Research on College Teachers’ Politeness Strategies in EFL Classrooms

Politeness is a common phenomenon in any society. Thus conventions of politeness vary from culture to culture. How people value politeness or show politeness is influenced by many factors such as age, gender, knowledge level, or social status or power. In this research, we deal with politeness in China EFL classrooms. Based on Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory and applying a series of research methods like class observation, survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews in a case study, the researcher tries to find out: how students’ gender and level of English proficiency influence their understanding of teachers’ politeness strategies, what attitudes they have towards the application of teachers’ PS, and how students value politeness strategies in EFL classrooms. In conclusion, on one hand, teachers should increase their own politeness awareness as well as students’; on the other hand, it is very important to improve students’ English proficiency, which can help them understand situational contexts in English and interpret teachers’ well meaning in the term of politeness.