A Study Of Conflict Talk Among Colleagues Based On Adaptation Theory

Conflict talk is a common and complex language phenomenon in daily life.In verbal interaction,when the two parties hold different views,beliefs,attitudes and goals,the conflict talk will appear.Conflict talk itself has two sides.In our work,if we deal with it in a reasonable way,it will have a positive effect.On the contrary,if we deal with it in a hostile way,it will have a destructive effect and be harmful to interpersonal relations.In recent years,researchers at home and abroad have studied conflict talk between husband and wife,between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law,between teachers and students,and among adolescents from different perspectives such as co-operative principles,impoliteness principles,face-threatening theory,etc.,and they have made a lot of achievements.However,the related studies of conflict talk among colleagues on the basis of the adaptation theory are fewer.Therefore,this study will analyze the conflict talk among colleagues in American comedy Boston Legal by applying Verschueren's linguistic adaptation theory.Based on linguistic adaptation theory,this thesis chooses the conflict talk among colleagues in the first two seasons of the American play Boston Legal as the data,using the research method of text analysis,focusing on three research questions: 1.What linguistic features does the conflict talk in Boston Legal possess? 2.Why does the conflict talkhappen among colleagues in Boston Legal? 3.What strategies are frequently adopted to avoid the conflict talk among colleagues in Boston Legal? The combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is used to analyze the linguistic features of conflict talk,while qualitative method is mainly used to analyze the causes for the happening of conflict talk and the strategies adopted to avoid conflict talk.Through research,it is found that in Boston Legal,the linguistic features of conflict talk among colleagues are embodied at the lexical,syntactic and rhetoric levels.At the lexical level,there are negative words,swear words and derogatory adjectives;at the syntactic level,there are rhetorical questions,imperative sentences and reason-asking questions;at the rhetorical level,there are irony,repetition and metaphor.Colleagues fail to adapt to various contextual elements,namely,social world,mental world and physical world,leading to the emergence of conflict talk.Therefore,according to Gao Ping's modes of ending conflict talk,the thesis analyzes four strategies used frequently by colleagues in work to avoid the conflict talk: submission,withdrawal,topic-shifting and third-party intervention.This study may expand the research scope of conflict talk,enrich the research perspective of conflict talk and strengthen the explanatory power of adaptation theory,which helps us have a better understanding of the study of conflict talk.The descriptions and analyses of the languagefeatures and causes of conflict talk will help researchers in the future to accurately identify conflict talk and conduct related research.In addition,some strategies to avoid conflict talk analyzed in this study are helpful for colleagues in real world to establish harmonious interpersonal relationship and work efficiently in a friendly environment.