Politeness and Face Theory: Implications for the Backchannel Style of Japanese L1/L2 Speakers

要旨

This article revisits the long-standing debate regarding the universality of Brown and Levinson’s theory of\npoliteness. The negative face of conversational participants is addressed from the perspective of L1/L2 Japanese\nspeakers. Accordingly, the pragmalinguistic dimension of language examined in this paper (i.e.\nbackchannelling) offers novel insights into an aspect of face theory that has not been addressed in previous\ninvestigations. It is argued that, while L1/L2 Japanese speakers appear to be aware and sensitive of their\ninterlocutors’ negative face when using backchannels, this awareness is greatly superseded by the need to\nbehave according to the parameters determined by one’s position in the social hierarchy.

主題