Acquisition of Politeness Markers in an EFL Context: Impact of Input Enhancement and Output Tasks

Abstract

Although politeness markers are frequently used in written and spoken communication, pragmatic studies have not sufficiently explored the instruction of such markers to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners who lack sufficient opportunity to communicate with native speakers to acquire them in the context of use. Ignoring politeness as a subject of instruction could be due to the hypothesis that politeness is ingrained in the culture of its use and hence cannot be taught to EFL learners. To investigate this hypothesis, politeness markers proposed by House and Kasper (1981) in their politeness framework were used as the point of departure to teach these markers to two groups of EFL students using film-driven input-enhancement tasks and output tasks. The results of the study revealed the beneficial effect of teaching politeness markers through the two tasks. Whereas the input-enhancement group improved significantly in their comprehension of politeness markers, the output group manifested more gains in their production of these markers. Findings from this study have implications for interlanguage pragmatic instruction, suggesting that politeness is teachable and that different instructional tasks bring about different effects on the production and comprehension of politeness markers.

Teachers’ Politeness Markers in Request in Classroom Interactions

“…As such, the external modifications, as adjuncts to the head, are functioned to modify (mitigate) the illocutionary force of request or to decrease the degree of directness. In other words, this study mirrors the previous studies that, aside from internal modifiers, the directness can be mitigated (face-threat mitigators) by using some modification Volume 11, Number 2, September 2020, 217-233 devices, both external and internal devices (Tajeddin & Pezeshki, 2014;Yazdanfar & Bonyadi, 2016).…”

“…However, as cited in Tajeddin and Pezeshki (2014), the taxonomy proposed by House and Kasper (1981) is the most common taxonomy used. The taxonomy includes many markers that could be used to pinpoint politeness.…”

“…In a more specific way, Tajeddin and Pezeshki (2014) investigated the politeness markers of EFL students using film-driven input-enhancement tasks and output tasks. Volume 11, Number 2, September 2020, 217-233…”

“…As such, great attention to its illocutionary force is a crucial aspect of politeness. In terms of politeness markers, Tajeddin and Pezeshki (2014) have revealed that the use of tasks might be more beneficial in teaching politeness markers to the learners.…”

Formal Email Writing Convention: Differences Between Native and Non-native Students

“…Several studies have been conducted to investigate the language learning process by ESL students and their proficiency based on the nature of email exchange between students and faculty (Alkhalaf 2014;Bou-Franch, 2011;Tajeddin & Pezeshki, 2014). From the studies, various theories that explain language acquisition are behaviorism, innatism, and interactionism; these theories will shed more light on how language is acquired when using emails and how this translates to improved or deteriorated academic writing skills (Alkhalaf, 2014;Bou-Franch, 2011).…”