Open sesame: Unlocking the keys in making successful requests using insights from conversation analysis and sociopragmatics

Abstract

An essential but often overlooked component of effective communication in tertiary contexts for domestic and international students alike is the ability to make requests in spoken speech acts and e-mails that is considered polite and contextually and temporally acceptable. Although making spoken and email requests are part of many ESOL curricula, they are often taught as formulaic responses, with little consideration of perceived improprieties that potentially occur leading to communication breakdowns among requester and requestee (Ishihara & Cohen, 2022). Using insights from sociopragmatics and conversation analysis (CA), an action research project was instigated with the aim of developing activities for students to make requests in a variety of formal and informal contexts. These include activities designed to make requests to fellow peers and lecturers while considering the social variables of power (Ellis, 2008) and taking into account the empirical evidence of how requests are made in conversation (Wong & Waring, 2020). This talk outlines the objectives and rationale for the project and demonstrates a selection of materials that have been developed and trialled during the project