Answer to Question #208259 in English for Crysie

Question

When we are speaking about forms of address, we mean the ways in which people address each other, to show the signs of acknowledgement, respect and togetherness.Considering this information do some investigating via observation within your community (work place, social gatherings, taxi rank, the mall or any place)of how people use different forms of address which may differ for each circumstance.

Use the following guidelines to assist you.

Tell us where you are?

Is it a formal or informal place? Provide the date and time of the observation. (Give us a setting).

Give us the gender of the people, language or languages being spoken, and gestures being used.

What are your observations from this – are they friends, colleagues, family, romantically involved, is there some sort of social distance? Are they people from different race groups, or cultures?

From your observation, and or your daily life are there some forms of greeting that make you feel uncomfortable? Explain.

Answer 1

I am in Kisumu, a town in Kenya. Today I am in school precisely in the classroom which is a formal place. The date is 30th June, 2021 at around 10.00 a.m. and our second lesson is about to commence. Our class is a mixed gender class having both boys and girls. The main languages spoken in our class is English and Swahili complemented by gestures such as waving, nodding and hugging. One student has just entered the class and is waving to her friend who sits at the back. My classmates are students of different cultures. Thanks to the new pandemic, our sitting arrangement was reorganized so as to adhere to social distancing. From my observation, Kenyans are generally kind and loving and most of my classmates are also friends.

Hugging is one form of greeting that makes me uncomfortable especially if the person hugging me is of the opposite gender. This is because most of the times its creates an impression that we are romantically involved.