư tín thương mại Tiếng Anh

3 Tính mới và sáng tạo: Kết hợp 2 lý thuyết, thuyết lịch sự của Brown & Levinson

(1987) và thuyết hành vi lời nói của Yule (1998) để làm rõ đặc điểm cú pháp và ngữ dụng

của ngôn ngữ đàm phán trong văn viết từ đó rút ra các đặc điểm cú pháp và ngữ dụng

được sử dụng thường xuyên trong ngôn ngữ đàm phán, và đưa ra các đề xuất phù hợp đối

với việc áp dụng ngôn ngữ đàm phán trong TTTM TA

4 Kết quả nghiên cứu: Thuyết lịch sự của Brown & Levinson được sử dụng nhiều nhất,

bao gồm các chiến lược “exaggeration (phóng đại)”, “offer & promise (hứa hẹn, đề

nghị)”, “Give (or ask for) reasons (đưa ra lý do)”, “Give gifts to hearer (tặng quà cho

người nghe)”, “Hedging words and phrases (dùng từ nói tránh)”, “Plural noun (đại từ số

nhiều)” Đa phần người viết biết cách triển khai ngôn ngữ đàm phán trong văn viết, song

vẫn chưa áp dụng tối đa câu bị động để tránh thể hiện sự thô lỗ

5 Đóng góp về mặt kinh tế – xã hộI, giáo dục và đào tạo, an ninh, quốc phòng và

khả năng áp dụng của đề tài: Đề tài đã nêu lên được các đặc điểm ngôn ngữ của ngôn

ngữ đàm phán trong thư tín kinh doanh tiếng Anh Từ đó đưa ra đề xuất cho người viết

trong việc áp dụng chuyên nghiệp ngôn ngữ đàm phán trong thư tín thương mại tiếng

Anh

6 Công bố khoa học của sinh viên từ kết quả nghiên cứu của đề tài (ghi rõ tên tạp chí

nếu có) hoặc nhận xét, đánh giá của cơ sở đã áp dụng các kết quả nghiên cứu (nếu có):

Đà Nẵng, ngày…tháng… năm 2021

Sinh viên chịu trách nhiệm chính thực hiện

(ký, họ và tên)

Nhận xét của người hướng dẫn về những đóng góp khoa học của sinh viên thực hiện

đề tài (phần này do người hướng dẫn ghi):

Đà Nẵng, ngày…tháng… năm 2021

Xác nhận của Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Người hướng dẫn

(ký tên và đóng dấu) (ký, họ và tên)

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ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

THÔNG TIN VỀ SINH VIÊN CHỊU TRÁCH NHIỆM CHÍNH THỰC HIỆN ĐỀ TÀI

I SƠ LƯỢC VỀ SINH VIÊN:

Họ và tên : Huỳnh Thị Hồng Nhung

Sinh ngày : 24 tháng 03 năm 1999

Nơi sinh : Sơn Trà, Tp Đà Nẵng

Lớp : 17CNATM03 Khóa: 2017

Khoa : Tiếng Anh Chuyên ngành

Địa chỉ liên hệ : 2 Nại Thịnh 6, quận Sơn Trà, Tp Đà Nẵng

Điện thoại: 0932988491 Email: nhunghuynh99@gmail.com

II QUÁ TRÌNH HỌC TẬP (kê khai thành tích của sinh viên từ năm thứ 1 đến năm

đang học):

* Năm thứ 1:

Ngành học: Tiếng Anh Thương mại Khoa: Tiếng Anh Chuyên ngành

Kết quả xếp loại học tập: Bình thường

Sơ lược thành tích:

* Năm thứ 2:

* Năm thứ 3:

*Năm thứ 4:

Ngày 19 tháng 05 năm 2021

Xác nhận của Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Sinh viên chịu trách nhiệm chính

(ký, họ và tên) thực hiện đề tài

(ký tên và đóng dấu)

