著者

杉浦 綾子

出版者

映画英語教育学会

雑誌

映画英語教育研究 : 紀要 (ISSN:13429914)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.20, pp.81, 2015 (Released:2020-03-25)

---

Some literature claims that the use of a third person pronoun: he or she, is rude to the addressee in communication in English in case the person is within earshot of the speaker. The paper investigated the reason for the claim by analyzing conversation in an American drama series from the viewpoint of what impression or influence the use would have on the addressees. The analysis was made by employing indices used in pragmatics and sociolinguistics to identify these inherently vague elements objectively. The results showed that in case the use of the third person pronouns was inevitable, approx. 80% of it gave unpleasant impression or influence such as accusation, alienation and insult, and they often accompanied offensive gestures or strong tones. What was commonly observed was its effect of psychologically distancing the addresses. Further, it was also common that in the aforementioned cases, the positive politeness strategies used to build a good relationship between the addressors and addressees were not employed, therefore, it was likely that the unpleasant impression or influence was conveyed directly to the addressees. The paper concluded that these common elements were one reason why the use of the third person pronouns was considered offensive to the addressees.