The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of social distance used by the librarians and users in the virtual reference interview. With a conversational analysis and applied politeness theory 49 chat transcripts where analysed in order to answer the question of how the interlocutors positioned themselves regarding the social distance between them. By identifying what communicative strategies where used the following results were found. Generally the social distance between librarians and users is low in the Swedish virtual reference interview. Even though both parties used informal and casual language the results indicate that the librarians face wants were valued slightly higher than the users which were illustrated by a some what higher social distance in the stages of the conversations when the librarians face was under most threat. The conversations were relatively symmetrical and it was also concluded that feedback and positive utterances contributed to lowering the social distance. Thus the analysed transcripts can be said represent a form of institutional conversation that is of a personal and informal character. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This essay aim to examine face-threatening acts (FTA) during two lessons with a group of students in class 9 in Sweden. The purpose of the study is to identify and analyze sharp face-threatening acts, how they emerge in the classroom and whatkind of strategies the teacher uses to maintain classroom management. The material is based on sound recordings from October 2021 which have been transcribed and analyzed based on Brown & Levinsons politeness theory. Two participants, one student and one teacher, act as front figures to illustrate examples. Results show that sharp face-threatening acts occur during classes due to possible reasons such as impatience, fewer present adults and the structure of the lesson. The teacher is using a variety of strategies to handle the FTA, among which the strategy of ignoring and continue with the lesson seems to be the most successful to assuage the conflicts. Although it is plausible to assume that a variation of strategies is necessary to maintain authority. / Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka ansiktshotande handlingar under två lektioner i en klass i årskurs 9. Syftet med studien är att identifiera och analysera skarpa ansiktshotande handlingar, hur de uppstår i klassrummet och vilken typ av strategier läraren använder för att upprätthålla klassrumsordning. Materialet är baserat på ljudinspelningar från oktober 2021 som har transkriberats och analyserats utifrån Brown & Levinsons artighetsteori. Två deltagare, en elev och en lärare, fungerar som frontfigurer för att illustrera exempel. Resultaten visar att skarpa ansiktshotande handlingar förekommer under lektionerna på grund av möjliga orsaker som otålighet, färre närvarande vuxna och lektionens struktur. Läraren använder olika strategier för att hantera ansiktshoten, varav strategin att ignorera och fortsätta med lektionen verkar vara den mest framgångsrika för att lindra konflikterna. Det är dock rimligt att anta att en variation av strategier är nödvändig för att behålla auktoritet.