Abstract

This study examined the differences in the ways of realizing the speech act of suggestion found in TV commercials from Japan and the USA. The focus of research was placed on the characteristic differences in terms of linguistic (syntactic) forms and general strategies employed to realize the speech act of suggestion. A full day-time broadcast of TV commercials from both countries formed the research sample for this study, and the resulting data reaffirmed the assumption that suggestions in TV commercials are made in a socially desirable and appropriate manner, and also that the realization patterns of the speech act vary from one culture to another, depending on the different social/cultural norms and values manifested in the use of respective languages. Based on such findings, some of the interpretations were drawn from social and cultural point of view.