RSUSSH 2020

IN20-181 Politeness of Requests Made via ‘LINE’ Application

Presenter: Witsanuphong Suksakhon
Rangsit University, Thailand

Abstract

            This pragmatic study is aimed at investigating the selection of request strategies of the undergraduate students when performing requests to their teacher on LINE application. In order to fulfill the research aim, 40 LINE messages containing requests sent by 40 Thai undergraduate students were analyzed. The theoretical frameworks used in the analysis of the data included the request strategies proposed by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) along with the politeness theory by Brown and Levinson (1987). The findings showed that most students selected the direct strategy when making requests to their teacher regardless of the power and distance. Furthermore, it was found that the most frequently used external modifiers preceding and following the request head acts were the ‘title + preparatory’ and the ‘supportive reason’, respectively. It is hoped that this study will shed light on the understanding of students’ pragmatic competence as well as the impacts of technology on communication.

Keywords: Pragmatics; Request strategies; Computer-based communication; Applied Linguistics

Citation format:

Suksakhon, W.. (2020). Politeness of Requests Made via ‘LINE’ Application. Proceeding in RSU International Research Conference, May 1, 2020. Pathum Thani, Thailand.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Vorapon Mahakaew (Participant)

Dear Mr. Witsanuphong Suksakhon,


First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on this well-rounded presentation. It does shed some light on how communication plays a vital role in our society, and one part of your presentation (discussions) mentioned the work of Hofstede (2015) which led to my very question: 

Could you please provide some practical  applications of your results and the theory itself in the context of international communication and international negotiation?

Best regards,

Tony

Pawarisorn Somsin (Participant)

Politeness in your study was investigated through Line meassages or written texts. What are possible alternatives/ sources for studying politeness through oral messages?

Witsanuphong Suksakhon (Presenter)

@Pawarisorn Somsin. Thank you for the question. Basically, there are many studies on politeness and speech acts which analyze the authentic language or the 'oral messages' that you mentioned. They elicited the data using role plays, voice recording, group discussions, etc. :) 

Witsanuphong Suksakhon (Presenter)

@Vorapon Mahakaew 

Thank you for your kind comments. Well, it is hoped that my research findings would at least raise people's awareness on how the cultural values, dominant ideologies embedded in a particular society, and technology may affect the way people talk or communicate with each other. This can help them to avoid the communication breakdown and misunderstanding. :)

WS