A Pragmatic Analysis Of Conflict Talk Between Couples In Modern Family

Conflict talk is a common language phenomenon in everyday interaction.A number of scholars at home and abroad have explored it from various perspectives,such as anthropology,sociology,linguistics and the like.However,studies on conflict talk between couples are relatively limited and it is found that all domestic studies analyze conflict talk between American couples with data derived from the same American teleplay,Desperate Housewives.In order to make up for this deficiency,this paper conducts a pragmatic analysis of conflict talk between American couples with a new data source,the American situation comedy Modern Family.Adopting speech act theory,conversation analysis and politeness principle as its theoretical frameworks,this study has made a pragmatic analysis of conflict talk between American couples with data drawn from the American situation comedy Modern Family.In this paper,pragmatic strategies used by couples in different stages of conflict talk are identified and analyzed through qualitative approach.Moreover,the proportion of each strategy is calculated through quantitative analysis.This study mainly answers three research questions:(1)What initiating strategies are manifested in conflict talk between couples in Modern Family?(2)What escalating strategies are manifested in conflict talk between couples in Modern Family?(3)What terminating strategies are manifested in conflict talk between couples in Modern Family?Through data analysis and discussion,it is found that American couples in Modern Family mainly adopt five initiating strategies to start conflict talks,including counterclaim,contradiction,opposing question,contradiction-counterclaim,and question-counterclaim.Among these five strategies,they tend to use some off-record strategies such as counterclaim and opposing question.Seven escalating strategies of conflict talk are identified and analyzed,which are negation,opposing question,interruption,substitution,negative evaluation,swear word,and repetition.All these seven strategies are face-threatening acts among which opposing question is most frequently used by American couples.Negation as an escalating strategy is also commonly used by them.In addition,the data analysis reveals that American couples mainly employ six terminating strategies to close off conflict talks: concession,compromise,withdrawal,third party intervention,interruption of unexpected event and topic-shifting.Couples in Modern Family are more likely to use withdrawal to terminate conflict talks.The present study conducts a pragmatic research on conflict talk between couples.It is expected that the study could provide a more comprehensive description of conflict talk between couples and enrich the research on this linguistic phenomenon to some degree.In addition,the results of this study also could help couples increase their mutual understanding so as to build a harmonious living environment.