Theorists: 

Erving Goffman – A sociologist who developed a theory known as ‘in the face theory’, in which an individual has both positive and negative face theory.

·        Positive face theory needs are associated with feeling valued and appreciated.

·        Negative face needs are the desire to feel independent and not to be imposed upon.

Interactions can therefore be face threatening acts (FTA’s) which is why people are naturally mindful of other people’s face needs during conversation.

During any one encounter, the subjects will each have a certain face and will produce utterances that take into consideration each other's face in this particular situation. In different situations, a single individual's face will be constructed differently. For example, when an individual is engaged in small talk with their family, they might expect to be addressed through terms of endearment, and not mind having fun made of them; when running a business meeting, on the other hand, they may expect to be addressed more formally, and to be treated with respect by other subjects. An individual's face can also change during a single interaction, for example when a businessman at a meeting completes his speech and turns to colleagues to discuss the injustices of a referee's decisions in the football match the previous evening.

Herbert Paul Grice - determined that speakers adhere to four conversational maxims:

1. Quantity- to use an appropriate amount of detail
2. Quality – to speak the truth and do not knowingly mislead
3. Relevance – to keep what is being discussed relevant to the topic
4. Manner- to avoid vagueness and ambiguity

This is known as the cooperative principle (How people talk to one another).

Politeness is known as a ‘Super-maxim’, in that people are mindful of others personal or face (see Ervin Goffman) needs in a conversation.

Those who obey the cooperative principle in their language use will make sure that what they say in a conversation furthers the purpose of that conversation. Obviously, the requirements of different types of conversations will be different.

William Labov - focused on the discourse structure within a conversation, he created a structural approach for the fundamental problems of discourse structure, and these are called narrative categories:

1. Abstract (A) - The indication that a narrative is about to start and the speaker wants to get the listeners attention.
2. Orientation (O) - The who, what, where and why of the narrative, set the scene by providing contextual information.
3. The complicating action (CA) - The main body providing a range of narrative detail.
4. Resolution (R) - The final events to give narrative closure.
5. Evaluation (E) – Additions to the basic story to highlight Attitudes/commands the listener’s attention at important moments.
6. Coda (C) – A sign that the narrative is complete. May include a return to the time frame before the narrative.

The Evaluation can be divided into:

·        External evaluations – Added by the narrator at the time of recounting and not usually part of the series of events.

·        Internal evaluations – Occurring at the same time as those detailed in the complicating action which can further be divided into an intensifying evaluation and an explicative evaluation.

·        Intensifying evaluations – Contributing via gestures, repetitions or dramatic sounds.

·        Explicative evaluations - Proving reasons for narrative events.

Ferdinand de Saussure - Ferdinand de Saussure is a founder of Semiotics, which he called semiology. His concept of the sign/signifier/signified/referent forms the core of the field. Instead of focusing his theory on the origins of language and its historical aspects, Saussure concentrated on the patterns and functions of language instead. Although the name has been changed to semiotics, Saussure's theory is still commonly used in today's society.

Semiotics is the theory of how signs are interpreted and understood. Examples of this include logos or pictures.

There are two types of signs as follows:

1.  Iconic signs - A direct image of the thing it represents (often simplified) such as the male/female toilet sign.
2. Symbolic signs - Draw on association and are often defined by social convention. An example would be the school logo