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Article published In:
Pragmatics & Cognition
Vol. 24:1 (2017) ► pp.4–32

Responding to direct complaints

The role of MPEs in common ground construction in institutional telephone interactions

| Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
| Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

This article examines the role of metapragmatic expressions (MPEs) in constructing common ground (CG) in the call taker’s responses to customer direct complaints in telephone interactions in the framework of the socio-cognitive approach proposed and developed by Kecskes (2008, 2010, 2013, 2017) and Kecskes and Zhang (2009, 2013). Based on five extracts drawn from the data of about two hours of 15 recordings of telephone interactions that include successful complaint settlements made between customers and the customer service department of one Chinese airline, it reveals that the call taker mainly employs five types of MPEs as CG construction devices to explicitly manifest intentions of giving accounts and explanations, confirming and checking information, negotiating adequate compensations, establishing close interpersonal relationships, and aligning with the organization. This article enhances our understanding of the functioning process of metapragmatic indicators in complaint settlement in institutional telephone interactions.

Keywords: metapragmatic expressions, common ground, complaint responses, telephone interactions, the socio-cognitive approach
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review and research question
    • 2.1Complaints and complaint responses
    • 2.2Common ground
    • 2.3Research question
  • 3.Data collection and description
  • 4.Common ground construction of MPEs in direct complaint responses
    • 4.1The creation of CG of knowledge
      • 4.1.1MPEs as indicators of giving accounts and explanations
      • 4.1.2MPEs as indicators of confirming and checking information
      • 4.1.3MPEs as indicators of negotiating adequate compensation
    • 4.2The creation of CG of dis/affiliation and non/alignment
      • 4.2.1MPEs as indicators of establishing close interpersonal relationships or guanxi
      • 4.2.2MPEs as indicators of balancing dis/affiliation and non/aligning stance
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgment
  • Note
  • References


This article is currently available as a sample article.

Published online: 19 January 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.16009.liu
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