Linguistic politeness strategies in corporate discourse (by the example of corporate codes of conduct of companies)

Abstract

This article attempts to study linguistic politeness strategies in corporate discourses with means of linguopragmatic analysis of Codes of Conducts, available on the Internet open sources. Codes of Conduct are meant to evoke in the addressee (company employees, business partners, customers, government agencies, or society as a whole) a positive impression, while formulating corporate behavior norms obligatory for the employees and partners to comply with. Being a set of directive and commission speech acts, on the one hand, and on the other hand, being a document that forms the image of the company, Codes of Conduct represent an interesting material for the analysis of the ways to reduce face-threatening acts. The methodological basis of the undertaken research are the communication theory, corporate discourse and the sociolinguistic postulates of Brown and Levinson’s Theory of Politeness. Politeness, as an essential condition for any kind of communication, is a social and cultural phenomenon, as it signifies linguistic features associated with norms of social behavior. Respectful attitude towards each other correlates in business communication with superior-subordinate relationship. Social norms or behavioral rules adopted in corporate discourse determine the speaker’s choice of politeness strategies and linguistic features. The article analyzes linguistic politeness strategies, aimed to reduce communicative pressure within the directive speech act, as well as interaction of these strategies and their linguistic execution. The most often-used politeness strategies to be find in Codes of Conduct are use of in-group identity markers and stating a directive speech act as a general rule or a practice already established in a company.