This book offers a critical reflection on interpersonal positioning across both large- and small-scale contexts and highlights the multi-faceted nature of intercultural communication in todays global world. The volume establishes positioning primarily as the negotiation of interpersonal relationships, and draws on concepts from across disciplines by way of reappraisal before applying them to two specific domains: MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) and private ELF couple interaction. While acknowledging and showcasing the unique features of positioning in these two contexts, Klötzl and Swoboda point to their commonalities by looking at how language and specifically English is used as a communicative resource in lingua franca situations. The book also identifies new directions for future methodological innovations in that it demonstrates how the same interaction can be looked at in methodologically-different ways and how the authors own positions projected on to such interaction create an integrated tri-partite perspective on the two domains. Shedding light on interpersonal positioning in different contexts and in turn on global communication more generally, this book will be of particular interest to students and researchers in discourse analysis, pragmatics, computer-mediated communication, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
INTRODUCTION: from text to discourse
Why English as a lingua franca?
Why ingame (disembodied) interaction?
Why ELF couple interaction?
Two domains the same basic issues
Outline
Chapter Two
THE DISCOURSE OF ELF
Channel
Code
Context
Participants
Conclusion
Chapter Three
COMMUNICATION AS POSITIONING
Communication as "a meaningful whole"
Positioning as polyphony
Bakhtins voice
Positioning as Bakhtins dialogicality
Positioning Theory
Positioning in the social sciences
Positioning and the face
Positioning as politeness: personal wants and other motivations
Positioning as involvement and independence: pro-social and relational
approaches
The co-operative and territorial imperatives
Conclusion
Chapter Four
POSITIONING AS POLYPHONIC METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
Methodological issues: "a paradox of irreducible subjectivity"
Research design: triangulated inquiry
Gamer-participants
Couples-participants
Couple
1. Nargiz (Ukrainian) and Dan (French) (C1/ua-fr)
Couple
2. Sue (Israeli) and Henry (Austrian) (C2/il-au)
Couple
3. Sandy (Italian) and Peter (Austrian) (C3/it-au)
Couple
4. Monica (Austrian) and Patrick (Czech) (C4/au-cz)
Couple
5. Anna (Austrian) and Paul (Hungarian) (C5/au-hu)
Ingame data
Third-person data: self-compiled corpus of ingame and out-game interaction
Second-person data: questionnaire
First-person data: critical incident log
Couple data
Third-person data: corpus of couples self-recordings
Second-person data: interviews and participants comments
First-person data: the researchers diary and field notes
Summary and conclusion
Chapter Five
DISEMBODIED COMMUNICATION: Positioning in computer-mediated gaming discourse
Introduction
MMORPGs and its communication
Communication channels and their functions
Aspects and challenges
Places and positions in gaming
The gamers' motivations
Finding place and assigning place
Ingame positioning
LFG (Looking for group) sequences: finding help and grouping ingame
Trolling
Griefing
Wiping: the death of all party members
Conclusion
Chapter Six
A LOVE AFFAIR WITH ELF: positioning as interpersonal dynamics in ELF couple
discourse
Introduction
"What /mami/?": achieving meaning in couple talk
"Schatzi what does your mother do there eigentlich": use of language to the
pragmatic effect of togetherness
"This dog is a topic": others as interactional resource in the process of
establishing coupleness
"Lustig mein mann ist": intertextuality as an interactive resource in ELF
couple talk
"Mucho bueno": achieving coupleness through representational function of
couples ELF
Conclusion: ELF as "refuge in this little world of ours"
Chapter Seven
CONCLUSION: Positioning as a universal process of human communication
Svitlana Klötzl received her PhD from the University of Vienna. Her research interests include discourse analysis, English as a lingua franca, applied linguistics, and private couple interaction. Her publications include articles in Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, Discourse and interaction, and a chapter in Globalisation: Myth or Reality?
Birgit Swoboda is a freelance researcher publishing and presenting on language use in computer-games. She studied English Linguistics and History at the University of Vienna and holds a PhD degree (thesis title: L2P n00b The pragmatics of positioning in MMORPGs). Her research focus is CMC, politeness and positioning theory.
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