Exercising politeness

Radio phone-in programmes have been the subject of a number of studies using the methodology of conversation analysis. Although this has been successful in making apparent the sequential organization of this type of interaction, little has been said about its categorial organization. Adopting an ethnomethodological approach, it is demonstrated in this article that interaction on public access radio can be seen to rely upon categorial and sequential identities built up and developed upon over the course of interaction. By paying attention to the categorial features within media interaction, together with the sequential organization, it is possible to examine the way identities are reflexively developed in conjunction with the sequential flow of interaction. This in turn allows an analysis able to address the multilayered organizational methods used by members as part of the on-going flow of interaction.

This study aims to describe the discourse features of an Ethiopian health radio phone-in program. More specifically, building on previous studies that draw on the methodological insights of CA/MCA, we demonstrate how topical discussion about public health issues on a radio phone-in show is accomplished. Our analysis is based on eight hours of recorded and transcribed talk data from a public FM radio station broadcasting in Amharic, FM Addis 97.1. Our analysis shows that the speech exchange between the host and callers is central to the organization of interactions in the talk show and comprises phases such as openings, topical talk, and closings. We further demonstrate using examples how what counts as ‘topical talk’ is initiated and pursued through reliance on a sequential development of relevant categories and identities, where one builds upon another during the course of the interaction. Our analysis reveals that interaction resources such as reminding callers of the theme/topic, posing a question relating to the theme of the talk, and using ‘eshi’ (which translates as ‘ok’) or ‘eshi’ prefaced statements or questions are employed to initiate topical talk as well as elicit callers’ membership categories vis-à-vis the theme. Such categorical information is in turn drawn upon to develop topical talk. Central to the development of topical talk in the program then is the elicitation of callers’ first-hand experiential accounts. Overall, we illustrate that the accomplishment of the topical talk involves a reflexive combination of categorical and sequential methods through which layers of background context are built and drawn upon by the participants in the talk show.

During the course of this chapter, I reflect on Sacks’s ideas concerning membership categories and categorization in terms of social media practices and interaction. The chapter argues that his ideas surrounding membership categorization and their development by key ethnomethodologists provide a live apparatus that generates insight into routine practices associated with the everyday use, practical experience and navigation of prominent social media platforms such as Twitter. The chapter considers some of these through a number of illustrative empirical examples and reflects on how social media culture-in-action represents an increasingly important site for ethno-inquiries that have a focus on membership categorization analysis in digitally networked times.

Historically, gambling has varied considerably regarding its moral and social meanings. Whilst frequent gambling is often constructed as deviant, professional poker playing can be argued to occupy the conflicting position of both deviant and legitimate. This study explored how professional poker players negotiate this potentially troubled aspect of their identities. Semistructured interviews were conducted with four men from the United Kingdom who played casino poker. The data were analysed using membership categorization analysis. The following membership categorisations were in use within participants' accounts: gambler, grinder, maverick, and nongambler, as well as the central categorisation of professional poker player. Participants constructed themselves as stigmatised because they were frequent gamblers and poker players. Thus professional poker players utilised membership categorisation to distance themselves from other membership categories, particularly gamblers, which was achieved primarily through claims warranted by reference to skill and control.

The problem discussed in this study is a negative politeness strategy. The method used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method because it aims to describe and classify various negative politeness strategies in the KompasTV YouTube video about the talk show "Why Batak People Become Lawyers" in the series "The Interview with Tukul Eps 2 Part 5 ". The results of this study are the first. The negative politeness strategy "minimise the imposition (reduce the power or threat to the face of the interlocutor)" namely "please please from Bang Ruhut first, please", second. A negative politeness strategy by showing a pessimistic attitude is to make sure, third. The negative politeness strategy "question, hedge (using the form of a question with a certain particle)" namely the word 'continue', fourth. The negative politeness strategy "give deference (pay respect)" is at the beginning of the sentence using the word 'agree', where this sentence pays respect with approval to the speech partner/first guest star (Ruhut), fifth. The negative politeness strategy "go on record as incurring a debt, or as not indebting (states clearly that the speaker has given kindness/debt)" which is at the end of the sentence giving a gift.

The problem discussed in this study is a negative politeness strategy. The method used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method because it aims to describe and classify various negative politeness strategies in the KompasTV YouTube video about the talk show "Why Batak People Become Lawyers" in the series "The Interview with Tukul Eps 2 Part 5 ". The results of this study are the first. The negative politeness strategy "minimise the imposition (reduce the power or threat to the face of the interlocutor)" namely "please please from Bang Ruhut first, please", second. A negative politeness strategy by showing a pessimistic attitude is to make sure, third. The negative politeness strategy "question, hedge (using the form of a question with a certain particle)" namely the word 'continue', fourth. The negative politeness strategy "give deference (pay respect)" is at the beginning of the sentence using the word 'agree', where this sentence pays respect with approval to the speech partner/first guest star (Ruhut), fifth. The negative politeness strategy "go on record as incurring a debt, or as not indebting (states clearly that the speaker has given kindness/debt)" which is at the end of the sentence giving a gift.

