Here แพทริเซีย is apparently making statements about the Igbo proficiency of Annabel's family not something she can strictly claim knowledge of.
Judging by the content of her contributions and by Annabel's responses, this is a Questioning device, but its statement format is an interesting extension of the work done by cajolers.
We have already mentioned the relationship between cajolers and positive face work.
Following the characterisation of Greek and Spanish culture being geared towards negative politeness, it seemed relevant to check for instance of positive face work used by BWAs, but absent amongst BWs.
The use of first names or informal reference such as 'man' among BWAs can be seen in examples