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Part of
The Pragmatics of Adaptability
Edited by N. Daniel Silva and Jacob L. Mey
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 319] 2021
► pp. 191–212

Chapter 9
Face, conflict, and adaptability in mediated intercultural invitations

Young adults navigate complexities of ethnicity, gender, nationality and age

| Lesley University
| Northeastern University
| Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro

In a world of increasing national and international mobility, people are progressively more engaged in communication over multiple types of media. This paper discusses the question of adaptability in mediated intercultural communication, considering the perspectives of a group of international graduate students and their peers in a graduate program in a North American university. The paper explores the relational aspects of technologically mediated “invitations” as potential face threatening acts made more complex by the unequal social positions of the participants regarding ethnicity, gender, nationality, and age. It also problematizes the nature of mediated communication and choices of communicative tools, the contradictory assessments by users as to the value of specific semiotic information, and the chronotopes of mediated invitations that intensify facework.

Keywords: intercultural communication, mediated interaction, adaptability, invitation, face
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Invitations: Face orientation and negotiation
  • 3.The data
    • Case 1.Rebecca. Using preliminaries: Texting to generate a Skype conversation
    • Case 2.Winnie: An invitation via email
    • Case 3.Lara: Direct FTA with no face protection except for the medium
    • Case 4. Claire: Indirectness and side sequences to protect face among siblings
  • 4.Further discussion
  • 5.Chronotopes – intensifying tension?
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 17 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.319.09rib
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