Towards A Cross-Cultural Communicative Profile Of Directiveness: The Case Of Turkish And German Cartoons
Abstract
This study investigates how directiveness is linguistically and culturally constructed in Turkish and German child-directed animated series. Drawing on speech act theory and intercultural pragmatics, the analysis focuses on directive speech acts as socially embedded practices through which authority, obligation, and interpersonal relations are negotiated. Using qualitative discourse analysis, directive instances were identified and categorized according to their degree of directness and their lexical and pragmatic realizations. The findings reveal systematic cross-cultural differences. German cartoons predominantly employ direct strategies, such as bare imperatives and explicit obligation markers, framing authority as rule-based, explicit, and pedagogically legitimized. In contrast, Turkish cartoons favor conventionally indirect and mitigated forms, including optionality markers, inclusive constructions, and affiliative address terms, positioning authority as relationally negotiated and cooperation oriented. These patterns suggest that animated media function as culturally mediated environments of language socialization, modelling distinct norms of directive communication for child audiences. By shifting attention from adult institutional settings to child-directed media discourse, the study contributes to research on intercultural pragmatics, language socialization, and media discourse, highlighting the pedagogical implications of directive practices for children’s early learning and socialization.
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