Strategies and social norms in familiarisation forms

The use of the address form ma is a kind of familiarisation strategy, considering the speaker’s intention and the effect it has on the hearer. It tries to pull the attention of interlocutors from their dissimilarities to their similarities. It focuses on what could bring them together rather than on the obvious aspects of their relationship which should keep them apart. This is a function that the familiarisation strategy should serve. According to how respondents use this strategy, excluding ma since it has been discussed in the previous section, three forms have been recognized. These are, self-introduction, the ‘how are you?’ question, and commendation. The first two forms are used by NS severally, while the last is used by a GS just once. Examples 7 – 9 illustrate these three forms, respectively.

Example 7

You: Good day, Sir. My name is A.B. I’m one of your students for the Econs 001² course.

Example 8

You: Good day, Dr. (surname). How is work and how is family?

2 Course code changed because it seems respondent mentioned real course code in DCT.

Lecturer: Good day dear. Work is great and family is doing ok. We bless God.

Example 9

You: Hello Mrs./Mr. XYZ, I find today’s topic very interesting.

The NS in examples 7 and 8 already introduce themselves as students of the lecturer’s course even in situation 1, in which the student is described to have arrived late and is supposedly meeting the lecturer for the first time to request for permission to join the next class for the course. In doing so, they create a sense of familiarity between them and their lecturers. This will also grant them the lecturer’s attention. Whereas if they started with acknowledging the distance between them and the late arrival of students, the lecturer may be irritated and that would have a negative impact on their interaction as constructed in example 10. The NS in this example declares the obvious unfamiliarity between interlocutors and the lecturer responds accordingly. This approach does not allow for harmonious interaction. It rather enforces the social distance between interlocutors and their interest.

Example 10

You: Good morning, Sir.

Lecturer: Yes, how may I help you?

You: Sir, I haven’t been attending your classes for the past few weeks due to certain problems.

Lecturer: And how does that concern me?

Figure 2 presents attention getter and greeting structures with the highest frequencies of usage by respondents from groups 1 and 2. The complex category, to which familiarisation belongs, is the fourth most preferred category by NS. NS demonstrate with this choice, the social norm of brotherly love and concern. Attached to this norm is some religious attributes, which relates to one of the interpretations of Lessing’s (2005)³ dramatic ideological poem,

3 Nathan der Weise was first published in 1779 in Berlin.

Nathan der Weise. When a Nigerian asks ‘how are you?’, s/he will not be embarrassed if the addressee begins to narrate how s/he fairs. This may take time, but the hearer often obliges.

Whatever the turn of the narrative, the addresser also responds accordingly. For instance, if it turns out that the addressee is not doing fine, the addresser often sympathizes and even takes necessary steps towards a solution, as much as s/he can. S/he also is pleased if the addressee is doing well. In example 8, the lecturer does not only respond amicably and accordingly, but also uses the religious gratitude phrase, ‘We bless God’. Chances are, that the lecturer would have been honest if things were not going well with lecturer’s work or family.

In this case, the student would have cooperated by responding correspondingly.

Figure 2: Four most preferred attention getter and greeting structures by NS and GS in situations 1, 2 and 3

Therefore, the familiarisation strategy functions as a disarmer in an asymmetric interaction. It has the potential of softening formal encounters. It can breach distance between communicators. It can unify speaker’s and hearer’s interests. It can also invoke cooperation and kindness among interactants. Both student and lecturer benefit from these pragmatic functions of the familiarisation strategy. They do not only relieve the lecturer of her/his social status advantage over the student, but they also crave the lecturer’s indulgence and commit her/him to grant the head act when it is finally performed.

To summarise, GS, on the one hand, never use the complex form. The NS, on the other hand, use this complex form to invoke social norms that are similar to the South African concept of

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ubuntu which suggests that the welfare of the other equal the welfare of self (de Kadt, 1998).

NS also invoke religious beliefs with which lecturers cooperate. Emails from NSB reveal transfer of this strategy to student-lecturer communication on an international campus. In fact, the use of familiarisation is the most transferred NS’ preference compared to other strategies analysed in this work, specifically, the how are you? Question. It is noted to be very consistent in the emails. However, NSB do not realise familiarisation in very personal forms like the NS. This could explain the lack of comments on irritations and repairs.

In summary, attention getters, greeting and address forms, and how they are structured in the dialogues constructed by NS and GS constitute students’ preparatory acts. The rate of their transfer on an international academic space symbolises the key role they play communication in the Nigerian context. Whether on intra-campus or intercampus, openers form the first set of the preparatory acts. Like forerunners, they precede and set the stage for preparatory speech acts.