The pragmatics of advice-giving in the media discourse

Abstract This study investigated how the gender of the contestants in TV talent competitions affects male and female judges’ management of their advice, exemplified by evaluative talks in two Taiwan-based talent contests. In addition to the pragmatic configuration of the advising acts, the internal and external modifiers of the advising speech events were also analyzed in an attempt to gain insights into whether and how the advice messages are instrumental in the construction of gender identities. Results showed that deviating from the stereotypical gendered style of communication, the female judges utilized significantly fewer politeness mechanisms than did their male counterparts to moderate their advice. Besides, the psychological needs and face want of the male and female advice-receivers remarkably influenced the discursive moves of the given advice comments. These findings suggested that in the public media discourse, the speech context outweighs the socially prescribed gendered styles of communication on one’s advice-giving behavior.