A Study on Politeness Strategy of Teachers’ Language in College English Teaching

Donghua+University+Foreign+Language+College/Chen+Yiying+++Guo+Yiyi

【Abstract】Teachers language is one important part in college English teaching.Politeness is regarded as a powerful strategy in dealing with interpersonal interaction.Based on Lakoffs Polite Model，Leechs Politeness Principle，and Brown & Levinsons Politeness Theory，the author of this paper aims to explore politeness in teachers language in the classroom context.

【Key words】positive politeness； negative politeness

I.Introduction

So far，many scholars have conducted their research on politeness strategies in communication，but few of them have studied politeness strategies used by the language teachers in their classrooms.The purpose of this study is to analyze the politeness strategies adopted by some college English teachers in their classrooms so as to discuss the uses of politeness strategies.

II.Positive politeness strategies in teachers language

At the beginning of a class，teachers usually use some statements to review the contents of the previous lesson such as “First，lets review what we learned last class”，or they will begin a new class with “Today，we are going to learn...”.The “lets” form and the pronoun “we” ，which imply both the teacher and students，not only shortens their distance，but also shows their cooperation and common goal，thus lessens the threat of positive face of both sides .

Teachers can also use positive politeness strategies in their feedback.As most students are eager to get others approval，teachers could use some polite language and praise students correct answers.These simple expressions such as “Very good”，“Good job”，“Perfect”，“Excellent”，“Wonderful” etc.，can boost students confidence.

2.1 Replacement of personal pronoun.The English pronoun plays an important role in teachers language.The distance between a speaker and a listener can be indicated clearly with the use of “I”，“you” or “we”.Interpersonal function is reflected through the system of peoples mood and some concrete words just like pronouns.The pronoun helps us set up a close relation between speaker and listener because the pronoun in the context can tell us how the speaker regards the role and position of listener in communication.The following are some examples.

（1） T：Good morning，class.It is a good day today.Now，let us come to the first paragraph where we stopped last time.

（2） T：And next stage，we will have a discussion because last week we have learned some topic sentences.

（3） T：First，let us find the topic sentence

（4） T：Now we can read them together.

（5） T：Now，let us make a summary.

In the examples above，we can see that the teacher achieves certain teaching effects as she replaces the pronoun “you” and “I” by “we”，and it is easy to find that the ratio of use of the pronoun “we” is high，which shows that most teachers prefer “we” in their talk because this word makes it easier for teachers to become a part of the community and create a better condition to conduct their teaching.“We” is used to avoid indirect or direct frustration or confrontation with the students.It means that the teacher and the students cooperate well and also shortens their psychological distance.When both sides feel that they share the common ground，they will avoid “face-threatening” situation.

2.2 Lexicons of appreciation.It is known that teachers praise can stimulate the students enthusiasm.According to the Leechs politeness principle ，we should minimize dispraise of others and maximize the praise of others；we should minimize disagreement between self and others and maximize the agreement between self and others.The following are some examples.

（6） T： here，I have two famous Chinese proverbs for you.

在天愿作比翼鳥，在地愿為連理枝。

Do you want to have a try to translate？ You just use the common word to express the idea，OK？

S： OK.

（7） S： Mrs.Right and Mr.Right could be a happy couple.

T： Mm，OK，right.

S： True love is more than staying day and night.

T： Its a very good one，he just use very simple words to express the meaning.

（8） S： Every Jack would have his Jill.

T：Good，that is a very good one.We have just learned that in the listening class，right？ You are pretty good.

From these examples，we can find that almost all of the students enjoy the praise from the teacher，which demonstrates the power of teachers praise.In class，teachers could use language of approbation as much as possible，such like “OK”，“perfect”，“excellent”，“well done”，“you are pretty good”.The words of appreciation could improve the teaching and encourage the students.

2.3 Sentences of optimism.One persons sentiment may influence others around imperceptibly.The teachers optimistic words can help the students to relieve their nervousness and mental pressure when they have a lesson（Cai Cuiyun，2010）.A good teacher is usually good at using some words to relieve the tension in class.

（9） I hope you have understood what I have said，right？

（10） I imagine you would have an excellent presentation of your PPT.

（11） I am sure you wont mind if I ask you another question，right？

From the above examples，we can find the polite expressions the teacher uses to create a relaxing atmosphere in class.Optimistic expressions stimulate the students interest and motivation in their study.

