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The document discusses the concept of politeness and its strategies as defined by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson. It outlines four main politeness strategies: positive politeness, negative politeness, bald on record, and off-the-record indirect, each with examples. Understanding these strategies is essential for enhancing interpersonal relationships and effective communication.

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20 views

Skills

The document discusses the concept of politeness and its strategies as defined by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson. It outlines four main politeness strategies: positive politeness, negative politeness, bald on record, and off-the-record indirect, each with examples. Understanding these strategies is essential for enhancing interpersonal relationships and effective communication.

Uploaded by

2024akbl1166f
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Kabale University

Faculty of law

Communication skills

Luyima Shafiq

2024/A/KBL/1166/F

Due date Monday 24th February 2025

This course work is sought to access the term politeness and the politeness strategies .

1
A .Define the term politeness

Politeness is defined as behaving in a socially and acceptable way with proper manners and
etiquette .1

 Politeness can as well be defined as the ways in which language is used in a conversation
to show consideration for the feelings and desires of conversational partner to create and
uphold inter personal relationships and to comply with roles for what society considers as
appropriate behavior.
 Generally, politeness is feature of regard for another person feel comfortable or by
Interpersonal conduct whereby a person shows an obvious effort to avoid making that
person feel uncomfortable .This view of politeness is known as the first order politeness .

The theory of politeness was formulated by Penelope Brown & Stephen Levinson In 1978 .

In their writings, they extended the idea of face which was given by Erving Goffman’s (1967)
work of face

Politeness theory gives options in employing a particular politeness strategy depending upon the
social circumstances in which the speech act occurs. That is to whom your speaking.

What is your social relationship with that person? and what is the topic?

B. Using good examples explain the politeness strategies

Politeness strategies are speech acts that express concern for others and minimize threats to self
esteem in a particular social context and these include

1. Positive politeness

According to brown and Levinson ( 1987),Positive politeness is a strategy that seeks to enhance
and maintain the addressee’s positive face.

In this case , positive face is the persons need to be liked ,appreciated and valued by others .
“face is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained or enhanced,

1
Cambridge dictionary

2
and must, therefore, be constantly attended to”.2 The strategy is mainly about making the hearer
feel good about themselves, their wants, and their social identity.

Positive politeness is approach-based, meaning it aims to show approval and solidarity with the
hearer.

For example.

a).Hey there buddy, I hear that you make the best fries in town. When can I try them?

b). If you need any assistance just let me know dear.

2. Negative politeness

The negative politeness strategy aims at respecting the hearers negative face. A negative face is
an individuals desire to be free from imposition by others .

According to Brown and Levinson, in Western culture, negative politeness behavior is at the
heart of basic politeness . In their writings, they assert that negative politeness involves being
indirect, avoiding assumptions , not coercing the hearer and compensating for other wants of the
hearer3.

It involves minimizing impositions on the hearer and acknowledging their desire for autonomy.

It involves using modal verbs such as could , might, may etc

For example

a) Is their any way you could drive me to town tomorrow ?


b) Could you come with my book for home work I left at your place?

3. Bald on record strategy

This strategy tends not to limit the threat on the listeners face however it is in most cases use
when there is some sense of urgency .

2
Brown and Levinson 1987 page 66
3
Ibid page 129

3
Bald on record strategy, the speaker isn’t making any effort in minimizing the threats to the
hearer’s face and in Brown and Levinson view , there are different reasons why the bald on
record is used for various aspects .4

The speaker will most likely embarrass or make the hearer uncomfortable due to addressing them
directly or through direct command.

The strategy can be employed due to the following reasons which include; doing tasks, out of
desperation or urgency , conversations where there is need to be need for excellent efficiency ,
offerings among others.

For example

a) “watch out”!
b) “call an ambulance !”
c) “you should quit taking alcohol “

4. Off -the- record indirect

This is the last strategy of politeness which involves using some serious indirectness .As
explained by Brown and Levinson, the off-the-record or off-record strategy uses indirect
language to remove the possibility of the speaker imposing.

The speaker gets credit for being tactful , non coercive and avoid responsibility for the
potentially face-damaging interpretation.

For example

a) If the speaker wants The listener to close the window he or she may say “ it’s cold in here”

b) “I wonder if any one has a pen to spare” in this case the speaker is indirectly asking for a pen.

In conclusion , understanding and utilizing the four strategies of politeness can significantly
enhance interpersonal relationships , promote effective communication and also ensures that a
person’s conversations are considerate.

4
https://studybay.com/blog/the-bald-on-record-strategy/accesed on 23rd/ 02/ 2025

4
References

Cambridge dictionary

Politeness some universals in language usage Penelope Brown and Stephen C Levinson 1987

https://studybay.com/blog/the-bald-on-record-strategy

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