A Contrastive Study On English And Chinese Address Forms From The Perspective Of Scollons’ Face System

As an important component of people’s daily communication, address forms play a very significant role in cross-cultural communication as people from different countries are getting along with each other in communicative activities. They are not only used to transmit information, but also to set up people’s relationship and express participants’ feelings to each other.In terms of previous studies, researchers have seldom touched upon the relationship between address forms and face system in both Chinese and English. Address forms are related to many aspects, thus researching them from an intercultural communication perspective will be quite feasible and practicable. Among many interrelated theories, the politeness theory has already been integrated into the address forms from two completely different cultures:east and west. Therefore it is of important research value to study the realization of the politeness system in English and Chinese address forms. Based on the three main factors in Ron Scollon and Suzanne Wong Scollon’s politeness system, the paper analyzes both similarities and differences of the realization of face system in English and Chinese address forms. At the same time, the author tries to dig out the historical and cultural roots underlying these differences so as to provide reference for the cultural exchanges between the east and the west.After the discussion of Scollons’ Politeness System and its realization in address forms, the author summarizes the main findings of the present study:Firstly, address forms are significant in people’s daily communication and are generally regarded as one of popular studying subjects among scholars home and aboard. However in the research of address forms from the perspective of face system, there is still plenty room for further exploration. Secondly, according to Scollons’ face system, power, distance and weight of impositions are three most important elements which do exert great influences on social address behavior. As for the influence of three elements on the use of address forms, there exist sharp distinctions between China and English-speaking countries. Thirdly, address forms are deeply stamped with culture. Therefore, the difference in the influence of power, distance and weight of imposition on the use of address forms can be traced to the different cultures in China and English-speaking countries. Fourthly, by learning English culture, we can cultivate intercultural communicative awareness and find the strategies to prevent face conflict in addressing.The present study is of some realistic significance and offers some implication for the study of address forms. The author hopes it can provide some motive power for further study in this field.