How Polite can Impoliteness be? A Jordanian Gendered Perspective

Buletin Al-Turas

PurposeThis study examines the politeness strategies employed by male and female students and its differences across genders. MethodTo collect data for this qualitative study, 16 participants (with equally eight male and female students) were purposefully opted from the Department of English Language Education at UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh. Eleven situations created to obtain responses from students using a semi-structured interview. The framework of analysis is based on Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategy. Results/FindingsThe study found that male and female students use four politeness strategies. They are (a) bald on record; (b) positive politeness; (c) negative politeness; and (d) off-record. The results indicated that positive politeness is the most prevalent strategy, while bald on record is the least utilized strategy. The politeness strategy was utilized when the participants wanted to express their view to classmates or lecturers. The students performed the strategy beca...

Socialization enforces gendered standards of politeness that encourage men to be dominating and women to be deferential in mixed-gender discourse. This gendered dynamic of politeness places women in a double bind. If women are to participate in polite discourse with men, and thus to avail of smooth and fortuitous social interaction, women demote themselves to a lower social ranking. If women wish to rise above such ranking, then they fail to be polite and hence, open themselves to a wellspring of social discord, dissention, and antagonism. The possibility for women’s politeness in mixed-gender conversation threatens more than cooperation, it undermines the possibility for self-respect and autonomy.

2021

n this paper, polite/politic linguistic behavior, introduced in Locher and Watts (2005) and which may be used insincerely, was investigated at a first order level of kind. The method followed is that of Spencer-Oatey (2011) who examined the emotions and (im)politeness judgements that people recount in metapragmatic comments and interviews. Thus, the participants of this study were invited to show their own perceptions, and evaluations about polite/politic but insincere linguistic behavior of any individuals behaving with them as such in a purely Arabic context. The responses were analyzed quantitatively. One interesting finding was that this kind of insincere polite/politic behavior was negatively marked unlike what was introduced in the diagram of relational work by Locher and Watts (2005) and which was clearly described as positively marked. This study shows that polite/politic behavior in the spectrum of relational work with judgment (c) ignores the fact that insincerity in polite behavior can generate negative markedness and hence can cause relationship breakup, although it is superficially polite and appropriate.

Politeness in East Asia, 2011

Journal of Politeness Research, 2015

This issue marks the 10 th year anniversary of the Journal of Politeness Research: Language, behaviour, culture. Ten years ago, founding Editor-in-Chief Christine Christie established the journal as an "international and multidisciplinary forum for research into linguistic and non-linguistic politeness phenomena" (Christie 2005: 1). Under her editorial guidance, the journal published a great number of papers which embodied this founding principle. In 2010, Derek Bousfield and Karen Grainger took over the editorship and in 2013 Karen Grainger became the sole Editor-in-Chief, and the Journal of Politeness Research has grown and matured further under the stewardship of Bousfield and Grainger. Today, with the invaluable contributions of authors and reviewers, and the continuous support of the journal's readership, editorial team and advisory board, the journal remains a flagship for and a pioneer of research into all kinds of politeness phenomena. To celebrate this 10 th year anniversary, it is worth reviewing in detail what has been achieved so far, and to take a look at promising future developments of politeness research.

2014

De ning certain sequences of words as polite formulae, we o en take their polite value for granted, irrespective of context of situation in which they are used. It is worth considering whether words can be polite as such? Are they adequate means of expression, if we want to be polite? Does their use always guarantee polite behaviour? We can distinguish linguistic politeness and extralinguistic politeness. us, to be polite we do not need words. However, if we decide to use them, the so-called polite formulae do not always guarantee the reception of our behaviour as polite. Like many other values, politeness is relative. Participants of social interaction may di er in evaluation of the behaviour of particular persons taking part in it. A matter of contention is a set of evaluative expressions, such as polite, impolite and rude. In other words, what is considered polite by some people may be impolite for others. And it is out of the question to di erentiate between them like between good-bad or black-white. Polite and impolite are part of the same spectrum, the spectrum of interactional behaviour. Richard Watts 1 calls it relational work. It is "the 'work' individuals invest in negotiating relationships with others" 2. It comprises negatively marked behaviour (impoliteness, rudeness, overpoliteness), positively marked behaviour (politeness), and unmarked behaviour (politic behaviour) 3. e di erence between the former two and the latter lies in that (im)polite behaviour is the one which is perceived as being beyond what is expectable, while politic behaviour, as Watts 4 de nes it, is "linguistic behaviour which is perceived to be appropriate to the social constraints of the ongoing interaction, i.e. as non-salient. " (Im)politeness is a value dependent on context of situation. Depending on the context, interactants' behaviour can be perceived as polite, appropriate or politic, impolite and rude. e perception of (im)politeness depends on such contextual components as relation be

