First, attitudes or judgments in JI normally derive from the responses of the interviewees (96% overt inter-participant MSAs).In another word, the interviewers ask questions but do not lead the interviewees in attitudes or judgments.
Second, the interviewees convey their attitudes or judgments according to the questions that are raised.They manipulate the interviews concerned.The MSAs in JI supplement modality in two directions, namely, that conveyed by both the interviewees themselves and the interviewers.
Third, under some circumstances, inter-participant MSAs are employed by the interviewers (4% overt inter-participant MSAs).This may have much to do with the interviewers’ foreseeing of the interviewees’ attitudes or judgments, or the interviewers’ uncertainty about their questions in terms of appropriateness judged on the part of the interviewees.Put in another way, the interviewers weigh their own views by placing themselves in the interviewees’ positions.
Generally speaking, overt inter-participant MSAs reflect the generic features of JI.In this genre, the stance is interviewee-oriented.This is related to the pragmatic, cognitive and evaluative factors in communication.
Consider the following:
(253）A: To what degree is Tokyopop continuing its relationship with Kodansha.I asked this question a year ago when Del Rey announced they would be publishing Kodansha titles, and Tokyopop said there was an ongoing relationship.We’d like to update that-are there currently new titles from Tokyopop that are licensed from Kodansha?
B: Yes.My answers to some of your questions are also going to be subject to a little bit of a restriction. I can really only talk about things that have already been announced, through the mid-point of 2006.Beyond that it’s a little premature to discuss.
(254）A: What factors would you consider if you became pregnant?
B: I think getting pregnant right now, or in the next years of my life, is about the scariest thing I can think of.I would have to sacrifice my whole life.And if I had a child, I don’t think I could put it up for adoption because that’s my child; you can’t just give it away to some strangers no matter how nice they are.
C: Do other people feel this way? I’m really very interested in the idea of adoption.I feel that if I were to become pregnant, that would be-pretty much the only option I would really consider at this point in my life.
In Example (253), the interviewer (A）uses an MV would to express his view, and the interviewee (B）answers with an MV can co-occurring with three MSAs, i.e.really, only and already.The inter-participant modality supplementing pattern in this example is: initiation- response, where the interviewee has to negotiate his position with the interviewer.This shows that the interviewee plays a major role in the interview.
In Example (254), the interviewer (A）expresses her view with a tentative attitude marker, i.e.the MV would.Interviewee B expresses her response by four MVs, i.e.can, would, could and can’t, and, for the negated MV can’t, uses the MSA just, which shows her definite position on this issue.Interviewee C expresses her view by the MV would, used twice, and, for this MV, uses the MSA really twice.Such an inter-participant MSA signals her position in the negotiations with the interviewer.The inter-participant modality supplementing in this example is: initiation-responses, where a number of interviewees negotiate their positions with the interviewer.
Inter-participant MSAs sometimes occur on the part of the interviewers.Consider the following:
(255）A: You said that manga by definition is Japanese. Are there any other characteristics other than country of origin that you would say make the Japanese manga different from something that’s manga-style in the U.S., and maybe something closer than Princess Ai, maybe something like Megatokyo, which has been very successful?
B: There are those fans that hear about it from Japan, they know that it comes from Japan, they’re the ones that may actually read the imports or get that bug before it actually breaks into the U.S.So you have that fan set, that’s very different from the ones that are reading Megatokyo or the Courtney Love stuff.It’s a different mindset.It’s kind of the same thing with the anime.
In Example (255), the interviewer (A）uses the MSA maybe twice to supplement the tentative tone indicated by the MV would.This means that he is very uncertain about his view.The interviewee uses the MV may to show his response, and the MSA actually twice to further express his tentativeness.This example reveals the interviewer’s correct prediction about the interviewee’s view.Nevertheless, it is still the interviewee who decides how the attitude or judgment should go.
Examples (253)-(255）demonstrate the roles of tenor in the formation of inter-participant MSAs in JI.The stance conveyed by overt inter-participant MSAs presents a picture of dialogues based on the cognition and communicative purpose of interviewees.
6.6 Attractions between central MVs and MSAs
MSAs are parasitic on MVs.MVs can be divided into central or core MVs (e.g.can, should, may and must), marginal MVs (e.g.dare/dare to, and need/need to）and semi-MVs (e.g.have to, had better, and be going to).In this dissertation, only central MVs are explored in relation to MSAs.According to Biber et al.(1999: 73), there are nine central MVs: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would.The findings of the current study about the occurrences of central MVs are described in Table 6.5.
It can be seen from Table 6.5 that will dominates PS (18.83%), JI (28.69%）and AW (18.18%）whereas shall occurs most in LR (29.97%).In contrast, might (1.95%）appears least in PS; must (2.61%), shall (2.61%）and should (2.61%）are not frequently used in JI; shall (3.41%）is not preferred in AW; could (2.88%）is the least preferable choice in LR.