Ảnh 4x6

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TÓM TẮT

Nghiên cứu về đặc điểm cú pháp và ngữ dụng là một trong những vấn đề ngôn ngữ được quan tâm trong các văn bản xúc tiến Có nhiều nghiên cứu đã thực hiện phân tích đặc điểm ngôn ngữ trong các văn bản thương mại, thư tín Nghiên cứu này đã tìm hiểu về đặc điểm ngữ dụng và đặc điểm cú pháp trong ngôn ngữ đàm phán của thư tín thương mại bằng tiếng anh Thông qua hai phương pháp nghiên cứu là định tính và định lượng, bài nghiên cứu đã tìm ra được những đặc điểm nổi bật trong ngôn ngữ đàm phán được sử dụng trong thư tín thương mại tiếng Anh Trên cơ sở nguyên lý về lịch sự của Brown và Levinson (1987) và lý thuyết hành vi ngôn ngữ của Yule (1998) nghiên cứu đã tiến hành phân tích và đánh giá qua 65 thư tín thương mại tiếng anh và tìm ra được các chiến thuật chính giúp người viết có thể thuyết phục và đàm phán chuyên nghiệp thông qua thư tín

Từ đó suy ra các đặc điểm cần chú trọng trong ngôn ngữ đàm phán, qua đó có thể duy trì và xây dựng được mỗi quan hệ tốt đẹp trong thương mại

Từ khóa: Đặc điểm cú pháp, đặc điểm ngữ dụng, thư tín thương mại, ngôn ngữ đàm

phán

ABSTRACT

Scientific research on syntactic and pragmatic features is one of the most popular linguistic features in business correspondence Many studies have analyzed the language characteristics of business correspondence or business negotiation This study investigated the pragmatic features and syntactic features in the language of negotiation in English business correspondence Through two research methods, qualitative and quantitative, the research has found the key features in language of negotiation used in English business correspondence On the basis of the politeness theory of Brown and Levinson (1987) and speech act of Yule (1998), the study analyzed and evaluated 65 business correspondence and found linguistic strategies that promote cooperation in business settings Therefore, indicating important factors of language of negotiation, contributing to creating a good relationship in business

Keywords: Syntactic features, pragmatic features, business correspondence, language of negotiation

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1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE

With the development of economic globalization, the exchanges of international trade have grown considerably these days, leading to great demand in cooperation among businesses all over the world Therefore, to initiate and maintain the business relationships between the trade members, communication – “the transfer of thought from one person to another'' is the backbone of a thriving business Business correspondence is

an indispensable part of business communication In fact, negotiation is a vehicle of communication and business communication is a process through which the parties involved establish partnerships or relationships, negotiate terms, strike deals, and complete transactions

Business English correspondence takes various forms serving the purposes of inquiring information, offering, giving a reply, negotiating, proposing, claiming and adjusting, ordering goods, selling products, and also building good relationships, etc Such aforementioned forms require the writer's language of negotiation skills which play

a critical role in business activities, in general Absolutely, the merits of a well-written business letter are to accelerate the ongoing deal as well as form a trustful relationship between two parties for potential contracts in the future While an inappropriate business letter might cause misunderstanding during a transaction, and this can bring unpredictable troubles in the following steps or even result in a total failure of the deal Therefore, writing decent business correspondence, being aware of the importance and the basic principle for language of negotiation in written discourse is a must, potentially bringing high profits and economic benefits for enterprises in the future

Due to the increasingly fierce competition in the international market economy, research on business correspondence, and business negotiation in particular, is thriving There has been research into the language of negotiation used in face-to-face negotiation, technology-mediated negotiation or email negotiation (e.g Nadler & Shestowsky, 2006; Astrid Jensen, 2009) Moreover, because of the wake of globalization and an increase of international trading, the focus of research shifted to the cross-cultural business negotiation (e.g Garcez, 1993; Marriott, 1995; Salacuse, 1999; Gimenez, 2001;

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Grindsted, 2009; Zhu, 2011; Yoon và Yang, 2012; Planken, 2005; Usunier, 2003; Gelfand

& Brett, 2004) Despite the growing attention to the pedagogy of business negotiation, there is also an astonishing scarcity of serious research on the language of negotiation in business correspondence Hence, it is important to figure out the usage of language of negotiation and how to use it to compose a decent business correspondence It can be said that understanding language components, including syntax and pragmatics is one of the most fundamental keys to breakthrough business success

Therefore, “An investigation into syntactic and pragmatic features in the language of negotiation used in English business correspondence” has been chosen as

the topic of this thesis This study would be beneficial to students in English faculty in general and Department of English for Specific Purposes in specific, the results will help students better understand the use of language of negotiation in business letters in terms

of form and function, hence they can apply them in specific communication contexts to promote business cooperation Finally, the findings would serve as a useful basis for any other related fields of study

