Politeness Pragmatic Orientation in the Production of Advice-giving Speech Acts in Arab TV Talent Shows

Abstract

Identifying and understanding the distinctive features of speech acts’ realization across different cultures is essential for the pragmatic profiling of any language variety. Existing literature on advice-giving speech acts in Arabic predominantly examines religious texts composed in classical Arabic, overlooking everyday utterances spoken in contemporary Arabic dialects. Although Arabic has many varieties across different cultures, there are some shared values and beliefs that connect various Arab speech communities. Consequently, certain generalizations regarding acceptable politeness patterns in the Arab culture may be established, while acknowledging the presence of cultural and linguistic peculiarities. This study offers a descriptive analysis of spontaneous speech, emphasizing the politeness patterns delineated by Leech (2014), in the context of advice-giving in the Arab culture. The data of this study was obtained from ‘Boulevard Almawaheb’ talent show, comprising a total of seventy-nine advice-giving acts. The analysis followed the mixed-method design, mainly applying qualitative content analysis, supported by quantitative data. The findings indicate a preference for on-record indirect strategies over direct strategies and hints, along with a tendency to prioritize certain constraints, such as Approbation. The present study seeks to address the research gap in advice-giving pragmatic orientation within the Arab culture, with the intention of contributing to the establishment of a comprehensive pragmatic profile of speech acts in the Arab world.