Advice in Japanese radio phone-in counselling

Lidia Tanaka

Abstract

Unlike the short and specific advice of service-encounters, advice in counselling settings is longer and more complex. In these interactions, it is known that advice is initially resisted in all languages. Scholars have tried to explain this phenomenon in terms of ‘face loss’ (Brown and Levinson 1987; Goldsmith 1992, 1994; Hinkel 1994; Murakami 1994); premature delivery (Heritage and Sefi 1992); the inappropriateness of the advisors (Jefferson and Lee 1992); or discrepancies in the interpretation of a problem (Murakami 1994). One of the difficulties in counselling or therapeutic settings is that the giving of advice in these interactions is a ‘process’ that is long and complex. In order to understand advice resistance, it is essential, first and foremost, to identify the characteristics of advice and how it is delivered. The present analysis of Japanese radio phone-in programs focuses on advice in order to identify its formal characteristics and also to try to understand the factors that determine its acceptance or resistance.

Keywords:
Quick links
A browser-friendly version of this article is not yet available. View PDF
Abe, Keiko
(2006) ‘How may I help you?’ Advice by radio in Japan and the U.S.. In A. M. Hornero Corsico, M.J. Luzón, and S. Murillo Ornat (eds.), Corpus Linguistics: Applications for The Study of English. Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 79–92.Google Scholar
Altman, Roann
(1990) Giving and taking advice without offence. In R. Scarcella, E. Andersen, and S. Krashen (eds.), Developing Communicative Competence in a Second Language. New York: Newbury House, pp. 95–101.Google Scholar
Bach, Kent, and Robert Harnish
(1979) Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts. Cambridge: MIT Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Blum-Kulka, Shoshana
(1987) Indirectness and politeness in requests: Same or different? Journal of Pragmatics 11.2: 131–146. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, Penelope, and Steven Levinson
(1987) Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Culpeper, Jonathan
(2005) Impoliteness and entertainment in the television quiz show: The Weakest Link. Journal of Politeness Research 1: 35–72. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
(2011) Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Culpeper, Jonathan, Robert Crawshaw, and Julia Harrison
(2008) ‘Activity types’ and ‘discourse types’: Mediating ‘advice’ in interactions between foreign language assistants and their supervisors in schools in France and England. Multilingua 27: 297–324. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
DeCapua, Andrea, and Joan F. Dunham
(1993) Strategies in the discourse of advice. Journal of Pragmatics 20.6: 519–539. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gaik, Frank
(1992) Radio show therapy and the pragmatics of possible worlds. In A. Duranti, and C. Goodwin (eds.), Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 271–290.Google Scholar
Geis, Michael
(1995) Speech Acts and Conversational Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  BoP DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goldsmith, Daena J
(1992) Managing conflicting goals in supportive interaction: An integrative theoretical framework. Communication Research 19: 264–286. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1994) The role of face work in supportive communication. In B.R. Burleson, T.L. Albrecht, and I. Sarason (eds.), The Communication of Support: Messages, Interactions, Relationships, and Community. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 29–49.Google Scholar
(1999) Content-based resource for giving face sensitive advice in troubles talk episodes. Research on Language and Social Interaction 32.4: 303–336. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2000) Soliciting advice: The role of sequential placement in mitigating face threat. Communication Monographs 67: 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grice, Paul
(1978) Logic and conversation. In P. Cole, and J. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and Semantics 9: Pragmatics. New York: Academic Press, pp. 41–58.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Have, Paul ten
(1993) Talk and institution: A reconsideration of the “asymmetry” of doctor-patient interaction. In D. Boden, and D. Zimmerman (eds.), Talk and Social Structure. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 138–163.Google Scholar
(1999) Doing Conversation Analysis: A Practical Guide. London: Sage.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Haviland, John
(1989) Sure, sure: Evidence and affect. Text 9.1: 27−68. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hayashi, Makoto
(2003) Joint Utterance Construction in Japanese Conversation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Heritage, John, and Paul Drew
(1992) Talk at Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Heritage, John, and Sue Sefi
