Social Distancing and Politeness: Hungarian Emailing Practices During the Coronavirus Epidemic

With its outbreak and quick spread in early 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic brought rapid and sweeping changes in its wake in all walks of life. As measures were being imposed to contain the spread of the virus, emailing practices, including patterns of polite behaviour, were re-evaluated. Based on a corpus of emails comprising more than 250 texts, collected by various methods and showcasing personal, official and business correspondence alike, our paper presents linguistic features of emailing practices characterizing the first two and a half months of the global epidemic. Our pragmatic analysis uses the criteria of politeness theories to explore and classify novel emailing formulas indexically referring to the speech situation, and to interpret the functions of particular linguistic devices. The results point to the existence of a social distance-reducing strategy underlying varied patterns of expression. Social distance is offset, as it were, by linguistic means, distance being restricted to the spatial domain and solidarity taking centre stage in language activity. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Politeness markers in emails of non-native English speaking university students

The use of computer-mediated communication including emails has become pervasive in academic contexts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. What seems to be significant but simply overlooked by students is meeting politeness netiquettes while sending emails. To this end, the current study investigated the extent to which non-native English speaking university students adjust the level of politeness in their response emails written in English to that of the emails received from an American professor. To collect data, four versions of an academic email message with different levels of politeness were prepared in advance. The emails either included or excluded verbal and structural politeness markers and asked for the participants' demographic information and their reason for participation in the study. Then, 73 university students enrolled in a general English course were selected and divided randomly into four groups each of which received one version of the email message from the professor. The results of the data analysis on the participants' response emails, based on accommodation theory (Giles 1973) as a theoretical framework, revealed that they did not accommodate either verbal or structural politeness cues in emails. Besides, the participants' knowledge of the politeness etiquettes in the academic email genre seemed inadequate. Finally, the article provides some pedagogical implications for course designers, materials developers, and instructors to devise some plans to raise students' awareness of email politeness etiquettes and for students to be aware of the significance of meeting politeness principles in their academic emails.

Dangerous politeness? Understandings of politeness in the COVID-19 era and beyond

What (im)politeness means changes over time. As these changes are usually gradual, we tend to be relatively unaware of them. However, when changes are abrupt, people not only notice but are also concerned with them. The COVID-19 pandemic entailed such abrupt changes involving new rules most of which are at odds with the rather automatic conventions of politeness that we follow. My aim in this paper is to explore what politeness means to non-academics in the context of the pandemic and how similar or different their understandings are from academic accounts. To this end, I will draw from an online article entitled "Your politeness is a public health hazard", which appeared at the onset of the pandemic, and the user-generated comments it triggered. The discussion is placed within the discursive turn in (im)politeness research, considering its key distinction between first-order and second-order conceptualisations of politeness. The findings suggest that politeness in the pandemic is still mostly understood as consideration for the other, an understanding shared with (im)politeness research. However, posters' views are broader overlapping with understandings of 'civility'. These views manifest their knowledge as observers and participants of social reality but also reveal that they are in dialogue with work in philosophy, sociology and psychology.

Digital politeness in online translator and interpreter training: The lessons of the pandemic

The paper focuses on the concept of digital politeness as a component of a language services provider competence framework aimed at preparing undergraduate and graduate students of Linguistics and Translation Studies for effective performance in a digital professional environment. The study attempts to define the concept of digital politeness as applied to translator and interpreter training, make an inventory of digital politeness skills relevant to translator and interpreter competence, monitor students' progress in digital politeness during the online and hybrid training periods and assess the professional outcome of introducing relevant training into undergraduate and graduate programmes in Linguistics and Translation studies. Data for this study were collected using student surveys, the number of respondents totalling 80 individuals aged between 19 and 25. The respondents were offered questionnaires on their digital behaviour covering three periods: the unplanned transition to distance learning in 2020, the pre-planned delivery of all courses in online mode in 2021, and the return to in-class training in 2022. The accumulated data were processed using a single analysis algorithm, which allowed identifying dominant trends in the dynamics of student perception of digital politeness over the three periods under consideration. The findings yield results suggestive of increased student awareness of the need to improve their online academic interaction experience and maintain best digital interaction practices when delivering university degree programmes in distance mode. The survey also demonstrated that students see the digital politeness competence as a way to benefit professionally in their future career. © Irina V. Tivyaeva, Diana R. Abdulmianova 2023.

