Analysing politeness strategies within WhatsApp interactions: Can you be polite?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25139/jsk.v10i2.11596Keywords:
Politeness strategies, teaching, WhatsApp, implicationAbstract
This study is concerned with the politeness strategies used in digital communication. Focusing on WhatsApp, this study deals with how speakers maintain face and foster harmonious interactions. Grounded in Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness Theory, this study identified the types and frequencies of politeness strategies as well as examined their impact on communication and language teaching. Using a qualitative descriptive design, data were collected from natural conversations in a WhatsApp group and analysed through coding and frequency counts to obtain the dominant patterns. The findings indicate that positive politeness was the most dominant strategy employed by participants (20 occurrences), followed by bald on-record (13), negative politeness (8), and off-record (5). The appearance of the strategies in question indicates that the participants tended to maintain solidarity and directness, while still using other strategies that mitigate imposition. The study provides empirical evidence by applying and testing the relevance of politeness theory in WhatsApp group communication, rather than claiming a theoretical extension. The research provides new perspectives for pragmatic competence and language pedagogy, suggesting that teachers should be able to guide students in using politeness strategies for effective communication.
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