(1992) Dilemmas of advice: Aspects of the delivery and reception of advice in interactions between health visitors and first-time mothers. In P. Drew, and J. Heritage (eds.), Talk at Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 359–417.Google Scholar
Heritage, John
(1985) Analyzing news interviews: Aspects of the production of talk for an overhearing audience. In T.A. van Dijk (ed.), Discourse and Dialogue. London: Academic Press, pp. 95−117.Google Scholar
Hinkel, Eli
(1994) Appropriateness of advice as L2 solidarity strategy. RELC Journal 25.2: 71–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1997) Appropriateness of advice: DCT and multiple choice data. Applied Linguistics 18.1: 1– 26. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Horiguchi, Junko
(1997) Japanese Conversation by Learners and Native Speakers. Tokyo: Kuroshio.Google Scholar
Hoshino, Yuko
(2005) Positive politeness in Japanese advice giving. Ningen Bunka Rongyo 8: 317–326.Google Scholar
Hudson, Thom
(1990) The discourse of advice giving in English: I wouldn’t feed till spring no matter what you do. Language and Communication 10.4: 285–297. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hutchby, Ian
(1995) Aspects of recipient design in expert advice-giving on call-in radio. Discourse Processes 19.2: 219–38. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Jefferson, Gail, and John R.E. Lee
(1992) The rejection of advice: managing the problematic convergence of a “troubles’ teller” and a “service encounter”. In P. Drew, and J. Heritage (eds.), Talk at Work.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 521–548. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Kissine, Mikhail
(2013) Form Utterances to Speech Acts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leech, Geoffrey
(1983) Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Leppänen, Vesa
(1998) The straightforwardness of advice: Advice-giving in interactions between Swedish district nurses and patients. Research on Language and Social Interaction 31.2: 209–239. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Levinson, Stephen
(1992) Activity types and language. In P. Drew, and J. Heritage (eds.), Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–100. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Locher, Miriam
(2006) Advice Online. Advice-giving in an American Internet Health Column. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Murakami, Megumi
(1994) Resistance to advice and negotiation process: A case study of radio-advising sessions. Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University 43: 327–338.Google Scholar
(1995) Persuasion behavior in radio-advising sessions. Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University 2: 219–229.Google Scholar
Nakamura, Kazuo, and Yoshio Kashida
(2004) Jogensha-soodansha toiu shoochi. Shakaigaku Hyooron 55.2: 80–97. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Narrog, Heiko
(2009) Modality in Japanese: The Layered Structure of the Clause and Hierarchies of Functional Categories. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Nitta, Yoshio
(1999) Nihongo no Modaritii to Ninshoo. Tokyo: Hitsuji Shobo.Google Scholar
Sacks, Harvey
(1986) On the analyzability of stories by children. In J. Gumperz, and D. Hymes (eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 325– 245. (Original work published 1972).  BoPGoogle Scholar
Searle, John
(1975) Indirect speech acts. In P. Cole, and J. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and Semantics. Vol. III: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, pp. 59–82.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Shibamoto, Janet
(1992) Women in charge: Politeness and directives in the speech of Japanese women. Language in Society 21.1: 59–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shima, Hiroko
(1993) Joshi no hyoogen ‘taradoodesuka’ ‘sureba?’ o megutte: poraitonesu no kanten kara.  Kanazawa University Journal of Education Center for Foreign Students 2: 13–23.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Kyoko
(2002) Rajio no iryo soodan no danwa no koozoobunseki. Waseda University Japanese Education Department Bulletin 1: 117–130.Google Scholar
(2003) Rajio no shinri soodan no danwa no koozo bunseki. Waseda University Japanese Education Department Bulletin 3: 57–69.Google Scholar
(2007) Kinoobunkei ni motozuku danwa no koozoo bunseki. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Waseda University.Google Scholar
Szatrowski, Polly
(1994) Nihongo no Danwa no Koozoo Bunseki. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan.Google Scholar
Tanaka, Lidia
(2004) Language, Gender and Culture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006) Turn-taking in Japanese Television Interviews: A Study on Interviewers’ Strategies. Pragmatics 16.2/3: 361–398. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
(2014) Impoliteness in Japanese: Delivery and reception of FTAs in Japanese Radio Phone-in programs. Unpublished manuscript.
Terkourafi, Marina
(2011) The puzzle of indirect speech. Journal of Pragmatics 43: 2861−2865. DOI logoGoogle Scholar