Linguistic Strategies Employed in Trading: the Case of Currency Dealers at Roadport Bus Station; Zimbabwe

This study investigates the linguistic strategies that were used by informal foreign currency dealers at Road Port along Fourth Street of Harare to lure and negotiate with potential customers. The study also seeks to unveil various forms of communication the informal foreign currency dealers used to evade the arm of the law. This is done so as to show how language is manipulated by people to accomplish their goals. The primary method that was used for collecting data is the observation method. The major advantage of using observations in research is its directness. The gathered data was analyzed qualitatively whereby the researcher will made some judgments and comment on the gathered data. The researcher employed various models like the Politeness Theory, the Markedness Model, the Power and Solidarity Theory, The Accommodation Theory to explain the research problem. The researcher used multiple descriptive tools as it was discovered that no single descriptive framework could fully account for the data..