Indirectness in intercultural encounters
Research centre
Communication and Computing Research Centre
Date
2002 - ongoing
An investigation into the pragmatics of Zimbabwean English as it used in the UK in interactions with British English speakers
This project focuses on the linguistic politeness practices of different cultural communities. So far, we have studied the turn-taking and politeness strategies of Zimbabwean speakers of English residing in the UK, the practice of offering and refusing hospitality by Libyan Arabic speakers, and the use of 'indirectness' in different cultures.
To date, we have presented at several conferences and published one journal article and two book chapters on this topic. A monograph on 'Directness and Indirectness' (to be published by Palgrave) is in preparation.
Researchers involved
Dr Karen Grainger - Principal Lecturer (English Language)
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