Positive and Negative Politeness Strategies in Jessica Soho’s Political Interviews: A Linguistic Analysis

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue V, May 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Positive and Negative Politeness Strategies in Jessica Soho’s Political Interviews: A Linguistic Analysis

Aimee Ann B. Sanglitan and Maria Luisa S. Saministrado, PhD
Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan

Abstract: Much attention is given to politicians and the strategies that they use to be both cooperative and polite in the study of discourse and politics. Little attention is given to the important role that interviewers play in maintaining the conversation, and the strategies that they use not only on cooperation but also in politeness. This paper analyzes the way that Jessica Soho formulates her questions for political interviews. It also identifies the different politeness strategies she uses in order to maintain the conversation and arrive at preferred responses. Data was obtained through the transcript of five political interviews under the television program SONA of Jessica Soho, a well-known award-winning TV host. The results provided insights on political discourse and the role of politeness in political interviews.
Keywords: strategies, politeness, preferred responses, politics, political discourse, political interviews
I. INTRODUCTION
In the study of discourse and politics in general, and political interviews in particular, much interest is placed on politicians and their strategies to accomplish being polite and cooperative. According to studies by Bavelas, Black, Chovil, & Mullet (1990), politicians often use equivocation to deal successfully with conflict. The use of equivocation helps make their utterances ‘ambiguous,’ ‘indirect,’ and ‘obscure’ (Bull, 1998). Chilton and Schaffner suggest that equivocation is used in situations when “the information necessary to answer the question is unavailable, the information is available but cannot be provided under, or if doing so would be inappropriate” (Chilton & Schaffner, 1997). Politicians do this, especially during on-air interviews, to help maintain their positive face and an excellent public image. However, this hinders the interviewer from gaining the answers they need in the discussion. Often, the goals of the politician being interviewed and the interviewer are very different. The interviewer seeks to gain as much information as possible while the interviewee/politician aims to promote their public image. However, politicians and interviewers must have equal control over what counts as ‘truthful,’ ‘relevant,’ and ‘sufficient’ in the political discourse they participate in. Most studies on political interviews only focus on the linguistic activities and strategies of the politician but fail to examine the linguistic strategy of the reporter/interviewee, which is also crucial to the whole communicative discourse.
This paper filled the gap with its aim to examine the interviewer’s use of linguistic strategies to arrive at preferred responses. Specifically, it attempted to answer the following questions:

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