Request Behavior Research Articles

Gender-Related Differences in the Performance of Request in the Algerian Classroom Discourse

Despite extensive research on requests, there remains a notable gap in understanding gender differences in Algerian classrooms. This study investigates how male and female students and teachers formulate requests during classroom interactions, using responses from a discourse completion task (DCT). The aim is to explore how gender influences choice of request strategies and variations in directness, considering social variables such as power dynamics, social distance, and the imposition level among participants. The study focuses on identifying similarities and differences in request behaviors between male and female interactions among Algerian students and teachers, as well as among students themselves. Data were collected through a Discourse Completion Task featuring three scenarios of classroom interactions, involving 115 male and female participants. The findings indicate that gender significantly influences the selection of request strategies and levels among Algerian students and teachers. Female students and teachers tended to employ more indirect request strategies compared to males, who typically favored direct approaches across all scenarios. Furthermore, the study reveals that the degree of directness varied for both genders based on socio-cultural factors such as power dynamics, social distance, imposition levels, and religious norms prevalent in Algerian society. The research highlights that students generally opt for conventional indirect strategies when making requests to teachers. In contrast, direct requests are more commonly used when individuals of equal social status interact or when the requester holds a higher status than the respondent. This study contributes new insights into the impact of gender and socio-cultural factors on request strategies and politeness in Algerian classroom discourse, enriching the field of cross-cultural pragmatics and classroom discourse studies.

The Magic Word? Face-Work and the Functions of Please in Everyday Requests

Expressions of politeness such as please are prominent elements of interactional conduct that are explicitly targeted in early socialization and are subject to cultural expectations around socially desirable behavior. Yet their specific interactional functions remain poorly understood. Using conversation analysis supplemented with systematic coding, this study investigates when and where interactants use please in everyday requests. We find that please is rare, occurring in only 7 percent of request attempts. Interactants use please to manage face-threats when a request is ill fitted to its immediate interactional context. Within this, we identify two environments in which please prototypically occurs. First, please is used when the requestee has demonstrated unwillingness to comply. Second, please is used when the request is intrusive due to its incompatibility with the requestee’s engagement in a competing action trajectory. Our findings advance research on politeness and extend Goffman’s theory of face-work, with particular salience for scholarship on request behavior.

Optimizing Network Performance Through Joint Caching and Recommendation Policy for Continuous User Request Behavior

Optimizing Network Performance Through Joint Caching and Recommendation Policy for Continuous User Request Behavior

Использование электронного коммуникативного приложения на основе PECS в работе с детьми с нарушениями развития. Кейс-исследование

<p><strong>Objectives. </strong>The use of alternative and augmented communication in children and adults with developmental disabilities significantly improves the skills necessary for successful social adaptation and learning. The article analyzes the results of using the PECS IV+ tablet communication app in several children with different types of developmental disabilities. <strong>Methods. </strong>Three children with different types of developmental disabilities (including autism, cognitive impairments etc.) aged 5–6 years took part in this case study. Participants study in the preschool department of the “My Planet” Inclusive Center. To test the effects and effectiveness of using the PECS IV+ application, a multiple-baseline design was used. We analyzed the transition from the analog version of PECS to the tablet application. The dependent variables were the number mands (non-verbal request behavior) and episodes of problem behavior. In addition, we calculated the d-Cohen effect size for each participant. <strong>Results. </strong>The average number of requests increased in the intervention phase in two out of three participants, medium effect of changes between phases is recorded for all participants. In terms of the number of episodes of problem behavior, a significant decrease was detected in two of the participants. The strong size of the effect of changes in this parameter between phases was revealed in two of the three participants. <strong>Conclusion. </strong>The study suggests that when using the e-application, the study participants showed reductions in some types of undesirable behaviours, as well as successful requesting skills.</p>

