A Comparative Study Of Speech Events And Hymes’ SPEAKING Factors In Two TV Series:Desperate Housewives And Bosom Friends

The speech event is the basic descriptive unit for the speech communication, which is usually made up of several speech acts and is directly governed by rules or norms for the use of speech. Since different groups of people have different ways of speaking, each group has its own norms of linguistic behavior. In ethnography of communication the focus is on the language the participants are using and the cultural practices such language reflects. Scholars both at home and abroad have made major strides on the study of the way people from different groups speak and the speech events in the fields of sociology, anthropology and pragmatics, etc. and have explored the cultural values of some particular speech communities, but the study from people’s sensitivity or social distance, for example, the comparative study of speech events occurring among friends in China and America is rare.Hymes (1974) has proposed an ethnographic framework SPEAKING, to specify a set of factors that could affect a speech event during the process of language production and interpretation, the factors of which are virtually contextual parameters for analyzing speech. It also proves that during the process of communication, there are some certain rules that should be followed, which is possible for researchers to explore the speech event of some particular speech communities.Based on the ethnography of communication and Hymes’SPEAKING model, the author has conducted a comparative study of speech events which occurred among friends in Desperate Housewives and Bosom Friends. By adopting both quantitative and qualitative methods, the typical speech events among friends are investigated and the similarities and differences between Chinese and Americans are probed into. Then the speech events are analyzed according to Hymes’SPEAKING model so as to have a comprehensive understanding of the speakers’communicative purposes,the characteristics of communicative acts and the norms of speaking, etc. Finally, a comparative analysis is adopted to explore the similarities and differences of the factor Key in those speech events between Americans and Chinese.The major findings of this study are as follows:(1) The result of the study shows that the most recurring events in a friendly relationship, whether they are Chinese or Americans, are found to be confiding, consoling and discussing with one’s friends; conflict, request, compliment or apology are also some typical speech events.(2) It is found that the most frequent topics of confiding among friends in two cultures are about one’s personal affairs, private matters, one’s jobs or secrets they found. As to discussion, Chinese friends are more likely to talk about their personal affairs and judge one’s behavior while Americans seldom do so since they put high value on one’s privacy. Consoling is a necessary way for both Americans and Chinese to care for their friends. Most conflicts end up with one participant’s withdrawing, however, Chinese sometimes tactfully change the topic to avoid the situation worsening. Because of the intimate relationship of the speakers, both sides use declarative way to make requests to their friends. When it comes to compliment, the second person "you" is the most preferential choice for Chinese, while Americans are accustomed to using the first person "I" to express appreciation. Persuasion often occurs among friends in China but it is not that common among Americans. In order to preserve face, Chinese would rather take other measures than say "sorry" directly while Americans who encourage self-responsibility often apologize directly. It is proved that the way people communicate is largely influenced by their different culture values.(3) By comparing the factor Key between the two cultures, it is found that both sides make use of irony and joking to express their intimacy, however, the frequency of such keys in Chinese is lower than that in Americans. Chinese attach high value to each others’faces so the way they talk seems a bit conservative while the conversation among friends in America is much more flexible and humorous.The present study probes into speech events among friends from the perspective of ethnography of communication and Hymes’SPEAKING model.In addition, the comparative study of speech events occurring among friends in China and America may offer some insights to the further study of cultural differences of the two countries as well as the cross-cultural communicative competence.