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OFFICE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMS
Home > English
Language Programs Teaching
Pragmatics > Softening Short Requests
Softening Short Requests
Linda Yates
La Trobe University, Australia
Level: Advanced
Time: Around 60-90 minutes, depending on level of exploitation
Resources: Authentic requests collected in the target language
and speech community. The request examples were collected in Australia.
However, teachers should collect their own samples focusing on features
appropriate to the language and speech community in which their students
will be interacting.
Goal: To introduce students to a range of different ways in which
native speakers soften their requests and to develop their awareness of
how these are used by different speakers and in different situations within
the speech community
Description of the activity
In this activity students reflect on the way requests are used in the
target community, become acquainted with some of the devices used to soften
them, and explore their own attitudes to the use of these devices. The
request examples below (see part 1 in Teacher Resource) can be used for
a matching activity that highlights different ways of making requests
and how requests vary across speakers in different situations. The activity
is conducted in pairs to allow private discussion. It is followed by a
more general session in which the teacher guides feedback and encourages
class discussion of devices used to soften the sample requests and how
students feel about the use of these devices.
Procedure
- In pairs/groups learners try to match up the request examples (a.
to g.) with the different settings (1. to 8.). The items can be shown
on a transparency, board. or hand out. The students should not be given
details about the speakers at this stage. Since the number of settings
and requests is not the same, learners are unable to guess them all
simply by a process of elimination.
- As they work, learners should be asked to explain:
— why they matched each request to the setting
— what they think the various speakers' gender, age, or occupation
might be
— what they think the role-relationship between the speaker and
addressee might be
— what the speaker wants to addressee to do in each case
— how each speaker softens his or her requests and why each chooses
to do it that way
The teacher brings the class together for the feedback stage, taking
suggestions from the class as to the 'correct' solutions. Of course,
there are no simple 'correct' answers, but because the requests were
collected from the speech community, there can be discussion of where
they were found, and whether the solutions suggested by the class are
likely or not.
- After the requests have been matched with the settings in which they
occurred, the teacher should elicit from the learners their views on
who said what to whom and the likely characteristics of the speakers.
These views should be used as a basis for discussion of differences
in softening strategies across settings and with different speakers,
and the importance of such factors as gender, power, and likelihood
of compliance (see analysis in Teacher Resource section). The analysis
of how speakers might vary and the different types of softening, or
"mitigating," devices (see sections 3 and 4 of Teacher Resource)
provides a useful basis for this discussion. For example, some learners
might suggest that request b. was said by a male to another male, which
could lead to a discussion of masculine versus feminine ways of speaking.
However, the point should also be made that there is considerable individual
variation in mitigating style and no clear gender preference for one
style over another. Thus, language of a particular type cannot be regarded
as rules–rather, interpersonal pragmatics is a matter of tendency
and preference.
- During the discussion, the teacher can explore learners' attitudes
about giving and receiving requests. For example, students may believe
that English speakers mitigate too much when making a request or that
it is inappropriate for a teacher to mitigate a request to a student.
Such discussion allows useful comparison between patterns of mitigation
in different cultures.
Rationale
Students must learn how to be polite in ways appropriate to the communities
in which they wish to interact. In unfamiliar situations, they are apt
to rely on transfer from their first language and culture, causing those
in the target culture to wrongly view such errors as rude or resulting
from the speaker's bad character. The appropriate use of politeness is
also crucial if learners are to correctly interpret the force of utterances
they hear. Unfortunately, instruction in the area of politeness has tended
to be restricted to a few salient and well-known features commonly associated
with politeness and formality, such as "please," "thank
you," and "could you…." The problem is that in some
communities and situations, reliance on these rather formal and formulaic
devices may actually signal an aloofness that the leaner does not intend
and which may inhibit further interaction.
This activity is designed to introduce learners to a range of devices
used to soften requests, including both those associated with more formal
politeness and those that signal social closeness and inclusion. An important
aim is to deepen learners' awareness of the pragmatic impact, and therefore
the appropriateness, of certain devices in various social contexts. Ultimately,
the choice of whether or how to soften requests in the target language
must rest with the leaner.
Alternatives and extensions
The procedure outlined above only covers the analysis and discussion phase
of the lesson. This should be followed by more practice activities. Some
possibilities are suggested below:
- The teacher should spend time helping students understand and practice
the appropriate pronunciation, stress and intonation to be used with
the mitigating devices highlighted in the activity. For example, "just"
should be unstressed so that it does not sound aggressive, and interrogative
requests should have a rising intonation if they are intended to be
tentative and a falling intonation if the speaker is more confident
of the likelihood of compliance.
- The students should be given a wide range of requests on which to
practice identifying and applying softening devices. These could be
in the form of a series of mini-dialogues, a single dialogue, or an
excerpt from a film or screenplay.
- Homework can be either receptive or productive:
a) Receptive: students collect at least one example of their own of
a request device discussed in the lesson
b) Productive: students should be assigned to use before the next class
a device they may not have used before, such as, I was wondering
if I could….