The article begins with an effort to clarify and differentiate a variety of terms used by analysts in dealing with mentions of persons in conversation and other forms of talk-in-interaction — such terms as person-reference, identifying, describing, categorizing, and the like. This effort leads to the observation that `reference to persons' and `membership categorization' are quite distinct sets of practices, with most reference to persons not being done by membership categories, and most uses of membership categorization devices being in the service of actions other than referring. Two interactional sequences whose analysis turns on a connection to talk earlier in the occasion (a configuration termed `interactional threads') are then examined; first, to establish what is going on interactionally without respect to the mentioning of persons, and then as exercises in examining the various ways person-reference and membership categorization can figure in a stretch of interaction.

This research focused on analysing the politeness strategies in online teachers' and students' virtual classroom interaction at SMPN 16 Cirebon. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to explain the use of positive politeness strategies, negative politeness strategies, bald-on-record strategies, and off-record strategies and the relationship among the politeness strategies in teacher-students virtual classroom interaction in the online teaching-learning process at SMPN 16 Cirebon. The data were collected by using observation with recording and note-taking. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis, Braun and Clarke's theory. The finding showed that positive politeness, negative politeness, bald-on-record, and off-record strategies exist in virtual classroom interaction. The teachers used positive politeness to engage students' attention and build a comfortable situation in the online virtual classroom. At the same time, students used it to respect the teacher before conveying their questions or answering their opinions. The students and teachers use bald-on-record to communicate their feelings in an emergency. Students used off-record to avoid the teacher's questions, while the teacher used it to build the student's thoughts in the beginning activities. All the strategies correlate and impact creating an atmosphere or situation in online virtual classroom interaction.

This study investigates the politeness strategies employed by the main characters in The Garfield Movie from a pragmatic perspective, using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory as the analytical framework. By analyzing selected dialogues, the research identifies four main types of politeness strategies: bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record strategies. The findings reveal that positive politeness strategies are predominantly used to maintain social harmony and express friendliness, while bald on record strategies reflect the characters’ directness and humor. Negative politeness strategies appear less frequently, mainly to mitigate impositions and show respect, and off-record strategies serve to convey subtlety and indirectness, often adding comedic effect. The study highlights how these strategies align with the characters’ personalities and relationships, contributing to effective communication and audience engagement. The implications of this research extend to pragmatic theory, language teaching, media scriptwriting, and intercultural communication, emphasizing the value of media texts as authentic sources for pragmatic learning and analysis.

The research analyzed the use of positive and negative politeness strategies in the Interview videos of ASIAN BOSS and BONDO WANI. Both of these videos discuss about the sensitive topic in Indonesia. This research applies descriptive qualitative method. Then, the utterances in these two videos transcribed and analyzed descriptively by politeness theory of Brown and Levinson (1978). The data taken contain positive and negative politeness strategies. In collecting the data, the researcher applies some steps: watching the interview videos for several times, taking note the conversation, and observes the conversation that highly applies positive and negative politeness strategies within the interview. The results of the study showed that BONDO WANI with the host is Dono Pradana and the people from Surabaya as the hearer used positive politeness strategies more than ASIAN BOSS and ASIAN BOSS with the interviewer and the interviwees are from Jakarta used negative politeness strategies than BONDO WANI based on Brown and Levinson (1978) theory. There were 107 utterances that can be categorized as negative politeness and positive politeness strategy. There are 37 data from negative politeness that showed by both ASIAN BOSS and BONDO WANI and 70 data from positive politeness strategies applied based on ASIAN BOSS and BONDO WANI. This research is expected can be beneficial to people who intend to understand particularly that even In Indonesia has various tribes with various languages in it.

This chapter addresses issues in membership categorization, one of Sacks’s key contributions to ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (Sacks, 1972a, 1992). The chapter discusses the relevance of visual and embodied resources in the situated establishment, maintenance, and challenge of relevant categories. It does so by elaborating on how multimodal resources are exploited by participants to make sense of their categories, moment by moment, and on how this contributes to Sacks’s membership categorization analysis. On the basis of video-recorded guided visits, I reflect on how the detailed organization of embodied practices such as walking both exhibits and achieves the categories of the walkers. In this activity, the way in which the “guide” versus “guided” organize their walking, looking around, and talking accountably manifests their categories and, at the same time, reflexively contributes to establishing them. Here, I focus on embodied category-bound practices of walking as a perspicuous phenomenon.

