Abstract
Partial bilinguals who were born and raised in diaspora communities sometimes experience pragmatic failure when interacting with native speakers of their heritage language. This paper explores encounters among heritage and native speakers of Greek, focusing specifically on how the former conceptualize politeness, and how expectations may differ. Differences have been identified between Modern Greek and English: for example, the negotiation of the communication norms of a positive politeness society, – the management and mitigation of face threatening acts, the use of diminutives and terms of endearment, and the use of politeness markers and formulae. The present research explores how Greek and English politeness norms are conceptualized, experienced and managed by Australian-born heritage speakers of Greek. In semi-structured interviews of 1–1.5 hours’ duration, eliciting both general beliefs and small narratives of lived experience, Greek Australian participants were asked to reflect on their experiences communicating in Greek in a range of interpersonal contexts, including visits to Greece. The key concepts to emerge were directness, consideration and generosity, and respect, manifest in both behavior and language. Findings suggest that politeness expectations are at least partly shaped by experiences of communication with other members of the diaspora and with local and/or native speakers encountered during visits to Greece. A model is proposed for a range of situated interactions emerging from the data, which it is suggested can impact on politeness behavior and belief.
About the author
Jill C. Murray is a lecturer and researcher at Macquarie University, where she teaches SLA, pragmatics, and intercultural communication. Her research interests include im/politeness, the teaching and learning of pragmatics, the assessment of pragmatic competence in a range of specialist contexts, and the presentation of meta-pragmatic information in EFL, ESL and heritage language teaching materials.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the editor of Intercultural Pragmatics and the two anonymous reviewers whose gave generously of their time to provide insightful comments on an earlier version of this article.
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Appendix: Communicating in Greek: networks and contexts
| Participant | Australia | Greece | Elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calliope (Lived in Greece aged 5–8, and 8–9. Rural context. Used only Greek up to age 10) | Parents – both with basic education only. Mother with poor English Sister (less frequent since leaving home) Brother (infrequent) Uncle and Aunt who visited from another city Her children (helping them learn) Former fiancé Former employer Father’s friends Non-Greek husband who has studied Greek Greek Australian mothers in Sydney | Family and other villagers in Greece when she lived there as a child Nieces and nephews Aunties in Greece (village) Children in Greece Hotel staff | |
| Nina | Parents (especially Cypriot father) Grandparents (only communicated in Greek) Brother Schoolmates at Greek school Greek Australian Friends: (“99%” of friends are Greek) Greek lecturer at university Other students in university society Non-Greek friends (whom she tries to teach) People in Greek shops in Australia and NZ People involved with church and cultural events | Cousins and other relatives People in service industries People who spoke only Greek in a medium-sized town | Cyprus |
| Sandra | Teachers at Greek school in Australia Mother’s family Grandparents (communication only in Greek) Greek Australian friends God-children Partner, a recent migrant from Greece | FamilyYoung Greeks (mostly her students) Parents of students Greek friends in Greece (writing to Greek friends overseas when learning Greek) Partner’s family Bureaucrats (e. g., Dept. of education, Tax office) Villagers (mostly uneducated) People who knew her family Facebook friends | |
| Irini | Father, who taught her to write. (She commented that her father had “textbook Greek”, while her mother had learned from her parents). Parents (for privacy in public places) Grandparents (English speaking so rare to use Greek) Other elderly relatives Teachers in Greek open high-school One recent migrant | Service contexts: Hotel staff on island Family and friends of family (island village context) Strangers met while travelling (e. g., asking for directions) | |
| Dimitris | Parents when he was a child (less frequently now) One grandmother (other grandparents deceased) One recent migrant Teachers and university lecturers Members of student organisations | Relatives (aunts, uncles, cousins) and friends in Greece Strangers in Greece Doctor Service industry contexts Taxi driver Bank staff Facebook friends | Cyprus Other diaspora Greeks when travelling in UK for exchange (social contexts) |
| Markos | Teachers at Greek secondary school University Greek societies members His godparents Australian born son His son’s godfather and his father Friends of Greek descent (less frequently) One close Greek Australian friend | Strangers on short trips to Greece Priests in Mt. Athos People in service industries | Diaspora Greeks in NY (service contexts) Diaspora Greek friend from Germany |
| Despina | Parents (father deceased), daughters, husband, extended family (but more frequently in English) Friends she met at university People she met through her daughters’ schools (Greek independent schools in Sydney) Customers in her business Mother and father in law, aunts, aunts and uncles here, where Greeks their first language Older Greek people Her dog. [Mentioned that her Greek improved when her daughters were studying it Used to write Greek Xmas cards but no longer does] | Transport staff, shop staff in Greece Greek Australian travelling companions (rarely – as English preferred) Greek Facebook friends Family in Greece, by phone (not frequent) | - |
| Niki | Parents – all communication in Greek (mother speaks little English; father now deceased) Greek Australian friends Siblings – when sitting down together as a family Her daughter – but less now than when she was younger | Service providers (e. g. bus drivers) Cousins in Athens, aunts, uncles, on both parents’ sides; cousins, their children. Returned migrants | |
| Petros | Spoke only Greek at home as a young child Saturday school His father speaks only Greek to him Elderly people at family functions Family members who visit from Greece | Only visited in childhood Skype with family members in Greece – limited interaction | |
| Penelope | Grandmother (deceased) Private tutors in childhood, brother, 2nd generation mother, recent migrants /visitors Small amount with second generation friends and family gatherings (nieces and nephews) Greek born husband of her cousin | Church contacts in Greece Cousins Govt. officials in Athens Greek Australians in Greece (Island village context) Greek-born cousins, nephews | |
| Stavros | Greek at home and Greek primary school Parents (English now preferred) Close Greek friends in a social environment Grandmother University Greek society – lecturers at university Greek cultural events (theatre) | Family in Greece – uncle and grandparents (visiting from Australia), one cousin of the same age Friends of the cousin Other uncles and aunts who only know Greek | |
| Vasilis | Mother, grandparents when living Greek Australian friends (but infrequently – for privacy or deliberate practice) Customers in mother’s shop Diaspora elders who don’t speak English | Family in Greece, (cousins, aunts, uncles) Service contexts: taxi drivers, people in restaurants Uses social media to communicate with 5–6 cousins in Greece | |
| Sophia | Grandparents (now deceased) First generation older relatives Mother (less so now than when young) Music teacher (recent migrant) Greek teachers at university Relatives who live between Australia and Greece Other university students. | – | |
| Amalia | Grandparents (no English) Parents during childhood – but less so now Teachers at Greek primary school Greek Australian friends Customers in the shop where she worked | Cousins and aunt in Greece (returned migrants) Cousins via social media from Australia Tourist service staff on islands – hotel staff, airport staff | – |
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