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.1 Aims

The aim of this research is to oﬀer a succinct overview of language of negotiation in business correspondence in terms of syntactic and pragmatic features The researcher attempts to identify and analyze syntactic and pragmatic features of language of negotiation in English business correspondence Thereby indicating profound factors used

in language of negotiation

1.2.2 Objectives

- To identify language of negotiation in English business correspondence

- To analyze, describe and generalize syntactic, pragmatic aspects of the language of negotiation in English business correspondence

- Suggest some ideas for users about the language of negotiation in English business correspondence to achieve effective communication

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Due to the lack of time and materials, this study only focuses on 65 business correspondence, collected from official books and websites

2 LITERATURE REVIEW & THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES

In recent years, an increasing number of people are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of business correspondence As its crucial role in business transactions, considerable researchers and scholars both at home and abroad have conducted research

on business correspondence and various aspects of business letters

In English, various scholars whose studies are potentially beneficial for the topic of business correspondence There are many studies published in various books including Taylor (2012) who provided specific phrases, expressions and useful structures used in many different kinds of business letters based on 500 sample documents With the same content, Robert G Insley (2016) and A Ashley (1992) also discuss writing principles and the various forms of written business communication and Julia (2015) indicates major types of business correspondence and provides readers with an insight into effective business letter writing

As regards negotiation, the bulk of research on negotiation has been conducted, contributing to the establishment of a theory of negotiation on the basis of linguistics such

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as Charles (1996) investigates the organisation and rhetoric of sales negotiations using a methodology that draws on both discourse analysis and business studies of negotiation, Mahmoodi (2012) research negotiation strategies and skills in International Business In addition, some researchers study deeply in specific fields of negotiation, including Adachi (2010) studies business relationship between American and Japanese or Astrid Jensen (2009) studies a case study about relations between use of specific discourse strategies in their e-mail communication between a Danish Company and its business contact in Taiwan

In Vietnam, many significant books majoring in business correspondence for example “Ngôn ngữ thư tín thương mại tiếng Anh”, “Nghi thức thư tín thương mại Quốc Tế”, “Giáo trình thư tín thương mại quốc tế” or “Phân tích diễn ngôn thư tín thương mại”

by Nguyễn Trọng Đàn In such books, he indicated structural characteristics of business letters and presented proper ways of using business vocabulary in business correspondence Additionally, various books contribute to this aspect, “Giáo trình tiếng anh thư tín thương mại” that guide users to design a letter and the use of business vocabulary, “Tuyển chọn 500 mẫu thư thương mại và thông báo tiếng Anh” collected selected business letters and different documents in business settings Besides, there have been many studies on business correspondence including Nguyen Thanh Ngoc (2016) whose research made to analyzed the structural characteristics of the refusals and the politeness strategies used or Nguyen Thi My Chau (2004) indicated necessary features of words used in business correspondence and etc

Refer to business negotiation, the first author is Nguyễn Xuân Thơm (2001), whose research is “ Các yếu tố ngôn ngữ trong đàm phán thương mại quốc tế” or Nguyễn Hồng Nhung (2010) presents the cultural effects on Vietnam and Japan negotiation and a group

of students in Hanoi University (2013) research negotiation strategies in import and export

In general, a wide range of books and materials on business letters has thoroughly provided understanding about the importance of written letters and ways and tips to have successful business correspondence In the discussion about language of negotiation in business correspondence, it is necessary to understand the principles of discourse

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analysis However, there is little research focused on language of negotiation in business correspondence in terms of pragmatic and syntactic analysis Therefore, this paper will study the strategies of language of negotiation according to the politeness theory of Brown and Levinson (1987) and speech act of Yule (1998)

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.2.1 Definition of negotiation

According to Fisher et al (1991), negotiation is a purposeful activity with each party seeking to achieve an outcome at least as good as might be obtained elsewhere Similarly, Fisher, Ury & Patton (1986) state that negotiation is a means of getting what you want from others, and is a face-to face communication with the intent of reaching agreement

In addition, negotiation, according to Putnam & Jones (1982, p 72), can be defined

as a ‘‘communication process, characterized by the exchange of information, arguments, and strategic manoeuvres'' Whereby two or more parties engage in a give-and-take interaction to reach mutually acceptable solutions

As regard Lampi’s definition of negotiation, it is defined as an interactive activity between at least two parties who have conflicting interests, at least one mutual problem, and who are in the process of looking for a solution to the problem(s) and/or resolving the conflict (Lampi, 1986, p 9)