Modal may in requests

Abstract This study applies House’s (1996, 2005) dimensions of cross-cultural differences as a diagnostic tool to investigate regional variation regarding two pragmalinguistic requestive patterns with may in Scottish and English non-private letters (1500 to 1700). The dimensional scheme proves a useful tool for explaining similarities and differences in the requestive behaviour in the two varieties. It is shown that, in the sixteenth century, grounders with may are part of a set of downgrading devices employed by letter-writers to counteract the directness and self-orientation particularly of performative requests in both the Scottish and the English correspondence. Moreover, the dimensional analysis explicates the cross-varietal differences regarding may in the seventeenth century correspondence by linking the rise of mitigating may in performative requests in the Scottish letters to the increased self-orientation towards the letter-writer, which is not counter-balanced by other downgraders.

Emirati University Students’ Use of the Request Speech Act in Arabic in Email Communication with Faculty

Students’ academic performance is greatly affected by their communication skills, a significant one of which is email writing. Due to technological advances and the distance education imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a great deal of communication between students and professors is in the form of email communication. Students’ inattention to the rules of this particular genre may result in face-threatening situations. Prompted by the lack of research on university students’ utilization of the request speech act in Arabic emails, this study investigated 96 Emirati first-year students’ request behaviors in Arabic in communication with university professors. Data were collected using a discourse-completion task and an evaluation form filled in by two judges. Results showed that the students mostly produced a direct request speech act. However, a significant number of them failed to follow the expected discourse structure often omitting the subject line, not thanking or writing their names at the end. The judges thought the emails were generally respectful. However, they felt they were not appropriate, which was mainly caused by the frequent mistakes with spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary. There were also instances of informal language use and grammatical errors. Based on these results, recommendations are provided focusing on awareness-raising and practice activities.

Effect of food marketing on food purchase request, eating behaviour and dental caries amongst 5–8 year old children belonging to different socioeconomic backgrounds

IntroductionAggressive food marketing directed towards children and globalization has caused a nutritional shift in developing nations like India from the minimally processed to ultra-processed food, contributing to the increased risk of dental caries. The current study was undertaken to assess the outcome of food marketing exposure on food purchase requests, eating behaviour and dental health. MethodologyThis cross-sectional study included 260 children aged 5–8 years belonging to different socioeconomic background. Food marketing exposure was assessed using brand logo recognition scale, purchase request behaviour and eating behaviour were measured using questionnaire filled by parents and oral examination was done to record the caries score. ResultsThe mean brand logo recognition score was 15.67, high percentage of parents reported that their children try to influence (40.38% always, 34.61% often) and succeed in influencing (26.92% always, 40.38% often) the food purchase in the family. A large percentage of children consumed packaged snacks (40%), biscuits (75%), candies/chocolates (50%) and sweetened beverages (31%) at least once a day. The mean caries score was 1.41 and the overall caries prevalence was 42.30%. Adjusted for age, gender and socioeconomic group brand logo recognition was significantly associated with purchase request and eating behaviour but not with caries score. ConclusionChildren are found to be able to influence the food purchase practice at home and are clearly are well versed with brand logo recognition. The children from both the socio-economic groups reported similar Brand logo score recognition and food purchase request behaviour scores.

Application of artificial intelligence systems in the emergency room : Do the communication patterns give indications for possible starting points? An observational study

High expectations are currently attached to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the resuscitation room treatment of trauma patients with respect to the development of decision support systems. No data are available regarding possible starting points for AI-controlled interventions in resuscitation room treatment. Do information request behavior and quality of communication indicate possible starting points for AI applications in the emergency room? A 2‑stage qualitative observational study: 1.Development of an observation sheet based on expert interviews that depicts the following six relevant topics: situational factors (course of accident, environment), vital parameters, treatment-specific Information (treatment carried out). trauma-specific factors (injury patterns), medication, special features of the patient (anamnesis, etc.) 2.Observational study Which topics were inquired about during emergency room treatment? Was the exchange of information complete? There were 40consecutive observations in the emergency room. A total of 130 questions: 57/130 inquiries about medication/treatment-specific Information and vital parameters, 19/28 of which were inquiries about medication. Questions about injury-related parameters 31/130 with 18/31 regarding injury patterns, course of accident (8/31) and type of accident (5/31). Questions about medical or demographic background 42/130. Within this group, pre-existing illnesses (14/42) and demographic background (10/42) were the most frequently asked questions. Incomplete exchange of information was found in all six subject areas. Questioning behavior and incomplete communication indicate acognitive overload. Assistance systems that prevent cognitive overload can maintain decision-making abilities and communication skills. Which AI methods can be used requires further research.

