a. Social Distance
Vanessa is the only speaker influenced by social distance in choosing politeness strategy to perform a command with 7 data. It is because Vanessa
is more emotional than Darius. Moreover, some of Vanessa’s adressees are
people who are socially close to her and the contents of the commands are about their personal interest. On the other hand, Darius is not influenced by
social distance because his addressees are mostly people who work for him. In some contexts, Darius also performs a command to the addressee who does
not directly work for him, but the content is not about his personal issue. Furthermore, there are three examples provided to give more illustrations.
The first example is the conversation between Vanessa and Nathan. In this example, Nathan says that he wants to have a normal date with Vanessa
after he finished his jobs in Shanghai. However, Vanessa refuses it because she wants to have a personal and secret date. I
n response to Vanessa’s refusal, Nathan expresses
his disappointment by saying “Am I bad for your brand?”. Vanessa seems offended by Nathan’s utterance. She responds to the question
by giving him a command by saying “so please do not judge me on how I
build my brand”. Nathan
: Am I bad for your brand? Vanessa Keller
: Unlike you, I have earned my success every damn
bit of it. And this job means everything to me, so please do not judge me on how I build my
brand.
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In this situation, Vanessa performs bald on record politeness strategy in which the factor that mostly influences it is social distance. In term of
working relationship, Vanessa has the power to give Nathan a command. However, the conversation is set in a non formal situation and the topic is
about their personal problems. Thus, the most influential factor is their social distance.
The second example is the conversation between Vanessa and Conner who is Nathan’s senior advisor. When Nathan is kidnapped in Shanghai,
Vanessa meets Conner and asks about Nathan’s schedule on the day when
Nathan went to Shanghai. However, Conner does not know the detail. Then she asks
him to go back to his office and check Nathan’s document or anything related to him.
Conner : I was on the way from New York for a meeting
when you called, so I-I don’t know Things are
happening real fast. Vanessa Keller
: Okay, well, go back to your office and review his e-mails, texts, phone logs. Look for anything
unusual. Anything, and say a prayer.
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In her command, Vanessa performs bald on record politeness strategy. Social distance becomes the most influential factor for two reasons. First,
Vanessa and Conner are socially close in their social life. Second, both Vanessa and Conner care about Nathan. When Vanessa says “and say a
prayer”, she shows that their relationship is more than just a working relationship. Therefore, since both of them care about Nathan, Vanessa does
not have to use her power when she gives a command to Conner. The third example is the conversation between Vanessa and Charlie,
who is Conner’s relative. Conner is Nathan’s senior advisor who commited
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