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In:Pragmatics of Japanese: Perspectives on grammar, interaction and culture
Edited by Mutsuko Endo Hudson, Yoshiko Matsumoto and Junko Mori
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 285] 2018
► pp. 125–148

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Chapter 5
Superiors’ directives in the Japanese workplace

Are they all strategic?

 | University of Hawaii at Manoa
Published online: 16 April 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.285.05coo
Abstract
One of the criticisms against Brown and Levinson’s universal theory of politeness (1987) is the assertion that discernment politeness is more important than volitional politeness in Japanese society (e.g., Ide 1989; Hill et al. 1986). Contrary to this claim, studies that have analyzed actual discourse in the Japanese workplace report abundant volitional politeness strategies. These opposing views raise a question as to where and to what extent Japanese speakers use volitional strategies or observe discernment in the workplace. To answer this question, this chapter investigates superiors’ directives in new employee orientation sessions in a Japanese company. It finds a tendency among superiors to observe discernment when issuing procedural directives and to use negative and positive politeness strategies when issuing non-procedural directives.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Types of directives: Procedural and non-procedural directives
  • 3. Studies on directives in the Japanese workplace
  • 4.Data and methodology
  • 5.Superiors’ directives in the orientation sessions
    • 5.1Procedural directives
    • 5.2Non-procedural directives
    • 5.3Non-exclusivity between type of directive and linguistic forms
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
  • Appendix
  • Acknowledgement
  • Notes
  • References
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