Politeness-based misunderstandings in conversations between native speakers of French and American advanced learners of Frenc

Research on the use of politeness strategies in English-English and French-French conversation indicates that there are differences in the ways in which politeness is expressed in conversation in these two languages. Although it can be expected that beginning learners of French would not completely control French strategies for constructing conversation politely in French, one would assume that those learners who have an excellent command of French grammar and vocabulary and who have resided in France for at least two years would be conversationally competent. However, I have found that American advanced learners of French still express and interpret politeness in conversation in French according to American socio-cultural norms. This can lead to misunderstandings in French-American cross-cultural interactions.;Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson's work on politeness and John Gumperz' work on cross-cultural misunderstandings provide the theoretical framework for this study. The data consist of four four-hour dinner conversations between native speakers of French and American advanced learners of French which I recorded in France using a modified version of Deborah Tannen's "Thanksgiving Dinner" methodology. In order to gain insight into the workings of politeness in these dinner conversations, I conducted play-back interviews with each of the participants in the conversations as well as with non-participants from both language/culture groups. I then transcribed and analyzed the data.;My analysis revealed that the American speakers organized turn-taking, provided feedback, told narratives, and carried out the speech acts of introducing, accepting gifts, and complimenting in these dinner conversations according to American rather than French norms. These behaviors are closely tied to one's cultural identity. Although these speakers were aware of French ways of carrying out many of these behaviors, they either found it difficult or were unwilling to change their behavior as that would compromise their own identity. This can be a source of misunderstanding in French-American cross-cultural conversation.