Confrontational style in Spanish arguments: Pragmatics and teaching outlook
Title:
Confrontational style in Spanish arguments: Pragmatics and teaching outlook
Author:
Cordelia, Marisa
Appeared in:
Language culture and curriculum
Paging:
Volume 9 (1996) nr. 2 pages 148-162
Year:
1996
Contents:
The study investigates the conversational style of arguing of three groups of language learners. Students in the first group, G1, were from a Hispanic background; those in the second group, G2, lived for a year in a Hispanic country, and those in the third group, G3, were in contact with the language only as part of their tertiary-level education. Each group was composed of third- and fourth-year university students, ranging in age from 21 to 25 years. They were asked to talk freely on 'the role of men and women in society'. Their conversations were recorded and analysed following Garcia (1989), Kockman (1981), and Brown & Levinson's (1987) theories and ideas on confrontational style and face-threatening acts. The linguistic choices of both Gl and G2 students revealed a similar argumentative style, which contrasted with the discourse style of G3. Examples of confrontational and non-confrontational style are shown in order to explain the different linguistic forms that each group uses to accomplish this event. Attention is given to the social function that this device plays in the groups under investigation. Implications for language learning and curriculum design are discussed.
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