ERIC Number: EJ1430307
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jul
Pages: 38
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0167-8507
EISSN: EISSN-1613-3684
Available Date: N/A
Unpacking Translanguaging in Refusals on Chinese Social Media: Strategies, Distribution, and Functions
Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, v43 n4 p487-524 2024
Translanguaging has been documented to be frequently adopted in day-to-day online interaction. To date, except for Ren and Guo's (2022. Translanguaging in self-praise on Chinese social media. "Applied Linguistics Review" 169. 1-22) pioneering study examining translanguaging practices in online self-praise, there has been scanty focus on how translanguaging is manifested in the realisation of specific speech acts, particularly the face-threatening speech act of refusing. To fill this research gap, the study explores the strategies, distributional patterns, and functions of translanguaging practices in digital refusals through the analysis of naturally occurring data collected on WeChat over five months. The findings indicate that online interlocutors utilized a wide range of translanguaging strategies from multimodal, multilingual, and multi-semiotic resources. Four turn positions are identified in decreasing order of frequency: single turn, turn final, turn medial, and turn initial. Furthermore, translanguaging in refusals denotes interpersonal, expressive, textual, and operational functions, with the first two constituting the majority. Based on these findings, three types of refusals shaped by translanguaging are identified, namely, refusals with translanguaging as a redressive strategy, refusals with translanguaging as a marker of mock impoliteness, and refusals with translanguaging as a facilitator of smooth online communication. The study concludes by highlighting that the nature of the speech act, digital genres and platforms, and the relationship existing between interlocutors contribute to translanguaging practices in online refusals.
Descriptors: Translation, Code Switching (Language), Social Media, Speech Acts, Longitudinal Studies, Telecommunications, Pragmatics, Conflict Resolution, Language Usage, Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Young Adults, Foreign Countries, Influence of Technology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A