TY - JOUR
T1 - Strategies, modification and perspective in native speakers' requests
T2 - A comparison of WDCT and naturally occurring requests
AU - Economidou-Kogetsidis, Maria
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - The present study examines the extent to which written DCT requests approximate naturally occurring requests in a 'standard', service-encounter telephone situation with respect to the (a) degree of directness, (b) internal modification (syntactic and phrasal/lexical downgraders), and (c) request perspective. Results from the study revealed a picture with two sides: DCT requests and naturally occurring requests presented significant differences in a number of dimensions but at the same time they followed similar trends in terms of directness and lexical modification. Following the results, it was argued that the WDCT requests can, to a certain extent, approximate natural data and that WDCT data is therefore not without validity. It is warned, however, that findings from WDCT data should be treated with caution and as preliminary and that the use of a WDCT should be used alongside other research instruments and tested against other data through methodological triangulation. This will ensure greater validity and a better level of generalizability.
AB - The present study examines the extent to which written DCT requests approximate naturally occurring requests in a 'standard', service-encounter telephone situation with respect to the (a) degree of directness, (b) internal modification (syntactic and phrasal/lexical downgraders), and (c) request perspective. Results from the study revealed a picture with two sides: DCT requests and naturally occurring requests presented significant differences in a number of dimensions but at the same time they followed similar trends in terms of directness and lexical modification. Following the results, it was argued that the WDCT requests can, to a certain extent, approximate natural data and that WDCT data is therefore not without validity. It is warned, however, that findings from WDCT data should be treated with caution and as preliminary and that the use of a WDCT should be used alongside other research instruments and tested against other data through methodological triangulation. This will ensure greater validity and a better level of generalizability.
KW - DCT
KW - Directness
KW - Methodology
KW - Modification
KW - Naturally occurring data
KW - Requests
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879361551&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pragma.2013.03.014
DO - 10.1016/j.pragma.2013.03.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84879361551
SN - 0378-2166
VL - 53
SP - 21
EP - 38
JO - Journal of Pragmatics
JF - Journal of Pragmatics
ER -