Many people avoid to be direct in conveying a particular message in a conversation. They may use an indirect strategy to achieve a particular goal. Is it to sound more interesting or convincing? Are there any other reasons for indirectness?
hi. directness and indirectness is cultural based and also gender-related. social status and power relation are also influential factors in this regard. in some cultures , people are more indirect to show their politeness. they donot want to impose on others by direct speech acts. regarding gender, female use more indirect speech like hedges due to not being the dominating figures. power relations can also determine direct/indirectness; Bosses are more direct while addressing their staff but not with their top managers. best
Thank you very much, Farangis for this marvelous information. Best regards. Hazim
Dear Hazim,
In linguistic communication, we employ indirectness because we know that the others use an inferential system to cope. A consequence of this is that indirectness seems to bypass social conflict or confrontation.
It is better sometimes to be a more diplomatic and be indirect and messages surely will be more effective. In communication what we mean is not what we exactly say. Inferential communication proves to be more effective and more rhetoric than code communication.
Thank you Professor Zouheir Maalej for your excellent answer. Best regards. Hazim.
Your answer, Sabri T. S. Ahmed, is very interesting. Best regards. Hazim.
Hi,
It actually something related to the culture of the speaker. In many cultures being indirect is a sign of being polite and respect.
It may be an indicator of politeness, self-protection, save-face, a way to ovoid rejection and denial. Above All, it is cultural-dependant.
Thank you, Marwa for your answer. I agree with you. Being indirect in a spoken discourse is a way of showing politeness and to sound more convincing.
There are personal and temperamental factors in all of these; interpersonal communication is nuanced by intrapersonal communication and many turn inwards rather than outwards in communication; more importantly communication is part of social relations and social performance and indirectness is part of personal performance style and strategy.
Thank you,Addwald Ajayi dor your interesting answer. Best regards. Hazim
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