Essay

Gek 1036

Cross-Cultural Communication & Discourse

Social Distance and expression of disagreements

Name: Or Huixian Olivia, Patrice Ong Hwei Yuan

Matriculation no.: U063344W, U063312j

Course: Pharmacy Year 3

Date: 16TH nov 2008

Project Report: Social distance and expression of disagreements

1. Introduction

Disagreements are part and parcel of daily interactions, functioning to hone one’s social skills, build rapport and solidarity with others, and define one’s own identity, to name a few. In addition, this speech act has been acknowledged as a component of the learning process; it has been used extensively in the classroom setting as an educational tool (Rees-Miller, 2000). Clearly, disagreements are indispensable in conversations, and it is interesting to note that it can be expressed orally, as well as in the unspoken form. In our scope of study, we will be focusing on spoken forms of disagreement.

There have been many studies done on disagreements over the years, and topics covered by them span a wide variety. Among other things, literatures have studied (1) factors influencing disagreement production (such as power, severity, and social distance) (Rees-Miller, 2000), (2) the structure of disagreements, as determined by their use of linguistic markers and their disagreement patterns (Scott, 2002), (3) classifications of disagreements (Turnbull and Muntigl, 1998), (4) educational and political uses (Price V.; Cappella J. N.; Nir L, 2002), (5) different definitions by authors (in relation to power and social distance) (Spencer-Oatey, 1996), and (6) how inter- and intra-cultural aspects can affect disagreement strategies (Georgakopoulou, 2001, and Garcia, 1989).

Theories on disagreements and social distance have been put forth by these literatures, but whether such theories are applicable cross-culturally is a big question. In addition, few, or even none of...