2.2.2 Definition of business correspondence

According to Comas et al (1993), business correspondence is the communication and negotiation in writing between business people or films to reach an agreement in deals, often in the forms of enquiry, reply, offer, quotation, order, contract, request, claim, memorandum of understanding, and all kinds of official documents

Poe (1988, p 1) claims that correspondence in business does not only provide a channel for communication between business houses but also effectively replaces for a face-to-face visit, attracting, holding customers and building a favourable image for a company

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According to Gartise (1995, p 1), correspondence covers every conceivable phase

of business activity since through correspondence, enquiries are answered, quotations are given, orders are placed, complaints are dealt with, transport and insurance are arranged, and accounts are settled

2.2.3 Syntactic features in the language of negotiation

According to Chomsky (1965), “Syntactic is the study of the principles and process

by which sentences are constructed in particular languages Syntactic investigation of

a given language has as its goal the construction of a grammar that can be viewed as

a device of some sort for producing the sentences of the language under analysis” In other words, syntactic features involve the rules governing the structure of a language such as a form of words, the structure of phrases, clauses, sentences and etc The meaning of the sentence may be different if the syntax of the sentence varies This thesis will investigate the features namely passive voice sentences and transitional sentences

2.2.3.1 The Passive voice

Understanding is the processing of mind and representation on the level of consciousness When threatening the face of the listener, the speaker often avoids mentioning the name of the recipient That can build a cognitive context, maintaining the face of the recipient In business negotiation, people often use passive sentences to reduce the loss of the face of the recipient

For examples: Unless we receive the components within the next five days, the order will

be cancelled and placed elsewhere

Unless we receive the components within the next five days, we will cancel your order and place elsewhere

Compare these two, we can see that the first sentence sounds more distant and polite

as no-one is requested in particular If the speaker does not use passive voice in this situation, it might affect both the speaker and hearer FTA

2.2.3.2 Transitional Sentences

To maintain the recipient’s negative face, when the speaker poses a threat to the face

of the recipient, he needs to imply that he has considered the needs of the recipient

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Transitional sentences are a very typical example When threatening the recipient’s face, transitional sentences can weaken the face loss of the recipient

For example: I really don’t want to bother you, but we usually accept your payment by

irrevocable letter of credit payable against shipping documents

In general, there are various factors belonging to “Syntactic”, however, the author opts for two specific features based on aspects in the following table

Table 1 The synthesis of analysed factors in syntactic features

Passive voice Unless we receive the components within the next five days,

the order will be cancelled and placed elsewhere

Transitional sentences I really don’t want to bother you, but we usually accept your

payment by irrevocable letter of credit payable against shipping documents

2.2.4 Pragmatic features used in the language of negotiation

According to Fareed (2018), there are typical pragmatic features affecting the business negotiation including “speech acts”, “deixis”, “relevance”, “presupposition”,

“politeness”, “7 strategic maneuvering”, “rhetorical” Generally, all these pragmatic features are used in the language of negotiation, however, some of them are applied for oral while this study focuses on written discourse Therefore, the author chooses to study the characteristics of negotiation language in written discourse based on the politeness theory of Brown and Levinson (1987) and the speech act of Yule (1998)

2.2.4.1 Politeness theory by Brown & Levinson (1987)

A Positive politeness strategies

Positive politeness strategies are adopted to make the listener feel a sense of closeness and belonging in that the speaker can show something in common with the hearer to protect his positive face According to Brown and Levinson (1987), eight specific strategies have been put forward in negative politeness strategies: notice and attend to the hearer’s wants, interests and needs, exaggerate their interest, approval or sympathy in the hearer, be optimistic, include both speaker and hearer in activity, offer or

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promise, avoid disagreement, give gifts to H (goods, sympathy, understanding, cooperation) Some of them can be used in the language of negotiation Therefore, here are some linguistic strategies concluded from those eight strategies that will help save faces of the hearers

a Exaggerate (interest, approval or sympathy) with the H

“Exaggerate” is used to emphasize the writer’s intention and enhance the strength of

an utterance in language of negotiation Thereby, the writer can express his emotion and feelings that help the reader sense his words It is illustrated through emphatic words/particles such as for sure, really, exactly, absolutely and etc

