Introduction: Politeness as a General Concept
According to Brown and Levinson (1978) politeness is a complex system for all human puplic and social interaction with the conventional politeness forms such as requests (e.g.: May I please use your phone?), excuses (e.g.: I'm very sorry for being late!), greetings (e.g.: Good evening, my dear Mister Jones.), orders (e.g.: Could you please be so kind as to give me the sugar?), claims (e.g.: Excuse me, this is my seat.), offers (e.g.: Would you like to have a cup of coffee?), 'please' and of course 'thank you'.
In 1973, Robin Lakoff pointed out that the system of politeness follows two major rules:
1. Be clear.
2. Be polite.
The first rule includes Grice's postulates accounting efficiency, economy and informativeness:
a) Quantity: Be as informative as required.
Be no more informative than required.
b) Quality: Say only what you believe to be true.
c) Relevance: Be relevant.
d) Manner: Be perspicuous.
Don't be ambiguous.
Don't be obscure.
Be succint.
[...]
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Politeness as a General Concept
2. Analysis about "The Developmental Perspectives on Politeness Forms
2.1. Examples: Addressing the Child's Face Needs
2.2. Where Children Gain their Knowledge about Politenes
3. Politeness and Persuasion in Children's Language/Dating the Acquisition of Polite Forms
4. How Children Direct Polite Forms
5. What Affects the Choice of Control Acts?
5.1. Activity and Context
5.2. Status
5.3. Rights
5.4. Costs
6. Experiments on Children's Use of Polite Forms
6.1. Anderson's Hand Puppet-Study
6.2. Ervin-Tripp's and Gordon's Analysis about Politeness and Persuasion (1986)
6.3. Testing the Children's Awareness of Polite Forms
6.4. Why Was He Nicer?
6.5. The Developmental Stages in Acquiring a Politeness System Language
7. When Children's Requests are Ignored or Refused
8. Summoned Up Results
Objectives and Key Themes
This work examines the acquisition of politeness systems in the language of children, investigating how they learn to navigate social distance, power dynamics, and face-wants to achieve their communicative goals. It explores the developmental progression from basic imperative usage to sophisticated strategic language use.
- Developmental stages of politeness acquisition in early childhood.
- The role of parental teaching and family interaction patterns.
- Impact of social status, rights, and situational context on request strategies.
- Comparative analysis of child interactions with parents vs. experimenters.
- Evolution of persuasive linguistic devices and awareness of face threats.
Excerpt from the Book
6.3 Testing the Childrens' Awareness of Polite Forms:
In an Italian experiment, 60 children between 2;10 and 6;2 were tested about forms they know or consider as polite. They were introduced to a handpuppet called 'Signora Rossi', an elderly, grey-haired woman who was in possession of some sweets. The figure of an elderly woman was chosen because old people are paid a lot of respect to in Italian society. It was hoped that this increases the readiness for children to be polite to the highest degree. The children were told that Signora Rossi would give them a caramel if they asked very nicely. Regardless of the used form of request, Signora Rossi refused to give the subject any sweets at the first try. Then the experimenter pretended to whisper something with Signora Rossi and then asked the child to ask even more nicely, because Signora Rossi was old and liked it if children were very, very nice. Then the child starts another attempt and was then rewarded, no matter if this attempt was more polite than the first or not. This should prevent that the children got bored or tired of asking all over again by not being rewarded. The purpose of this experiment was to find out how inventive children are in creating polite sentences, what they consider as polite and how they are able to control the degree of politeness in requests.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Politeness as a General Concept: Introduces politeness as a complex system of human interaction defined by rules of clarity and politeness, setting the stage for child acquisition research.
2. Analysis about "The Developmental Perspectives on Politeness Forms: Examines parental strategies in teaching children politeness markers through everyday interactions and direct instruction.
3. Politeness and Persuasion in Children's Language/Dating the Acquisition of Polite Forms: Traces the early development of imperative intentions and the subsequent acquisition of polite forms by age three.
4. How Children Direct Polite Forms: Analyzes the emergence of control acts and how children interpret dialogue to achieve their needs.
5. What Affects the Choice of Control Acts?: Details how situational variables like activity, status, ownership rights, and request costs influence the specific form of children's requests.
6. Experiments on Children's Use of Polite Forms: Reviews empirical studies, including hand-puppet tasks, to assess how children understand and manipulate degrees of politeness.
7. When Children's Requests are Ignored or Refused: Discusses developmental shifts in how children react to failed requests, moving from simple repetition to mitigation and justification.
8. Summoned Up Results: Concludes that politeness in childhood is a strategic social game that evolves from memorized routines to nuanced pragmatic skill.
Keywords
Politeness, Language Acquisition, Children, Control Acts, Pragmatics, Persuasion, Face-wants, Social Status, Imperatives, Interrogatives, Intonation, Mitigation, Developmental Linguistics, Social Interaction, Directives.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The work investigates the linguistic and social development of politeness in children, focusing on how they acquire strategies to influence others and meet their needs through varying forms of requests.
What are the central themes covered?
The themes include the influence of social status, the role of parental education, the effect of request costs, and the development of moral awareness regarding communicative behaviors.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to determine the developmental sequence of politeness acquisition and how this correlates with the child's ability to interpret social interactions and adapt their speech accordingly.
Which methodologies are employed?
The research relies on longitudinal observations of family conversations and experimental setups, such as hand-puppet role plays, to analyze how children respond to different social scenarios.
What does the main body address?
It addresses the transition from early imperative-based requests to the mastery of formal and conditional structures, as well as the strategic use of politeness markers based on the listener's identity.
Which keywords characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms like Politeness, Language Acquisition, Pragmatics, Control Acts, and Developmental Linguistics.
How does the "Signora Rossi" experiment clarify children's politeness?
This experiment reveals that children differentiate politeness levels by evaluating specific linguistic devices like the use of 'please', intonation, and formal address when interacting with an authority figure.
Why do younger children often use fewer politeness markers with their mothers?
The study suggests that children perceive mothers as primary providers of goods and services, leading to a level of compliance that reduces the immediate perceived necessity for polite strategies compared to interactions with strangers.
- Quote paper
- Thomas Schöll (Author), 1997, The Acquisition of Politeness in the Language of Children, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/12026
