Requests and Culture: Politeness in British English and Japanese

by Saeko Fukushima

Overview

This book presents a cross-cultural comparison between British and Japanese cultures focusing on requests and responses. The study is based on data elicited from a questionnaire which lists the choices of strategies for making requests and responding to off-record requests, taking into account the variables power, social distance and imposition. The author’s findings suggest important refinements to Brown and Levinson’s politeness categorisation and question the validity of cultural stereotypes. Drawing on the distinction between individualist and collectivist cultures, this study also accounts for differences between the politeness strategies in British English and Japanese.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783039100453
Publisher:	Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Publication date:	04/25/2003
Edition description:	3rd Revised ed.
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.91(w) x 8.66(h) x 0.04(d)

About the Author

The Author: Saeko Fukushima is Professor of English at Tsuru University in Japan. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Reading in England.

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction – Politeness Theories – Requests and Responses to Requests – Cultural Dimensions of the Study – Research Design and Methodology – Results – Discussion – Conclusion.