When two cultures meet

The present study investigated the use of strategies by Chinese learners of English and English learners of Chinese in making requests in both Chinese and English. Three factors affecting request strategies were also examined, including social power, social distance and degree of imposition. A total of 12 Chinese-speaking and 12 English-speaking students were recruited to complete Chinese and English versions of an oral discourse completion task (ODCT). Request behaviour was examined in both the subjects’ native and non-native languages. The results show that the learner and native speaker groups performed differently in making Chinese requests but employed comparable strategies in making English requests. Moreover, social distance was found to be more influential than social power and degree of imposition in making Chinese requests. However, the influence of these factors was similar in making English requests. The findings suggest that it was easier for the learners of Chinese to master English requests than for the learners of English to acquire Chinese requests.

A Pragmatic Study on Request Behavior in Instant Message: On Characteristics and Validity

Instant messaging is a powerful communication tool people use to make a request. This paper analyzes the speech act of making and answering requests in instant messages from a pragmatic approach. The statistics result from 217 original instant messages collected, among which 137 are concerned with the process of “asking” and 80 with “answering”. These messages are analyzed in terms of “directness” and “indirectness”. The result reveals that the degree of directness is differed by illocution, and it is the degree of intimacy that influences the choice of direct and indirect in making a request, while the degree of politeness is mainly influenced by the nature of an event itself. It is hoped that the result of this study will help people better communicate with instant messages domestically and cross-culturally.

Consumers’ propensity to avoid seeking assistance: Conceptualization and scale development

Consumers are increasingly confronted with complex processes and technologies as part of their daily consumption. This difficulty, in turn, can hinder their experience and may have negative consequences in terms of satisfaction, word of mouth, and repurchase behaviors. Although companies often offer customer assistance, many consumers do not make the step to ask for help. In this research, we introduce a social psychological framework centered around the threats associated with help-seeking to better explain help-avoidant behaviors. Doing so, we introduce and develop the “propensity to avoid seeking assistance” construct to better understand what triggers and hinders customers’ assistance request behavior – or lack thereof. By offering and validating a new scale to measure such behavior, this research adds a methodological contribution to the literature. It also contributes to better explain the behavior of customers who would rather abandon using a product or service than ask for help.

DNS Request Log Analysis of Universities in Shanghai: A CDN Service Provider’s Perspective

Understanding the network usage patterns of university users is very important today. This paper focuses on the research of DNS request behaviors of university users in Shanghai, China. Based on the DNS logs of a large number of university users recorded by CERNET, we conduct a general analysis of the behavior of network browsing from two perspectives: the characteristics of university users’ behavior and the market share of CDN service providers. We also undertake experiments on DNS requests patterns for CDN service providers using different prediction models. Firstly, in order to understand the university users’ Internet access patterns, we select the top seven universities with the most DNS requests and reveal the characteristics of different university users. Subsequently, to obtain the market share of different CDN service providers, we analyze the overall situation of the traffic distribution among different CDN service providers and its dynamic evolution trend. We find that Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud are leading in both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic. Baidu Cloud has close to 15% in IPv4 traffic, but almost no fraction in IPv6 traffic. Finally, for the characteristics of different CDN service providers, we adopt statistical models, traditional machine learning models, and deep learning models to construct tools that can accurately predict the change in request volume of DNS requests. The conclusions obtained in this paper are beneficial for Internet service providers, CDN service providers, and users.

Pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic patterns of requestive acts in English and Italian: Insights from film conversation

This cross-cultural pragmatic study is centred on whether (in)directness (e.g. Leech, 2014) and social distance (cf. Brown and Levinson, 1987) have an effect on illocutionary modification of requestive speech acts. The latter effect has been addressed by accounting for a large-scale tendency towards the overt employment of intensifiers or mitigators, occurring as an intersubjectified surplus of meaning (Tantucci, 2021). The context of our enquiry is requestive behaviour in dialogic filmic interaction, as it bears acknowledged similarities with spontaneous interaction (Rose, 2001; Baños Piñero and Chaume, 2009). After collecting and annotating data from the Pavia Corpus of Film Dialogue (Pavesi et al., 2014), we designed a multifactorial corpus-based study and compared the requestive behaviour in English vs Italian interaction. We fitted a multinomial logistic regression model which showed that social distance and (in)directness significantly affect the use of mitigating vs intensifying strategies. We also discovered that such correlations seem to be relatively stable across the two languages: mitigation is normally used with high social distance and when requests are made indirectly. However, Italian is somewhat distinctive in the way intensifying modifiers are used among socially close interactants. We suggest that corpus-based analysis of modification strategies may also be extended to non-scripted speech. Such a research agenda would decisively contribute to advancing usage-based approaches to cross-cultural (im)politeness, as most of the methods deployed in this area to date are still confined to elicited and conjured up speech.

Gender variation in the requestive behaviour of Early Modern Scottish and English letter-writers? A study of private correspondence

AbstractThis study applies the methods of variational pragmatics, a discipline situated at the intersection of pragmatics and variationist sociolinguistics, to historical data to explore the effect of the macro-social factors gender and region on request choices in Scottish and English private letters written between 1570 and 1700. It specifically examines gender variation regarding the choice of request strategies and of internal downgrading modification, e.g. the use of modal auxiliaries or hedges. Overall, the analysis only finds limited evidence for gender differences in the private correspondence data. The requestive behaviour of Scottish and English female and male letter-writers displays similar directness levels and both genders also employ mitigating modifiers to a similar degree. It is shown that the requestive style of women and men is determined by the situational circumstances of a letter rather than by gender. Moreover, when zooming in on the level of direct realisation strategies, the analysis provides evidence that the macro-social factor region has a greater impact on the choice of realisation strategies than gender.

Liquid profiling of circulating tumor DNA in colorectal cancer: steps needed to achieve its full clinical value as standard care.

The analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is at the threshold of implementation into standard care for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. However, data about the clinical utility of liquid profiling (LP), its acceptance by clinicians, and its integration into clinical workflows in real‐world settings remain limited. Here, LP tests requested as part of routine care since 2016 were retrospectively evaluated. Results show restrained request behavior that improved moderately over time, as well as reliable diagnostic performance comparable to translational studies, with an overall agreement of 91.7%. Extremely low ctDNA levels at < 0.1% in over 20% of cases, a high frequency of concomitant driver mutations (in up to 14% of cases), and ctDNA levels reflecting the clinical course of disease were revealed. However, certain limitations hampering successful translation of ctDNA into clinical practice were uncovered, including the lack of clinically relevant ctDNA thresholds, appropriate time points of LP requests, and integrative evaluation of ctDNA, imaging, and clinical findings. In conclusion, these results highlight the potential clinical value of LP for CRC patient management and demonstrate issues that need to be addressed for successful long‐term implementation in clinical workflows.

