LINGUISTICS EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY

Abstract

Politeness is considered as a strategic communicative tool used to construct identities and build relationships in online communication. Present study examines how women entrepreneurs use language in their captions and posts to promote their business on Instagram. It also intends to identify how these linguistic choices help to represent themselves on social media platforms. In the current study, the data is collected from captions and posts of fifty Instagram accounts of Pakistani businesswomen. This research adopts a mixed-methods research design, combining quantitative frequency analysis of their occurrence in Instagram captions with qualitative analysis of politeness strategies. Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness (1987) is used to analyze data and classify politeness strategies into four types. A sample of captions is chosen to identify and analyze, bald-on-record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record strategies.  The findings reveal that positive politeness strategy is frequently use among business women to show solidarity and friendly connection. In negative politeness, women give indirect commands and respect other’s freedom. While the off-record, and bald-on-record strategies use hints and rhetorical questions to avoid direct commands, and different linguistic choices show urgency. The businesswomen use polite language which helps to construct Identity and self-presentation.