A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...

this happened very frequently, I perceived losing my face in front of my
classmates.
Jiun Sheng perceived losing face when he could not answer his classmate’s question.
Jiun Sheng believed that most Taiwanese males would have the same face problem as
he stated:
Taiwanese males should have a very strong sense of self-respect. Hence,
many of them did not like to ask the others questions. They did not like to
have an impression that they need to rely on the others. For me, I preferred
asking my teachers questions instead of asking my peers. I was not sure if my
peers could give me a right answer when I appealed for assistance from them.
Therefore, I would appeal for assistance only from people whom I trusted.
Jiun Sheng recounted what were the important characteristics that he needed to
maintain when taking a male role:
I needed to talk more like a man. My speaking tone needed to be stable and
firm. The voice needed to be much louder than a woman. I should not argue
for the trivial disagreements. Also, I tended not to impose a difficult task on
my interlocutors, especially female partners.
Jiun Sheng described why he intended to build a powerful male impression during
talking; Jiun Sheng emphasized that he would not appeal for assistance, especially
150