On The Speech Act Of Suggestions In Chinese

This paper attempts to conduct a descriptive study on the realization of suggestions in the Chinese context from a pragmatic perspective on the basis of the framework provided by Janet Banerjee and Patricia Carrell (1988). A systematic investigation is carried out for the first time in terms of syntactic patterns and strategies in the realization of the speech act of suggestions and the effect of social variables on the realization in the Chinese context.This study adopts both a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach. Based on the results of observation sheets provided by 40 sophomores, Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and Multiple Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) are designed to collect data from altogether 100 sophomores and juniors of different majors in two universities, 90 of whom produce valid responses for analysis. The syntactic patterns and politeness strategies in the realization of suggestions are under careful examination. Besides, the social variables affecting the realization of the speech act are explored in the study. The theoretical framework of Brown and Levinson's face theory and Leech's politeness principle are adopted in data analysis.Major findings of the study on the speech act of suggestions in Chinese are as follows:1) Most Chinese university students are willing to make suggestions, especially direct ones, which reflect the politeness notion of attitudinal warmth in the Chinese culture and cannot be considered impolite;2) Statement is the most frequently used sentence type, followed by imperative while interrogative is the least.3) Seven specific politeness strategies have been employed in suggestion making, with the strategy of showing concern for the hearer as the first choice.4) In determining the appropriateness of syntactic patterns and specific strategies, such social variables as the degree of embarrassment, relative power and social distance function together but gender difference exerts little influence.The paper consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the present study. Chapter 2 introduces the previous studies on the speech act of suggestions with emphasis on its definitions and realization strategies. Chapter 3 reviews the related politeness theories serving as the theoretical background of the study and illustrates the relationship between politeness and suggestions. Chapter 4 focuses on the methodological issues of this study. In Chapter 5 the results are presented and discussed. In the last chapter, a conclusion is drawn and limitations of the study are pointed out for the benefit of further research.