Politeness in Language Use- A Sociolinguistic Study of Undergraduates in Selected Universities in Anambra State, Nigeria
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Background to the Study
8The interest of linguists in analysing conversational texts has gradually shifted from the traditional focus on the linguistic structure to investigating language use as a social phenomenon. The functional approach to language studies goes beyond the study of sentences in abstraction to describing the use of language in concrete situations. In other words, a study about a language is not just about the linguistic or formal studies of language but what language is used to achieve in real situations. Speakers formulate their utterances in order to achieve their intentions and goals of communication. In order to achieve this goal, one needs not just the basic linguistic competence, that is, competence in phonology, morphology, semantic and syntactic competence but, also, competence in the pragmatic use of language. Thomas Holtgrave citing Hymes holds that ‘to use language to communicate successfully requires much more than linguistic competence’ (‘Speaking’ 207). He goes further to say that one must be able to translate intentions into words and do so in such a way that these intentions will be recognized by the recipient (‘Speaking’ 207). According to him, all interactants must be able to do this in such a way so as to avoid offending each other. This according to him is referred to as pragmatic competence (‘Speaking’ 207). This shows that apart from trying to understand the structure of language, language users should also know how to use language in order to achieve the desired goal. Niroomand Masoumeh citing Scollon and Scollon holds that the violation of pragmatic rules is bound to lead to communication breakdown (2). Obviously, this suggests that 1 2 competence, whether linguistic or pragmatic competence should be learned and developed systematically. Language is the principal means of communication amongst human beings. Invariably, the possession of it makes us human. Victoria Fromkin, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams put it succinctly in these words: The possession of language, perhaps more than any other attribute, distinguishes humans from other animals. To understand our humanity, one must understand the nature of language that makes us human. According to the philosophy expressed in the myths and religions of many peoples, language is the source of human life and power. (284) It is deduced that language is the exclusive preserve of humans. Without language, it will be difficult for humans to live and interact in society. Humans use language to convey and receive information in society. It is an important means of communication. Given the importance of language, different scholars have tried to define language in varied ways. John Lyons quoting Edward Sapir writes that ‘language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols’(3). From the foregoing, it is only humans that have the innate ability to use language effectively using symbols which are consciously produced.
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