A Case Study Of Impoliteness In Adolescent Conflict Talks From The Perspective Of Rapport Management Theory

Conflict talks(CTs)are considered impolite in interpersonal communication and represent a widely prevalent socio-cultural phenomenon.Although scholars have put emphasis on studying CTs in recent years,insufficient attention has been given to investigating adolescent CTs.Nevertheless,as CTs are one of the primary threats to harmonious atmosphere among adolescents,it proves to be rather difficult for them to maintain harmonious relationships,even among friends.Hence,it is necessary to conduct research on adolescent CTs.CTs have been extensively researched in different fields,particularly in pragmatics.However,fewer scholars have simultaneously studied modes and impolite strategies in adolescent CTs,and there is a lack of research on factors influencing the use of impolite strategies.In 2012,Ran Yongping proposes that Rapport Management Theory(RMT),put forward by Spencer-Oatey in 2000,2007,2008,is a universally applicable model that can be used to study CTs and explain factors for strategy use.Therefore,adolescent CTs in the Harry Potter movies is studied from the perspective of RMT.The research questions are as follows:(1)How do modes and impolite strategies distribute respectively in adolescent CTs?(2)How do they manage rapport with impolite strategies in adolescent CTs?(3)What are the factors behind their different choice of impolite strategies in CTs?A total of 129 adolescent CTs are collected exhaustively through artificial means from the Harry Potter movies as research data.A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches are employed.Data is processed and analyzed by NVivo 12 Pro for Windows as the research instrument.The results are as follows:Firstly,the most frequent modes in adolescent CTs are characterized by “claimcounter claim,” “direct confrontation,” and “stand-off,” and the most commonly employed impolite strategy is “argue.” In CTs of friends and CTs of potential opponents,the employment of modes and impolite strategies exhibits both distinct similarities and differences in the initiation,escalation,and termination of CTs.Secondly,adolescents manage their rapport in two ways in their CTs: the violation of face management,and the violation of sociality rights management by using many kinds of impolite strategies in the course of CTs.Generally,adolescents tend to infringe on identity face and equity rights.Specifically,Notably,there are significant differences in both aspects in CTs of friends and CTs of potential opponents.Thirdly,factors influencing the use of different impolite strategies include two aspects: social distance and rapport management orientations.Due to the proximity of social distance between adolescents who are friends,a wide range of options exist for their choice of impolite strategies.Consequently,the likelihood of employing less offensive impolite strategies is higher for them.Besides,they tend to exhibit a relatively greater range of rapport management orientations,which is also an essential factor that affects their use of diverse impolite strategies.However,this is exactly the opposite for adolescents involved in potential opponents.In summary,an empirical example of the integration of adolescent CTs,impoliteness model,and RMT is provided in this study,thus enriching the research of adolescent CTs.Besides,the present study facilitates the promotion of adolescent comprehension of CTs,enhancing their pragmatic consciousness to adopt appropriate modes and strategies for managing interpersonal relationships in CTs,or refraining from the aforementioned modes and strategies for polite conversations.