For example: What a fantastic garden you have! (Brown and Levinson, 1987, p 104)

b Offer & Promise

Offer and promises are commonly used in business negotiation By using these strategies, the writer may claim that whatever the reader wants, the writer will help to obtain the reader’s wants They demonstrate the speaker’s good intentions in satisfying the hearer’s wants in language of negotiation

For example: If you wash the dishes I’ll vacuum the floor

c Give (or ask for) reasons

Language of negotiation indicates the negotiating process between two parties, so

“give (or ask for) reasons” is inevitable This strategy is used to help the writer minimize the FTAs by giving reasons for the action taken The writer gives reasons in order to influence the hearer to agree with his/her reasons

For example: Why not lend me your cottage for the weekend?

(Brown and Levinson, 1987, p 128)

d Give gifts to H (goods, sympathy, understanding, cooperation)

As usual, in oral negotiation, the speaker can illustrate his willingness or emotion through tangible gifts or body language However, the language of negotiation in business correspondence relies on word expression Hence, this strategy, the writer may satisfy the reader’s positive – face want by actually satisfying some of the reader’s wants by expressing the wants to be liked, admired, cared about, understood, listened to, etc

For example: I’m sorry to hear that

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B Negative politeness strategies

They are oriented to the hearer’s negative face and emphasize avoiding imposition

on the hearer According to Brown and Levinson (1987), seven specific strategies have been proposed in negative politeness strategies: be indirect, use hedges or questions, be pessimistic, minimize the imposition, use obviating structures like nominalizations, passives, or statements of general rules, apologetic, and use plural pronouns Some of them can be used in the language of negotiation Therefore, here are some strategies concluded from those seven strategies that will help save faces of the hearers

a Hedging words and phrases

Hedges are words whose job is to make things fuzzy (Zhou, 2001, p 13) In business, people often negotiate, so using this strategy can soften the tone of language of negotiation and avoid being too rude when they want to mention unpleasant things such

as delay in payment of one party based on hedges such as some, sort of, kind of, and etc

For example: From Our Previous Transactions you will realize that this sort of problem

is quite unusual

In addition, there are hedges that express attitudes, such as I believe, I suppose, I’m afraid, etc help to minimize imposition of language of negotiation

For example: I’m afraid I can’t agree with the price you set (Tang, 1998, p 18)

Compared with “I can’t agree with the price you set”, which is rude and imposes on the hearer, the above example is more soft and polite

b Plural pronouns

Speaker’s attitude can be adopted in the language of negotiation in business correspondence and appropriate personal pronouns can make written language more polite Usually, pronouns are used in the context of business discourse to express group identity The first person plural personal pronoun “we” applied widely in business correspondence is a key item, otherwise, “you, I, she and he” are negative pronouns

For example: We regret to inform you (Brown and Levinson, 1987, p 202)

2.2.4.2 Speech act by Yule (1998)

Besides Yule, there are many scholars including Austin J, Searle JR, Levinson SC, who have studied speech acts with the same view that Speech act is a unit of

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communication that performs a certain function, such as complimenting, apologizing,

offering help, etc

There are many theories of action such as Representatives, Directives, Commissives, Expressives and Declaratives

a Directives

Directives are used to perform a speech act with particular intention of the speaker

to get hearer to do something (Yule, 1996) Directives show “world-to-word” fit The context of the utterance eliciting some sort of action on the part of the example: ask, urge, insist, tell, command, forbid, direct, warn, etc These such commands, orders, requests, suggestions can be positive and negative depending on the speaker's intention and utterance

For example: Could you lend me a pen, please? (Yule, 1998, p 54)

b Expressives

Expressives are categories in speech act which reveal the speaker’s feelings and towards a particular proposition As usual, they express the psychological states or the truth of the expressed proposition via statements of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy or sorrow The English verbs of expressive that stated by Searle and Vanderveken (1985, p

211) are apologize, thank, condole, congratulate, complain, lament, protest, deplore,

boast, compliment, praise, welcome, and greet

For example: I’m really sorry! (Yule, 1998, p 54)

In general, the author analyses the pragmatic features based on aspects in the following table

Table 2 The synthesis of analysed factors in pragmatic features

- Positive politeness strategies

• Exaggerate their interest, approval or sympathy in the

hearer

• Offer & Promise

• Give (or ask for) reasons

• Give gifts to H (goods, sympathy, understanding,

- Directives

- Expressives

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