Social Dimensions Politeness strategies in giving and responding to compliments a sociopragmatics study of compliments in the devil wears prada

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C. Social Dimensions

In generating analysis toward a conversation, a researcher requires understanding toward the social factors such as the participants, who is speaking and who they are speaking to, the setting or social context of the interaction, where they are speaking, the topic, what they are talking about, the function, why they are speaking Holmes, 1992: 12. There are four different dimensions for analysis which relate to the social factors, namely: 1. The social distance Scale Concerned with Participant Relationship The solidaritysocial distance scale Intimate Distant High solidarity Low solidarity This scale is useful in emphasizing that how well we know someone is a relevant factor in linguistic choice Holmes, 1992: 12-13. This scale deals with the level of closeness of the participants in conversation that may affect the conversation itself. In other words, if the participants are intimate, high solidarity between them will possibly emerge, but if the participants are distant, they will probably have low solidarity. xxxiii 2. The Status Scale Concerned with Participant Relationship The statuspower scale Superior High status Subordinate Low status Dimension of social status is the dimension that accounts for a variety of linguistic differences in the way people speak. This scale points to the relevance of relative status in some linguistic choices Holmes, 1992: 13. It implies that different statuses between participants also affect the conversation. The various ways in which we choose words can show whether we see the person addressed as a superior, a subordinate, or an equal. 3. The Formality Scale Relating to the Setting or Type of the Interaction The formality scale Formal High formality Informal Low formality According to Holmes, this scale is useful in assessing the influence of the social setting or type of interaction on language choice 1992: 13. Thus, people will choose a certain variety of linguistic choices in accordance with the context of setting communication takes place whether a formal or informal occasion. xxxiv 4. Two functional Scales Relating to The Purposes or topic of the Interaction The referential and affective function scales Referential High Low Information information Content content Affective Low High Affective affective Content content The function of an interaction can also be an important influence on its language form. The dimension here covers a referential and affective social meaning. Holmes states that this scale functions to show the basic and pervasive functions of language: language can convey objective information of a referential kind; and it can also express how someone is feeling 1992: 14. In general, the more referentially oriented an interaction, the less it tends to express the feelings of the speaker. Social dimension function is not only as the indication of situation in which language is used but also the reflections of purpose, topic, manner, and mood of language used. Therefore, those dimensions also may influence the linguistic choices of the participants. xxxv

D. Pragmatics