Unit 7: Social Variables that Affect Request Making
The performance of requests, and the choice of request strategies in particular, is affected by different social variables or factors. According to Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory and prior studies on Chinese requests, three social variables that affect how to make requests in Chinese have been identified. That is, social distance, power, and rank of imposition. This section focuses on two of the variables (i.e., social distance and power) that have been claimed to have impacts on the choice of request strategies in Chinese (Wang, 2012).
7.1 Goal of Unit 7
The goal of Unit 7 is to familiarize students with the effects of two social variables on the choice of request strategies in Chinese. After studying this unit, students are expected to be able to better assess the appropriateness of request expressions in Chinese.
7.2 Social Distance
In addition to expressions of gratitude, request making in Chinese is affected by the variable of social distance. The term social distance can be understood as familiarity or closeness between people; that is, how well people know each other. As discussed in the part of “Expressions of Gratitude,” social distance is a continuum, with one end being relatives and the other strangers.
Generally speaking, if other factors are the same, the more familiar the interlocutors are, the more direct the request strategies would be; thus less politeness would be involved. On the contrary, the more distant the relationships between the interlocutors are, the more indirect the request strategies would be; thus the request would sound more polite (e.g., Shen, 2006; Wang, 2012; Zhang & Wang, 1997). According to this pragmatic principle, it is very common that imperatives that may sound rude to English speakers are used as appropriate request strategies among family members and close friends in China. For example, when Mom asks the child to eat more, direct requests are usually used in Chinese:
Mom: 再吃点儿。Eat more.
Child: 妈妈，我已经吃饱了。Mom, I am already full.
Parent: 吃那么点儿就饱了，再来点。You eat too little. Eat more.
However, under the same circumstance English speakers seem to like to use more indirect request strategies, for example,
Mom: Another piece of meat pie?
Child: No, thanks. I’m really on a diet.
Parent: Please do. You’ve hardly eaten anything.
It should be noted that the use of direct request strategies among family members and close friends is considered appropriate and effective in Chinese. As we discussed in the part of “Politeness in Chinese,” one of the four underlying notions is modesty, i.e., self-denigration. Chinese speakers view people who have close relationships with them as part of “themselves,” so when they consider “denigrating themselves” appropriate, Chinese speakers would denigrate the people with close relationships by using direct strategies that may sound impolite.
Thinking: After learning this section, what do you think of the use of direct requests among family members and close friends in Chinese?
To Consider
Exercises:
Read carefully the scenarios below and complete the exercises step-by-step.
Group 1:
Scenario 1: Wang Peng has an important appointment, so he wants to check the time. But he finds that he forgot to bring either his watch or cell with him. So he asks a stranger about the time.
Scenario 2: Wang Peng has an important appointment, so he wants to check the time. But he finds that he forgot to bring either his watch or cell with him. So he asks his friend sitting next to him about the time.
(1) Compare these two scenarios and provide elaborate answers below
Tips: pay attention to the social variables involved in the two scenarios
The two scenarios are similar in terms of ________________________________________
The two scenarios differ in terms of ____________________________________________
(2) According to the social variables involved within the two scenarios, decide which types of apology strategies (i.e., direct, indirect or strategy combination) may be chosen. Please list all of the possibilities that you think would work.
If Wang Peng makes a request to the stranger in Scenario 1, I think _____________________________________________________________________can be chosen.
If Wang Peng makes a request to his friend in Scenario 2, I think _______________________________________________________________________can be chosen.
(3) According to the social variables, which types of alerters do you think would be appropriate for Scenario 1? How about for Scenario 2? Please justify your choice.
(4) If we want to use supportive moves to strengthen the force of requests in both scenarios, which types of supportive moves do you think would be appropriate for Scenario 1? How about for Scenario 2? Please justify your choice.
(5) Below are two possible requests made by two learners. Please decide which one would work appropriate for Scenario 1 and which for Scenario 2. Please explain your choice based on the information in this unit.
Response 1: 现在几点 (jǐ diǎn, what time)了？
xiànzài jǐ diǎn le?
