Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)Dancing with Words | Strategies for Learning Pragmatics in Spanish
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Service EncountersNegotiating Service |
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While the opening and closing of any service encounter is important, the meat of most service encounters lies in the negotiation of services. It is during this part of the interaction that the exchange of goods takes place. These exchanges include trading products, services, and information. The most important aspect of the negotiation phase of the service encounter is understanding the interaction and negotiation that occurs between the client and the service provider.
In service encounters, negotiation happens through the use of two primary communicative acts: requests (usually by the client) and offers (usually by the vendor). The responses to each are then negotiated by the interlocutors. RequestsIn the request portion of a service encounter, the client usually asks for what he or she needs. This can be, for example, a product to buy, necessary information, or an appointment. These requests can be made using a number of different request strategies. These include:
Examples and strategies adapted from Ferrer & Sánchez Lanza (2002) OffersThe offer sequences are typically used by merchants to suggest other options for the clients if the service or item they desire is not available or to encourage the purchase of additional items. Offer strategies include:
As you will see in the example below, negotiations for service often include more than one of these strategies used simultaneously or repeatedly. Play the interaction below between a vender and a client in Peru. This is a continuation of the opening segment you saw in the previous section. As you listen to the interaction, pay special attention to the strategies used for negotiating service.
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