A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

Are you going in the direction of town? And if so, is it possible for me to
join you? (checking on availability)
Will you do me a favor? Could you perhaps lend me your notes for a few
days? (getting a pre-commitment)
Excuse me, I’ve just missed my bus and you live on the same road.
I wonder if I could trouble you for a lift? (grounder)
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Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984: 204 –5).

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D E S C R I B I N G S P E E C H A C T S : L I N K I N G R E S E A R C H A N D P E D A G O G Y
6 9
You have the most beautiful handwriting I’ve ever seen! Would it be
possible to borrow your notes for a few days? (sweetener)
Excuse me, I hope you don’t think I’m being forward, but is there any
chance of a lift home? (disarmer)
Pardon me, but could you give a lift, if you’re going my way? I just missed
the bus and there isn’t another one for an hour. (cost minimizer)
Request perspectives
Requests usually include reference to the requester, the recipient of the
request, and/or the action to be performed. The speaker/writer can manipu-
late requests by choosing from a variety of perspectives in making requests:
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1
Listener-oriented (emphasis on the role of the listener):
Could you clean up the kitchen, please?
2
Speaker-oriented (emphasis on the speaker’s role as the requester):
Can I borrow your notes from yesterday?
3
Speaker- and listener-oriented (inclusive strategy):
So, could we tidy up the kitchen soon?
4
Impersonal:
So it might not be a bad idea to get it cleaned up.
Conventionally indirect substrategies
The following substrategies for indirect request are commonly found in
Australian English, Canadian French, Hebrew, and/or Argentinean Span-
ish (see http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/requests/strategies.html for
examples in these languages):