Discourse analysis of transactions in Malta

Abstract

Notwithstanding the fact that most people are frequent, active participants within the transactional domain, the majority are not aware of the communicative patterns involved within sale transactions. Research has shown that independently of the fact that language has a creative element to it, discourse is often structurally-characterised and rule-bound, particularly within certain contexts. The current dissertation strives to analyse such a notion in the context of the transactional domain. Furthermore, since a transaction involves both the customer and the seller, the current research attempts to explore transactional discourse in terms of both participants. To this purpose, the current study consists of both a small-scale qualitative study which attempts to analyse salespersons' discourse throughout the transactions, and a quantitative survey, which strives to explore customers' views about transactional discourse during a sale transaction.