The Grammar Of Warning In Family Dispute Mediation: Forms And Functions

In our daily life, warning is an ordinary linguistic phenomenon. It has been studied by many scholars in terms of its effectiveness, expressions and carriers, and positive results have also been achieved. However, in view of different research focuses, little attention has been paid to the deeper exploration of warning on the linguistic level in the communicative discourse. In addition, compared with requesting, ordering, promising, etc., studies of the speech act of warning are relatively insufficient.In dispute mediation, mediators employ sorts of linguistic devices to control mediating scenes so as to achieve the goal of settling conflicts. The present study aims to explore specific linguistic forms and functions of warning as an important linguistic strategy. Drawing on insights from previous studies on warning and based on seven transcribed cases about family disputes in a TV talk program Magic Cube (Xing Fu Mo Fang) on Channel Dragon TV, this study is conducted under the guide of the Speech Act Theory. Integrating strong points in discourse analysis and conducting a qualitative analysis on collected data, the present work explores the meaning of warning not only in the local context where warning is triggered, but also in the global mediation discourse.Specifically speaking, the present study will address the following research questions:Firstly, what is the primary form of warning in mediators' speech?Secondly, how is warning sequentially organized and distributed in dispute mediation?Thirdly, what are specific functions of warning on the micro- and macro-level?Finally, how are multiple goals negotiated and achieved in mediation?It is observed that in Chinese dispute mediation, the primary linguistic form of warning is still the direct application of the prototype in Searle's study, and in family dispute mediation activities, warning has its own characteristics, mainly expressed in two variant forms. By analyzing warning embedded in two situational environments, it is found that warning in mediators'speech serves important roles on the one hand in softening the speech conflict of disputants on a micro-level, and on the other hand in bridging the gap for a consensus on a macro-level. The mediator as a third party employs warning appropriately in such a way as to get involved in conflicts, keep the dispute resolution out of deadlock and facilitate the ongoing of mediation.The present study applies the Speech Act Theory in warning discourse and contributes to achieving a better understanding on the speech act of warning theoretically. It is also an investigation into mediation discourse in terms of the unofficial and non-institutional discourse, which furthers domestic research into dispute resolution from the linguistic point of view. Practically, the present work on warning in TV talk program has implications for studying other speech strategies in mediation activities. In addition, this newly-emerging TV talk program will also enrich the current routes of dispute resolution and facilitate extending arenas of conflict settlement into these informal surroundings. However, in view of some objective limitations on time, space, data, etc., the present study is inadequate in scope and depth and is in need of further development.