Saudi Minister of Health's Speeches Regarding to Covid-19 Pandemic, a Study in Light of Speech Acts

The idea of the research proceeds from the fact that the linguistic discourse adopted by the Saudi Ministry of Health contributed - along with other factors - to overcoming the large and dangerous effects that left behind Covid-19. This success was witnessed internationally in multiple official reports, which made this Saudi experience pioneer and even deserved to study and analyze. In fact, the linguistic discourse adopted by the Saudi Ministry of Health had an important role in the interaction of Saudi society members and organizations, and their full commitment to the instructions and directives of the competent health authorities, which made it possible to overcome the effects of this pandemic. Accordingly, we intend to study this discourse in the light of the speech act theory, so that we can reveal (the performance power in this discourse), as well as the role of (implicit and presupposition), in achieving the required interaction with the addressee. The study found that results, including the predominance of (illocutionary acts) in the statements whether it is (declarative) or (performative). In addition, each of the nine discourses represented a fully illocutionary act, and the acts in these discourses are obvih, does, and free of semantic ambiguity. Moreover, the speaker invested in politeness strategies, especially positive ones, to save the face of the addressee to be treated by performing acts. Acknowledgment: The author acknowledges the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Faisal University for the financial support under Nasher Track (Grant No216113). © 2022 DSR Publishers/ The University of Jordan.

(Im)politeness on Facebook during the Covid-19 pandemic

Digital discourse has emerged as a substantial focus of interest within the pragmatic field. Specifically, (im)politeness practices on social media have increasingly received scholarly attention in the last decade (Tagg, Caroline, Philip Seargeant & Amy Aisha Brown. 2017. Taking offence on social media. Conviviality and conviviality and communication on Facebook. Switzerland: Springer Nature, Palgrave McMillan;Tsoumou, Jean Mathieu. 2020. Analyzing speech acts in politically related Facebook communication. Journal of Pragmatics 167. 80–97). However, research combining COVID-19, Facebook and (im)politeness in a politically polarizing context is still scarce. This paper is an analysis of (im)politeness in Facebook comments posted as reactions to Giuliani's COVID diagnosis. Thus, by combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, the aim of the present paper is twofold: On the one hand, it intends to further our understanding of the manifestation of (im)politeness practices on Facebook through an analysis of reactive comments to Giuliani's Covid-19 diagnosis on BBC news Facebook page. On the other hand, the paper aims to examine how the struggle between impoliteness and politeness divides Facebook users between sympathizers and detractors of the patient. Through a metadiscursive analysis, the identified (im)politeness items are distributed in an uneven fashion, with impoliteness-oriented items prevailing as the dominant macro category against politeness-oriented ones. The findings suggest that users employ different strategies to express or intensify (im)politeness, favoring explicit expressions of impoliteness such as redress/agreement, insults, pointed criticisms/complaints, unpalatable questions and/or presuppositions over others like threats.

(Im)politeness on Facebook during the Covid-19 pandemic

Digital discourse has emerged as a substantial focus of interest within the pragmatic field. Specifically, (im)politeness practices on social media have increasingly received scholarly attention in the last decade (Tagg, Caroline, Philip Seargeant & Amy Aisha Brown. 2017. Taking offence on social media. Conviviality and conviviality and communication on Facebook. Switzerland: Springer Nature, Palgrave McMillan;Tsoumou, Jean Mathieu. 2020. Analyzing speech acts in politically related Facebook communication. Journal of Pragmatics 167. 80-97). However, research combining COVID-19, Facebook and (im)politeness in a politically polarizing context is still scarce. This paper is an analysis of (im)politeness in Facebook comments posted as reactions to Giuliani's COVID diagnosis. Thus, by combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, the aim of the present paper is twofold: On the one hand, it intends to further our understanding of the manifestation of (im)politeness practices on Facebook through an analysis of reactive comments to Giuliani's Covid-19 diagnosis on BBC news Facebook page. On the other hand, the paper aims to examine how the struggle between impoliteness and politeness divides Facebook users between sympathizers and detractors of the patient. Through a metadiscursive analysis, the identified (im)politeness items are distributed in an uneven fashion, with impoliteness-oriented items prevailing as the dominant macro category against politeness-oriented ones. The findings suggest that users employ different strategies to express or intensify (im)politeness, favoring explicit expressions of impoliteness such as redress/agreement, insults, pointed criticisms/complaints, unpalatable questions and/or presuppositions over others like threats.

Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER

The Internet Archive supported the efforts of organizations working in parallel to the Library of Congress through cost-sharing with institutions using its popular Archive-lt web archiving service to preserve COVID-related online materials rhttps://archi ve-it.org/blog/covid-19/1 . More information on the game is available here ,[ https://www, nfsa.gov.au/lat est/home-blizzard-antarctic-adventure-plav-online-gamei an accompanying teacher's guide can be accessed here ,[ httns://www. nfsa.gov.au/home-blizzard-teaohers-gui del _. Some information in this column comes courtesy of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) listserv, along with institutional newsletters, websites, and press releases.

POLITENESS IN THE COVID-19 WORKPLACE: THE CASE OF UNIVERSITY AMERICAN COLLEGE SKOPJE

This study investigates the level of politeness in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic by using the speech acts of request, apology and compliment in English. The organization that is subject to research is University American College Skopje - a private higher-education institution in the Republic of North Macedonia. Organizational communication is essential for the performance of and within one organization and is a crucial part of employees' motivation, employees' retention, positive performance and positive financial outcomes of the organization. On the other hand, being polite in the workplace and following proper workplace etiquette can help managers and workers function as a unit. Hence, as language is the main tool of communication, its effectiveness is analyzed and determined through language analysis done on the use of three speech acts: request, apology and compliment, which are considered to be most commonly used in an organizational setting. The research is conducted with participants who hold administrative and managerial positions at UACS. They are invited to electronically respond to six different situations, which ask them to use the speech acts that are subject to this research: once in a conversation with their fellow colleague on the same level, and then when conversing with their superior - for the administrative positions, and with their subordinate - for the management-positioned respondents. The situations given in the questionnaire are constructed to seem natural for the respondents' particular working environment. For better communication to be achieved, normal circumstances in life and business always recommend using polite language, but the new COVID-19 pandemic, with its urge for physical distancing and isolation, calls for mandatory politeness, to ensure people's mental wellbeing and successful organizational communication. The research shows that, in this pandemic, when communicating through the three speech acts, the UACS employees are highly polite in their organizational communication.

Current trends and the way forward on call center research in a post-covid world: An introduction

Applying sociolinguistic perspectives, this issue explores the most recent developments in call center research and the impact call center work has on agents. Significant issues are addressed in call center interactions, including web chat, agent stigmatization, agent resistance, agent training and the impact of Covid-19. The essays provide a forum where developments are critically reviewed and future areas of research explored, including how call center work can be improved. The first article by Nielsen addresses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in India and working from home through the notions of chronotopes. The second article in the issue by Lockwood develops a framework for the assessment of written web chats in offshore call centers. The third essay by Friginal examines how the voice assessment of Filipino agents can be improved through caller clarification sequences. Tovar’s paper, the fourth paper in this collection, focuses on the strain that working in a call center creates for agents and how they resolve this. The fifth paper by Orthaber examines resistance and passive compliance in call center interactions in a Slovenian call center using turn-by-turn micro-analysis of service conversations with a focus on silences. Despite the different angles, the papers share themes of resistance (creative compliance) and the development of a new register of call center speak, while also highlighting agency among call center workers. © 2022, EQUINOX PUBLISHING.

Wake up New Zealand! Directives, politeness and stance in Twitter #Covid19NZ posts.