- The softening of other speech acts can be discussed, such as the
mitigation of assertions or criticisms.
Teacher Resource
This section contains request examples and possible setting (1), the situations
in which they were heard (2), analysis of the speakers (3), and analysis
of the features of the requests (4). The requests were collected in Australia
from naturally occurring interactions between native speakers. Some were
recorded on tape as part of a large project and identified in the transcripts
(Yates, 2000), and some were requests that the author wrote down as she
heard them in her daily life.
1) Request Examples
a. It'd be cool if you could move up one.
b. Get us a pie, mate.
c. If you could just grab a copy of that for a moment.
d. I was wondering if I could have, um, 3 weeks annual leave?
e. Would it be OK if I handed my assignment in next Monday?
f. Could you just pop that up there for me?
g. Do you wanna move over?
Settings
1. in a secondary school class
2. in a lecturer's office
3. at university
4. in a plane, before take-off
5. in the audience of a school concert
6. in a car park
7. in an office
8. on a footpath
2) Situations and speakers: the actual social context in which the
request was found
a) the audience of a school concert / female teenager to another female
teenager
b) a car park / one fisherman to another fisherman
c) a secondary school class / male teacher to mixed gender class
d) an office / female employee to female boss
e) a lecturer's office, at university / female adult student to female
lecturer
f) a plane, before take-off/ female flight attendant to female passenger
g) a secondary school class / male teacher to mixed gender class
3) Analysis of the characteristics of the speakers and the
context that may influence the
use of mitigation
i) Females may be less direct and use more mitigation than males (e.g.,
a. compared with f.).
ii) Males in an informal, sporting context are often direct and signal
solidarity through the use of colloquialisms and special terms of address
(e.g., b.).
iii) In formal situations, mitigating devices associated with formal
politeness may be used more often (e.g., f. compared with b.).
iv) Some less formal contexts may express relationships in a less hierarchical
way in the target culture that in the learner own culture (e.g., in
the secondary classroom and in university c. and g., and e.).
v) In addition to devices usually associated with mitigation, such as
"if you could" (a. and c.), or "would it be…"
(e.), speakers use devices that signal solidarity and in-group membership
as a way of softening a directive (e.g., "cool" in a., "us"
and "mate" in b., and "grab" in c.).
vi) Even speakers in high power positions relative to the addressee
use indirectness and high levels of mitigation (e.g., c. and g.).
4) Analysis of the mitigating devices that can be identified
in each request
a) It'd be cool if you could move up one.
It would be ___ if you could….." is a useful formula
for polite requests and
cool as a popular word between teenagers indicates solidarity,
thereby reducing the social distance assumed between speaker and addressee.
b) Get us a pie, mate.
Us and mate are two vernacular English address forms
indicating solidarity and social closeness and used to soften the
force of the request.
c) If you could just grab a copy of that for a moment.
If you could…. is a polite request form often used by
high-power speakers when the likelihood of compliance is high.
Just is a very common term used to tone down a request.
Grab is an informal, vague word used in preference to a more
formal word to signal solidarity and social closeness and thereby
soften the force of the request.
For a moment is a phrase that understates what is to be done,
similar to other common understaters such as "for a while"
and "for a little."
d) I was wondering if I could have, um, 3 weeks annual leave.
I was wondering if… is a common formula used in polite
requests; note use of progressive wondering to further soften
the request.
With could, the use of the past tense form in English signals
greater distance from the requested act.
Um is a hesitator used to make the speaker sound more tentative
and thus reduce the force of the request.
e) Would it be OK if I handed my assignment in next Monday?
Would it be… makes use of a question to enquire as to
the willingness of the interlocutor to comply. Also, note use of the
impersonal construction to give the interlocutor a way out of taking
full responsibility for any refusal, that is, the person can imply
that it is the "system" rather than his/herself that cannot
allow the requested extension.
With OK, the formality of the formulaic request strategy would
it be is offset by the use of the informality of OK. Note that
this has the effect of minimising the seriousness of what is being
asked for and signaling some kind of social closeness between the
speaker and interlocutor.
f) Could you just pop that up there for me?
Could you…. is a common polite request formula.
Just is a very common downtoner.
Pop is a phrase that understates what is to be done; note other
common understaters, such as for a while and for a little….
For me is a personal phrase that softens the force by emphasizing
the interpersonal link between the interlocutors.
g) Do you wanna move over?
Do you wanna is a less formal version of the request strategy
used in e. in which the interlocutor is asked if she is willing to
comply, rather than being asked to do something. Note that this may
be considered patronizing in some communities, but perfectly acceptable
in others. The use of the informal wanna rather than want
to softens the request by signaling social closeness.
Reference
Yates, L. (2000). "Ciao, Guys!": Mitigation addressing positive
and negative face concerns in the directives of native-speaker and Chinese
background speakers of Australian English. Unpublished doctoral thesis,
LaTrobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
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