Experimental evidence on requests in English varieties from the perspective of local grammar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/TheLinguisticProceedings/2025/17/02/021/000707Keywords:
speech acts, requests, English varieties, local grammarsAbstract
This study investigates the speech act of requesting in British, American, and Hong Kong English through the lens of local grammars. Using an experimental design with 150 speakers, the study analysed elicited requests to identify variety-specific patterns. The results reveal that while indirectness is a common feature, its linguistic implementation varies significantly. British English speakers favor politeness markers to achieve indirectness, American English speakers use more direct forms emphasizing modal verbs, and Hong Kong English speakers employ an integrated strategy of deference and indirectness. These findings demonstrate that request-making is deeply rooted in local socio-cultural norms, challenging universalist approaches and highlighting the value of the local grammar framework in understanding intercultural communication.References
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., Kasper, G. (Eds.). 1989. Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Ablex Publishing.
Brown, P., Levinson, S.C. 1987. Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.
McCloskey, J. 2006. Resumption. In Everaert, M., van Riemsdijk, H. (Eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Syntax (Vol. IV, pp. 1-33). Blackwell Publishing.
Stirling, L. 2004. Speech act theory and the study of language in use. In Guy, G.R., Feagin, C, Schiffrin, D., Stringer, D.N. (Eds.), The Handbook of Language Variation and Change (pp. 664-695). Blackwell Publishing.
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Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