The aims of this study were to identify the politeness strategies used by Ambonese and Americans in refusing requests, as well as the effects of social relationships. A descriptive qualitative approach was used in the study. The data of American conversations were collected from youtube.com and direct observation by recording conversations between interlocutors by 20 respondents of Ambonese in any situation. The data was analyzed and classified using six politeness systems by Yassi, and politeness strategies by Brown and Levinson. The results show that in interactions between strangers, Ambonese people tend to use a bald on record strategy, which is frequently combined with a negative politeness strategy, whereas Americans tend to use a negative politeness strategy, which includes expressing apology followed by a direct expression of refusal or using off-record strategy. In an intimate relationship, Ambonese people tend to use positive politeness strategies, whereas Americans tend to use off-record strategies and negative politeness strategies. In a hierarchal relationship, Ambonese tend to use negative politeness strategies by inferior to superior person, while Americans tend to use negative politeness strategies or off record strategies. Culturally, Ambonese people were influenced by local wisdom to maintain solidarity in responding and addressing, which is called Pela Gandong, whereas Americans were influenced by the freedom to express themselves.


 Good communication happened when a message is delivered by the speaker is well received by the interlocutor and both the speaker and the interlocutor feel good about what they do together. Thus make politeness and language cannot be separated. Politeness is not only can be seen from the manner, but also from the use of language. Positive and negative politeness strategies are commonly applied by people in their communication process. By understanding these two strategies, people are able to interact better in society. This study investigates how positive politeness and negative politeness strategies are enacted by the characters in the Every Waking Breath movie, and which strategies are predominantly applied. The data was taken from the characters’ utterances. Documentation and observation method were used and was assisted by note-taking techniques to obtain the data. Mix-method was used to present the analysis. The results showed there are nine types of positive politeness strategies applied by the characters, (i.e., Abigail/ Liz, Mark, and Sophie). The predominant positive politeness strategy used is Strategy 4: [Use in-group identity markers]. On the other hand, we identified five types of negative politeness strategies applied by characters. The conclusion of this research is that 17 (70,83%) of the total 24 utterances evoke the positive politeness strategies while 8 (29,17%) reflect the negative politeness strategies. The predominance of the positive politeness strategies suggests socially close relationships and solidarity between interlocutors in the movie.
 Keywords: Politeness Strategies, Positive Politeness Strategies, Negative Politeness Strategies, Movie, Characters.

Politeness strategies are used to craft messages that save the listener's positive and negative face when face-threatening behavior is inevitable or desired. Brown and Levinson mainly outline his four types of politeness strategies. Do not use baldness, negative politeness, positive politeness, off the record (indirect), and simply face-threatening behavior. Positive politeness strategies try to minimize threats to the listener's positive face and make the listener feel good. Negative politeness strategies are based on avoidance and assume that the speaker is imposing something on the listener. Off-the-record strategies use indirect speech to deprive the speaker of the possibility of imposing themselves on the listener. Discourse analysis is conducted to analyze the "face-threatening acts" (FTA) in some conversations of The Danish Girl Movie(2015). Positive politeness or negative politeness is adopted to examine how to speaking between man and a beautiful girl respectively in unconventional ways, which enable them to develop friendship thanks to the politeness strategies used positive politeness and negative politeness. The "meaning of language use" in the politeness strategies is explored. The analysis of politeness in action in this film uncovers both the informational and affective dimensions of language use in structuring human relationship and friendship. Data were analyzed using the content analysis method. In this paper, used a purposive sampling technique. With this technique, only utterances with positive and negative politeness strategies were selected for inclusion in this paper. A descriptive qualitative research technique was used to analyze the data. Guidance maps were used to identify positive and negative politeness strategies. The study found that use positive and negative politeness strategies to mitigate threats. It also helps interlocutors understand the strategies they can use to communicate effectively, ensuring both sides feel valued in the conversation.

The aim of this study was to identify the factors influencing Trevor Noah’s use of negative politeness strategies in his stand-up comedy special “Atlanta Afraid of the Dark” (2016). Employing a qualitative descriptive approach, the research examined and explained the types and influencing factors of negative politeness strategies in Noah’s performance. The study utilized Brown and Levinson’s theories on politeness strategies, particularly negative politeness, to identify and categorize these strategies and their influencing factors. Additionally, Ramon Papana’s framework for the structural build of stand-up comedy techniques was used to analyze the elements of Noah’s comedy. The study found that Noah frequently used impersonal humor in his jokes. It also revealed that social context significantly impacted the content of the jokes, with Noah purposefully addressing social issues. The findings showed that Noah’s humor often employed negative politeness techniques, such as being indirect, questioning, hedging, and depersonalizing both the speaker and the listener. In conclusion, the negative politeness strategies of pessimism, questioning, hedging, and depersonalization played a crucial role in delivering the punchlines. Additionally, callbacks were created using negative politeness methods, such as showing deference and apologizing.Keyword: comedy, politeness strategy, negative politeness strategy