Politeness Phenomena across Chinese Genres - Xinren Chen
11. Backchanneling for Positive Politeness in Chinese TV Interviews
Politeness Phenomena across Chinese Genres - Xinren Chen
Chunmei Hu [+]
Xi’an International Studies University
Chunmei Hu is Lecturer in the School of English Studies at Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, China. She has published papers in pragmatics and cognitive linguistics in journals such as Journal of Pragmatics, Intercultural Pragmatics, and Foreign Language Education.
Rong Chen [+]
Xi'an International Studies University; California State University, San Bernardino
Rong Chen is Professor of Linguistics at California State University at San Bernardino, U.S. and Guest Professor at Xi’an International Studies University, China. His research interests are pragmatics and cognitive linguistics. He has published several books and more than 50 articles in these and other areas of linguistics and serves on the governing and editorial boards of associations and journals.
Description
Chunmei Hu and Rong Chen explore the interconnection between backchanneling and politeness in TV interviews aired in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. They demonstrate that while the function of backchanneling varies a great deal in this particular genre, it is motivated by the speakers’ consideration for the dominant speakers’ positive face. Simply put, positive politeness undergirds almost all instances of backchanneling in Chinese TV interviews.