People overestimate the self-presentation costs of deadline extension requests

Across five studies (N = 4151), we investigate a novel barrier that prevents people from making personally beneficial requests: the overestimation of self-presentation costs. Even when deadlines are easily adjustable, people are less likely to request an extension and submit lower quality work when perceived self-presentation costs are higher—such as when the request is visible to a supervisor (Study 1a). Specifically, people are less likely to request an extension when they are concerned with appearing incompetent (Study 2). Yet, other people do not negatively respond to deadline extension requests (Study 1b). Attesting to the importance of self-presentation concerns in shaping extension request behaviors, formal policies that reduce self-presentation concerns increase requests in both online (Study 3) and in-person (Study 4) settings. These findings highlight a novel psychological barrier that prevents people from requesting resources that could increase their performance and more effectively manage their deadlines.

‘In English!’ teachers’ requests as reactions to learners’ translanguaging discourse

ABSTRACT Multilingualism in the world is the norm and the classrooms are no exception. The dynamic and flexible practices of multilingual teachers and learners in the classroom are referred to as translanguaging . As shown in the literature on the topic, translanguaging discourse simply exists in classrooms. It is the means of communication employed by multilingual learners in multilingual learning settings. However, research on classroom pragmatics has adopted a monolingual perspective, and the need to examine multilingual learners and teachers from a multilingual viewpoint has been raised. Bearing this research gap in mind, this study focuses on examining teachers’ reactions to learners’ translingual practices as instances of attitudinal conduct and potential sources of incidental pragmatic learning. Data for the study comprise transcripts from twelve video-recorded English as L3 lessons involving 268 learners (m.a. = 8.4) and 12 teachers. Interestingly, this study confirms the role of the language programme in the classroom requestive behaviour and the existing monolingual bias in young multilingual instructional settings.

Inappropriate laboratory testing requests: perspectives of clinical laboratory professionals

Introduction: Laboratory examinations constitute a major factor in achieving the correct clinical diagnosis for patients. However, the ordering of unnecessary or inappropriate laboratory testing remains common, with consequent consumption of laboratory resources whether human or material. The present work evaluated the level of satisfaction of laboratory practitioners toward the appropriateness of laboratory tests ordered by physicians. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved a total of 256 medical laboratory practitioners representing different qualifications and health care sectors, who answered several questions concerning their knowledge and attitudes toward inappropriate laboratory testing ordered by physicians. Results: More than 85% of respondents agreed with the definition provided in the survey, which is substantially consistent with prior studies. More than 90% affirmed the associated drain on time and resources. However, discrepant responses were received concerning physician awareness of test availability, and participants reported laboratory staff arguments with physicians due to orders for unnecessary tests. Data showed that unnecessary orders were mainly requested by physicians of less experience. Conclusions: Ultimately, dissatisfaction was manifest among clinical laboratory professionals, and educational interventions are required to moderate request behaviors.

A Comparative Analysis of the Interlanguage of Request Behavior in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese: An analysis of interactions at the start of in the department

A Comparative Analysis of the Interlanguage of Request Behavior in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese: An analysis of interactions at the start of in the department

Preschoolers' request behaviour and family conflict: The role of family communication and advertising mediation styles

AbstractManaging pre‐school children's purchase requests, and dealing with the conflict that often arises when they are denied, can be a major challenge for parents as they negotiate their children's growing brand exposure and their socialisation as consumers. This study focuses on the communication and mediation styles adopted by parents of pre‐school children to understand the relationship with children's brand exposure, request behaviour and family conflict. The study employed a mixed methods interview approach with 73 parent/child dyads, children participated in one‐on‐one activities with the interviewer, while parents answered closed and open ended survey questions. Results suggest that socio‐oriented communication styles (stressing obedience and parental control), and restricting advertising exposure, may reduce children's brand exposure and frequency of purchase requests. However, a focus on actively managed advertising exposure, and engaging children in open and critical discussion (concept‐oriented communication), are the most important variables in reducing family conflict. The study contributes to our understanding of successful parental consumer socialisation styles by examining outcomes for children in the perceptual stage of consumer development, and the strategies likely to lead to their development as competent consumers. The paper concludes with suggestions for resources to support active mediation and communication styles for families.