As Covid-19 made its way to the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand in 2020, Kiwis took to Twitter to share their experiences and opinions regarding both the virus and government responses. In this paper, we examine a corpus of 1001 tweets to see just how Twitter users utilize different linguistic and politeness strategies when sharing directives conveying stance toward government Covid-19 measures. While there has been research into the use of directives in spoken and written language, there has been little exploration of how directives are used in the language of Social Media. Often considered difficult to classify even in more traditional language genres, Twitter corpora pose additional challenges. We propose a strategy to identify and classify directives using syntactic and pragmatic features, and use this strategy to identify linguistic patterns of both in relation to stance toward government Covid-19 measures. While we find that the most prototypical directive within our corpus is largely consistent with previous definitions, we also find that tweeters exhibit a striking amount of variation in directive strategy, emphasizing the need for a nuanced approach to directive identification and classification. We further note trends in the directive strategies utilized by tweeters expressing different stances toward government measures.

Exploration of Impoliteness Students' Utterances in Learning Activities during the New Normal Covid-19 Pandemic

The research describes language impoliteness in learning during the Covid-19 pandemic at the Berau District Elementary School, East Kalimantan. This study uses a qualitative approach with a descriptive-qualitative type of research. The subjects of this research were elementary school students and teachers in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. Data collection does by recording technique and note-taking technique. The data analysis technique uses an interactive analysis model from Miles, Huberman, & Saldana (2014). The results showed violations of all maxims of politeness in the language in the learning process. A breach of the tact maxim is that students respond to the teacher's orders with an attitude that is not serious or joking. Violation of the generosity maxim is shown by the way students express their intentions or desires emotionally. Violation of the approbation maxim is students criticizes directly or openly. The violation of the modesty maxim carried out by the students demeaned the speech partner. Violation of the agreement maxim indicates students' attitudes who do not respect the teacher's orders using harsh diction. The form of a breach of the sympathy maxim is that students lose their empathy for friends who are having trouble.

#Dickens150: A virtual conference to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Dickens's death, 9 June 2020

Beside receiving an overwhelming number of submissions from global scholars, we also incorporated several innovative features: a video of Jeremy Parrott's new Dickens museum in Hungary, Dickens & Co.;a video exhibition of 'Childhood in Dickensian London' from Senate Library, courtesy of librarians Tansy Barton and Leila Kassir, and a Q&A session with writer and director Armando Iannucci, interviewed by Dickens descendant and author Lucinda Hawksley about his recent adaptation of David Copperfield (2019). Addressing attendees from inside The Charles Dickens Museum itself, director Cindy Sughrue thanked #Dickens150 organisers and participants for contributing a total of £2800 through this virtual conference, which will help support staff and cover necessary expenses until the museum reopens. Throughout the day speakers emphasised Dickens's continuing relevance: in a 'Dickens and Contagion' roundtable with Pamela Gilbert (University of Florida), Sean Grass (Rochester Institute of Technology), Eric Lorentzen (University of Mary Washington), Natalie McKnight (Boston University), Lillian Nayder (Bates College) and Pete Orford (University of Buckingham), the speakers considered several passages from the novels, which depict scenes of social unrest, disease, contagion and troubled social interaction, parallelling the current COVID-19 quarantines and closures.

The Role of Adjacency Pairs to Create Politeness Strategies in Students' Phatic Utterances

Adjacency pair is one of the language features to make utterances more polite as it creates turn-taking, which means that none of participant dominates. Adjacency pairs also create functions of phatic communication as stated by Padilla Cruz. According to Levinson, there are nine patterns of adjacency pairs, and most could be found in utterances. The data were taken from 24 students' phatic utterances, and they were chosen because all participants are classmates. COVID-19 pandemic has forced them not to meet each other for almost 2 semesters, yet they show their closeness and solidarity. After all the data were analyzed using the qualitative method, it can be concluded that there are 7 adjacency pairs: Question-Answer, Offer-Accept, Taking leave-Taking leave, Summons-Answer, Request for information-Grant, Request-Apology, and Greeting-Greeting, and most of them have phatic functions of communication. Using adjacency pairs employs politeness strategies and negative and positive politeness strategies from Brown and Levinson. Negative politeness strategies found are: Be conventionally indirect, Question, hedge and Quality-hedges, while positive politeness strategies found are: Offer, promise, Include both S and H in the activity, and Give gifts to H. One of adjacency- pairs, and phatic utterances' functions is to maintain politeness though the students are classmates with close social distance and equal power, they perform politeness strategies to keep their social relations. The appearance of politeness strategies shows that no matter how informal utterances are, closeness and politeness must stay together.