A Study Of Comforting Speech Act In The TV Programwhere Are We Going, Dad

Comforting is a very common speech act in everyday life. The comforter performs comforting speech act to help the comfortee get rid of negative emotions. The study of comforting speech act has gained wide attention both abroad and at home. However, up to now, few studies are conducted from the perspective of power relation. With the popularity of various popular TV shows, more and more scholars are getting interested in analyzing TV reality shows. Where are we going, Dad is a newly launched parent-child interaction TV reality show. In this program, the comforting speech acts are highly strategic and the performance of comforting speech acts are greatly influenced by the power relation of fathers and children.In order to achieve better understanding of comforting speech act, this paper mainly explores two questions:(1) What strategies of comforting speech act are employed in the TV program Where are we going, Dad and what is the frequency of each strategy?(2) How does power relation shape the way of performing the speech act of comforting? The theoretical framework of this study is speech act theory and power relation theory. In this study, representative comforting speech acts are carefully chosen and analyzed from the TV reality show Where are we going, Dad. A combination of qualitative method and quantitative method is employed.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter one is the introduction of the thesis. Chapter two literature review consists of a general review on TV reality show, an introduction to the program Where are we going,Dad and knowledge of comforting speech act. Chapter three is the theoretical framework of this thesis. Chapter four is research methodology which explicates data collection, research method and research procedures. Chapter five discusses the strategies of comforting speech act and analyzes power and solidarity manifested. Chapter six draws the conclusion, underlines the limitation and gives suggestions for future research.According to the data, it is found that the comforting strategies employed in the program are mainly generalized into three types: emotion-centered, problem-centered and supplementary comforting strategy. It is found that comforters are more inclined to choose problem-centered comforting strategy as it is more face-saving and practical. In addition, power and solidarity are manifested in the selection of comforting strategies. It is found that under the influence of power relationship, comforters tend to offer solutions most to show that they are powerful and helpful. Under the influence of solidarity relationship, comforters prefer to choose the strategy of acknowledging negative emotions in order to minimize power distance and achieve successful comforting. The study of comforting speech act is of great importance in maintaining successful communication and harmonious social relationship.