Politeness Strategies in Teacher-Student Classroom Interactions: A Pragmatic Perspective
Keywords:
Classroom Interaction, english as Foreign Language, Politeness Strategy, Pragmatic Competence, teacher-student communicationAbstract
This study investigates the use of politeness strategies in teacher–student interactions within English classrooms at SMP Negeri 1 Bandar, aiming to reveal how pragmatic features shape communication and learning outcomes. A qualitative case study design was employed, involving six observed lessons, classroom recordings, transcriptions, and semi-structured interviews with one English teacher and eight students. Data were analyzed through pragmatic coding of 240 speech acts using Brown and Levinson’s politeness framework. The findings indicate that positive and negative politeness strategies were predominant, each accounting for 37.5% of total speech acts, while bald-on-record and off-record strategies occurred less frequently. Teachers primarily employed positive politeness (praise, inclusive language, humor) to encourage participation, while negative politeness was often used in corrective feedback to mitigate face threats. Students relied more on negative politeness and off-record strategies, reflecting deference to authority and cultural expectations, but also demonstrated solidarity with peers through positive politeness in group work. The study concludes that politeness strategies not only serve social harmony but also function as pedagogical resources that foster engagement and communicative competence. It is recommended that teacher professional development include pragmatic awareness training to optimize classroom interaction.
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