Politeness Strategies in Public Speech: A Case of Commencement Speeches in Graduation Ceremonies
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Abstract
This study aimed to 1) discover the type of politeness strategies employed in commencement speeches by Taylor Swift and Chadwick Boseman; 2) compare the politeness strategies found in the two commencement speeches; and 3) analyze the use of politeness strategies in the two commencement speeches. The theoretical framework of this study was based on six maxims of politeness strategies, which were proposed by Leech in 1983 and include tact, generosity, approval, modesty, agreement, and sympathy. The commencement speeches by Taylor Swift at New York University in 2022 and Chadwick Boseman at Howard University in 2018 served as the study's data sources. The data were collected from each university's official YouTube and analyzed using textual analysis to determine the type of politeness strategies where the number of maxims was counted and revealed as frequency and percentage. The results were found as follows:
1. Both commencement speeches employed six maxims to ensure successful communication. The generosity maxim was the most frequently applied in Taylor Swift’s speech, while the approval maxim was the most frequently applied in Chadwick Boseman’s speech. Even though they applied different maxims, they had used the same top three maxims: tact, generosity, and approval, respectively.
2. These two influential entertainers applied politeness maxims quite similarly, as their speech aimed to maximize praise to the audience, demonstrate generosity in sharing their experiences, and provide advice to the audience.
3. The difference between the two influential entertainers was the background and the relationship between themselves and the university. Chadwick was an alumnus of Howard University. He had a background with the university, while Taylor had not. Therefore, Chadwick maximized praise from the university and students and showed much gratitude to the lecturers as an alumnus, while Taylor focused on sharing her experiences.
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