International Journal of English Linguistics, 2012

Theories and strategies of politeness and impoliteness are drawn upon to investigate underlying factors that might contribute to an understanding of differences among students and teachers towards politeness strategies. Classroom politeness in the present study is operationally defined according to various strategies or behaviors that the students in question draw upon in reacting to different situations. The study explores through a survey and a discourse completion test the degree of politeness the genders in an L1 Arabic context indicate to certain situations. Results show that the possible causes for the 'misunderstandings' and any perceived differences in 'impoliteness' between the genders are more 'cultural' rather than that of 'impoliteness' on the part of the students. Recommendations are made for program coordinators and teachers to deal with this issue in EFL classrooms along with future needed research.

International Journal of Linguistics and Translation Studies

Gender is considered a vital factor that contributes in affecting the use and interpretation of politeness strategies by interlocutors (Mills, 2003) which is affirmed by various studies. The objective of the present study is to investigate the use of politeness strategies among male and female interlocutors (a male interviews male and female interviewees) in a Saudi TV show to examine differences in case there are any. The present study is primarily based on the theoretical framework proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987). Such framework gives rise to a systematic network of politeness strategies, presupposing that speech acts are generally linked to the abstract cultural notion of “face”. Two questions are addressed as; firstly, Does the male interviewer use the same politeness strategies with both male and female interviewees? Secondly, what are the politeness strategies used by male and by female interviewees in their interaction with the male interviewer? Are they the same or dif...

IJASS JOURNAL, 2022

This study aimed 1) to find the politeness strategy that is used by Banjarese and American to their relatives by using Yassi system of politeness which adaption from Brown and Levinson and Scollon and Scollon by adding Kinship (K) 2) to discover the influence of gender in using politeness strategy among Banjarese and American. The source of data was utterances by Banjarese and American. It used politeness theory of Brown & Levinson; Bald on-record, Positive, Negative, and Off-record. The study used descriptive qualitative method and the data were the transcription of utterances by Banjarese and American. The result of the study found that that Banjarese used positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record to their relatives. Banjarese male paid more respect to their relatives in using politeness strategy. Banjarese female concentrated on expressing their personal feeling and better at giving compliment. In addition, American tend to use positive politeness,negative politeness, and bald on record. While American male often use politeness marker to address their interlocutor to make the interlocutor feel accepted. Furthermore, American female tend to exaggerate their utterance which make the interlocutor feel accepted and appreciated. This study is able to encourage the society to apply the politeness in better way which creates the harmony in the social interaction.

Intercultural …, 2010

This paper investigates cross-cultural variation in the perception of impoliteness. It is based on 500 impoliteness events reported by students in England, China, Finland, Germany and Turkey. The main analytical framework adopted is Spencer-Oatey's (e.g. 2000) "rapport management", covering various types of face as well as sociality rights. We offer some clarifications of this framework, and explain and demonstrate how it can be operationalised for quantitative analysis. In general, it offers a good account of our data, though accommodating ambiguous cases proved to be a major challenge. Our quantitative analysis suggests that three of the five categories of Spencer-Oatey's framework are key ones, namely, quality face, equity rights and association rights. Furthermore, differences between our geographically separated datasets emerge. For example, the England-based data has a preponderance of impoliteness events in which quality face is violated, whereas the Chinabased data has a preponderance where equity rights are violated. We offer some explanations for these differences, relating them where possible to broader cultural issues.