2.4 Presupposition.In a small talk，we always find the same thing that speaker and listener experience.According to He Anping（2003），the similar experience may be used to avoid “face-threatening act” （FTA）.At the beginning of the class，small talk plays an important role in reducing the tension between the teacher and the students.The following is an episode of a class.

（12） Good morning ，class.Good morning，teacher.

OK，first，lets invite on duty students to give us their presentation of PPT.（after studentsexcellent presentation of PPT about music of blues）

Ok，the two girls make a good introduction of blues，right？

Yes

And now I learn many top notches have made the music of blues，do you know whom they are？

Yes，Michal Jackson，Rain in Korea and Jaychou in China.

Yes，we do have a great acquisition.Its a happy day，right？

Yes.

OK，now，lets come to next session.

The teacher starts her class with a topic enjoyed by most young people.It is known that one tends to talk much when it comes to what they are interested in.Students in the class enjoy the topic and they are willing to share their ideas with others.The teacher also regards her students as her friends first and leads the students step by step according to her teaching plan.As the presupposition has become the basis of common topic，it is easier for both sides to understand each other in communication.This is the function of presupposition.

III.Negative politeness strategies in teachers language

Negative politeness is an avoidance-based strategy and aims to satisfy the students negative face.

3.1 Idiomatic polite expressions.When performing the directives，the teacher often faces the dilemma： the good intention he wants to convey and the need to give order （Wang Guoxiang，2010）.The polite expressions may be used to solve the dilemma.

（13） Could you please finish your writing task before the end of week？

（14） Would you mind showing us the research findings of the thesis？

In the above examples，the teacher uses the idiomatic patterns “could you”，“would you mind” to convey his FTA indirectly.These expressions are polite form conventionally，so they reduce the imposition of FTA on students and the students negative face wants are satisfied.

3.2 Hedging words and phrases.Hedge means indefinite words.Speaker hems and haws about something without giving a definite answer，leaving some leeway for convolution and accommodation such as ，“sort of ，I guess，it seems，I hate to say that” .

According to Lakoff （1999），hedge is “a word or phrase whose job is to make things fuzzier”.Brown &Levinson （1978） defines hedge as “ a particle，word，phrase that modifies the degree of member of a predicate or noun phrase in a set”.Look at the following examples：

（15） It seems like a difficult question for you to think about.

（16） I believe you could figure it out.

（17） To be honest，your answer is not quite exact.

In these examples，the teacher asks the students a quite difficult question，but he does not want to embarrass his students and he intends to leave them enough time for consideration.The four sentences indicate that the teacher avoids the violation of the principle of face with the help of hedge.

IV.Off-record Strategy

Off-record strategy is a beat-around-the-bush strategy，by which the teacher uses indirect，roundabout language to make a request while avoiding being too much oppressive.Linguistic realization of off-record strategy relies on different kinds of hints or clues that a teacher employs to indirectly reach his communicative intention.To construct an off-record utterance，the speaker says something that is either too general or different from what he actually means （Brown & Levinson，1987）.It is up to the hearer to decide how to interpret the utterance.The following are some examples of the use of off-record strategy frequently used by teachers in classroom.

4.1 Repeating students answer with a rising tone.A rising tone is the hint given to the student.It is an indirect way to express the teachers ideas.

（18） T： What kind of rhetorical device has been used in this sentence？

S：Simile.

T：Simile？ （In rising tone）

S：Metaphor.

Instead of pointing out the students mistakes directly，the teacher uses an indirect way ： the repetition “simile” with a rising tone，which gives the student the hint that it is not the correct answer.This way of expression also gives the student enough room to think the question over and find the correct answer by himself..

4.2 Giving a hint or clue.It seems that what the teacher says is irrelevant，but in fact he wants to ask the students to get the implications of his words.

（19） The first group of students are quiet.Very good.

In the sentence，the teacher tries to use hints to ask the other students to keep quiet.

V.Conclusion

Politeness Principle is of great significance for English class teaching.In classrooms，a teacher should always be ready to consider his students face desire when teaching.It is particularly important for a teacher to show his respect to the students he communicates with and vary politeness strategies.It is hoped that teachers will use more politeness strategies in their teaching so as to create a friendly and relaxing classroom atmosphere.

Reference：

[1]Brown， P.& Levinson， S.（1987）.Politeness： Some Universals of Language Usage.Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[2]Leech，G.（1983）， Principles of pragmatics.London： Longman.

[3]Lackoff， R.T.1999.Talking Power： The Polititics of Language.New York： Harper-Collins.