Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Theoretical Foundations.- Chapter 3: Methodology.- Chapter 4: Elastic Language in the Chinese Data.- Chapter 5: Elastic Language in the English Data.- Chapter 6: Comparison Between the Chinese and English Findings.- Chapter 7: Elastic Language and Impact Factors.- Chapter 8: Conclusions.

This innovative book examines, from a cross-cultural perspective, the elasticity of language in the popular talent show The Voice. The study discusses how and why elastic language is used in persuasion and comforting. The comparisons made throughout the book between Chinese and English highlight the important role elastic language plays in effective interactions and strategic communication. The insights and resources provided in this book are expected to advance our knowledge in the fields of contrastive pragmatics and cross-cultural communication. The study emphasises the need to give the elastic use of language the attention it deserves, and reveals how language is non-discrete and strategically stretchable. This book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students engaged in elastic/vague language studies, cross-cultural pragmatics, media linguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and communication studies. It will also be useful for educationalists involved in language teaching, cross-cultural education and professional communication training, as well as those who have a general interest in language and communication.

“This empirical data-rich book provides a helpful contribution to the field of cross-cultural pragmatics … . It succeeds in deepening readers’ understanding of the linguistic features of EL … . Its exploration into the speech acts of persuasion and comforting enriches the study of language elasticity. The evidence-based findings of the book bring far-reaching insights … . Those who take an interest in contrastive pragmatics, language stretching, VL/EL, and cross-cultural communication will find the book valuable and beneficial.” (Shuangshuang Lu, Journal of Pragmatics, Vol. 187, 2022)

“Elastic Language in Persuasion and Comforting: A Cross-Cultural Perspective is an inspiring contribution that opens new avenues for the study of elastic language in cross-cultural communication. The multifaceted analysis of this language phenomenon in terms of speech act theory provides new insights into the investigation of elastic language. This excellent piece of scholarship is highly recommended to all involved in pragmatics and cross-cultural communication.” (Peyman G.P. Sabet, ESL Teaching Academic, Curtin University, Australia)

Proposes a rigorous account of how language is stretched in reality television discourse Presents real-life and stimulating empirical evidence to support the account Provides pragma-linguistic and cross-cultural data analysis of English and Chinese