ABSTRACT

This study investigates the specific patterns and functions of impolite and face-threatening acts (imp/FTAs) among undergraduates of state universities in the southwestern part of Nigeria in order to find out whether imp/FTAs necessarily lead to a disruption and breakdown of conversations. The study is further concerned with investigating the hearer’s response to imp/FTA and reasons for such response. Subjecting some recorded conversations of the undergraduates under study to descriptive analysis using Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory and Watt’s relational work, the study notes that despite the profusion of imp/FTAs in the conversations, they did not lead to a disruption or breakdown of conversations as hearers often disregarded the tokens or made mild comments to show that they noticed the imp/FTAs while they still sustained the conversations. The study concludes that imp/FTAs among undergraduates are discursive and context-bound since interactants regard imp/FTAs as conversational strategies.

摘要

这项研究调查了尼日利亚西南部州立大学的本科生中不礼貌和威胁性行为（imp / FTA）的具体模式和功能，以了解imp / FTA是否必然导致对话中断和中断。该研究还与调查听众对imp / FTA的反应以及这种反应的原因有关。该研究使用Brown和Levinson的礼貌理论以及Watt的关系研究方法，对一些正在研究的大学生的对话进行了描述性分析，该研究指出，尽管在对话中充斥着imp / FTA，他们并没有导致对话中断或中断，因为听众经常不理会令牌或发表温和的评论以表明他们在仍然保持对话的同时注意到了imp / FTA。该研究的结论是，由于互动者将imp / FTA视为对话策略，因此大学生中的imp / FTA具有话语性和上下文相关性。