Response 2：你好，打扰一下，请问你知道 (zhīdào, to know) 现在几点吗？谢谢。
Nǐhǎo, dǎrǎoyíxia, qǐng wèn nǐ zhīdào xiànzài jǐdiǎn ma? Xièxiè.
Group 2:
Scenario 1: Wang Peng goes to the Tian’anmen Square with his friend. He wants to take a picture in front of it, so he asks his friend for help.
Scenario 2: Wang Peng goes to the Tian’anmen Square with his friend. They want to take a picture in front of it, so Wang Peng asks a tourist for help.
(1) Compare these two scenarios and provide elaborate answers below.
Tips: pay attention to the social variables involved in the two scenarios
The two scenarios are similar in terms of ________________________________________
The two scenarios differ in terms of ____________________________________________
(2) According to the social variables involved, decide which types of apology strategies (i.e., direct, indirect or strategy combination) may be chosen. Please list all of the possibilities that you think would work.
If Wang Peng makes a request to his friend in Scenario 1, I think _______________________________________________________________________can be chosen.
If Wang Peng makes a request to the tourist in Scenario 2, I think ______________________________________________________________________can be chosen.
(3) According to the social variables, which types of alerters do you think would be appropriate for Scenario 1? How about for Scenario 2? Please justify your choice.
(4) If we want to use supportive moves to strengthen the force of requests in both scenarios, which types of supportive moves do you think would be appropriate for Scenario 1? How about for Scenario 2? Please justify your choice.
(5) Below are two possible requests made by two learners. Please decide which one would work appropriate for Scenario 1 and which for Scenario 2. Please explain your choice based on the information in this unit.
Response 1: 帮我照张相吧。Bāng wǒ zhào zhāng xiàng ba.
Response 2：不好意思，能麻烦你帮我们照张相吗？
Bùhǎoyìsi, néng máfan nǐ bāng wǒmen zhào zhāng xiàng ma?
7.3 Power
In addition to the variable of social distance, power has a great impact on how Chinese speakers make requests. According to Brown and Levinson (1987), power refers to the relative power relationships between interlocutors, “the degree to which Hearer can impose his own plans and his own self-evaluation at the expense of Speaker” (p. 77). If someone has power over someone else, he/she can control the other to some extent, so the notion of equality-inequality arises (Fukushima, 2000; Wang, 2012). For example, the relationship between a boss and his/her secretary, between a professor and his/her student, between a father and his son.
As we discussed in the part of “Politeness in Chinese,” Chinese culture is power-oriented, and power is a social variable that affects the choices of request strategies in Chinese. Generally speaking, if other factors are the same, with an increase of power on the part of the speaker, there is an increase in directness in request strategies. In other words, if the speaker’s power is higher than that of the hearer, the request strategy is more likely to be direct. For example, if a boss, whose name is Li You, would like to ask his/her secretary Wang Peng for a favor, the boss would be likely to make a direct request like this:
Example 1:
Wang Peng，你帮我一个忙吧。Wáng Péng, nǐ bāng wǒ yí gè máng ba. Xiaobai, you do me a favor.
On the other hand, if the secretary Xiaobai wants to ask his/her boss for a favor, it is very likely that Xiaobai would make an indirect request such as:
Example 2:
李先生，对不起，能麻烦您帮我一个忙吗？Lǐ xiānsheng, duìbuqǐ, néng máfan nín bāng wǒ yí gè máng ma?
Mr. Li, I am sorry, can I trouble you to do me a favor?
In addition to request strategies, power also influences the choice of other elements such as alerters and internal modification in Chinese. According to Wang (2012), if a high power speaker makes requests to a low power hearer, the preferred alerters are Full Name or First Name, as shown in Example 1; whereas if the speaker’s power is lower than that of the hearer, the preferred alerts are Surname + Title/Role or Title/Role, as in Example 2.
In addition, if the hearer has power over the speaker, the requests seems more polite and formal; thus more alerters and internal modifications may be employed to soften the impositive force of the request. As in Example 2, both 李先生 (address term) and 对不起 (attention-getter) are alerters, and 麻烦 and 您 are internal modifications. But in Example 1, only one internal modification (吧) is used.
Thinking: How does power potentially affect the choice of request strategies in American English? Any examples?
