The Eioffect of Culture As a Sociolinguistic Variable on the Speech Act of b\Praising , A Theoretical Study

Abstract

It is axiomatic that people praise each other , and rarely a day passes without witnessing  a word of praise . This is because  praising , like many other types of speech act  , such as thanking , apologizing , congratulating … etc. ,  is not only a linguistic behaviour but it is a social behaviour . Being so,  one cannot think that such an act may  not be affected by sociolinguistic variables which, since the appearance of this descriptive branch of linguistic,  has been affecting the way language is used . And hence the need of a  study to undertake  a sociolinguistic investigation into the system of the speech acts of praising. Culture is one of the most important sociolinguistic variables that affects the use of speech acts .In different cultures speech acts may mean different things . It , also, serves different purposes.In certain culture a speech act of praising is used to establish solidarity between speakers , and used in another culture to  express approval or admiration toward the listener. In other words, praises can be considered social lubricants that serve to “create or maintain rapport.” A commonly seen phenomenon in human interaction, for instance, is that people frequently offer praise to reinforce or encourage the desired behavior in specific situations, such as teaching and learning. People in different cultures may tend to praise things more than other people in different cultures .People May praise the appearances of someone such as his clothes , hair , eyes …etc. People of other culture may not give such importance to appearance, instead they concentrate on the person's intelligence , behaviour or performance.