Socio-Cultural Context, Address Forms and Communicative Styles (A Case Study of British and Indian Englishes)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify differences in the use of Address Forms for an unfamiliar addressee in British and Indian English and explain them through a sociocultural context. Given the fact that address forms are dependent on both situational and geographical parameters, and taking into account the rich cultural diversity of India, the study is limited to address forms used by residents of the two capital cities – London and Delhi. The material was collected through observations and questionnaires and was analysed with a comparative analysis (both quantitative and qualitative) and reference to the theory of cultural differences, intercultural pragmatics, politeness theory and the theory of culturally specific communication styles or communicative ethnic styles. For clarification of the results, the interview method was also used, attempting to establish the regularity with which the representatives of the given cultures use nominative address forms for an unfamiliar addressee, the choice of address forms for different age groups and gender and the sociocultural factors affecting the choice of address forms. The analysis of experimental data shows significant differences both in the choice of address forms and in their functioning, it convincingly demonstrates the influence of the Hindi language and local culture on the Indian version of the English language, on the communicative behaviour of Indian bilinguals in the given situation and their communication style in general.