INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Vol. 8 No. 3, January 2019, pp. 597-606

Available online at:

http://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/IJAL/article/view/15258
doi: 10.17509/ijal.v8i3.15258

The use of politeness strategies in the classroom context by

English university students
Murni Mahmud
English Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, Universitas Negeri Makassar, Kampus Parangtambung
Jln. Dg Tata, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

ABSTRACT
Politeness still becomes a major concern in English language teaching. It is considered as one
way to maintain effective classroom interaction. Therefore, as one of the important actors in the
class, teachers, and students need to practice politeness as a way to create effective classroom
interaction. This study aims to explore the politeness strategies of English students at one of the
universities in Makassar. The researcher applied a descriptive qualitative research method to
explore the politeness phenomena in EFL classroom interaction. The participants of this
research were two classes of English literature program consisting of 50 students. The primary
sources of data were the individual student presentations which had been recorded. There were
fifty transcriptions of the recording which lasted for five to seven minutes for each presentation.
The transcriptions were analyzed and discussed based on the theory of politeness of Brown and
Levinson (1987). The findings from this study revealed that English students used different
kinds of expressions to encode their politeness in the class. Those expressions were in the forms
of greetings, thanking, addressing terms, apologizing, and fillers. There were also some terms
derived from students’ vernacular language which were used as a softening mechanism for their
presentation. These expressions were categorized as positive and negative politeness. The
findings of this study might be used as an input for teachers and students in an effort to create
effective classroom interaction.

Keywords: Classroom interaction; English language teaching; politeness; politeness strategies

First Received: Revised: Accepted:

23 February 2018 15 April 2018 26 November 2018
Final Proof Received: Published:
12 January 2019 31 January 2019
How to cite (in APA style):
Mahmud, M. (2018). The use of politeness strategies in the classroom context by English
university students. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8, 597-606.
doi: 10.17509/ijal.v8i3.15258

INTRODUCTION how to reach an effective English language teaching

The success of English language teaching is still a major process also become major concerns. Studies had been
issue in educational system in the world. The need to conducted such as in improving the teaching methods
achieve good English proficiency, therefore, becomes a (Hamra & Syatriana, 2010; Mahmud, 2017b;
high priority. However, in some countries, studies Rachmawaty & Hermagustiana, 2010) and other related
proved that there are still many problems encountered in issues (Mahmud, 2017a; Mahmud & Nur, 2018;
the English language teaching process. Maros, Hua, and Setiawati, 2012). Findings from these studies confirm
Salehuddin’s (2007) study in Malaysia, for example, that practitioners of English language teaching in
proved the difficulties faced by the students in using Indonesia still face many problems and therefore, they
correct English grammar. Another example of study in need efforts to improve the quality of English language
Columbia (Vasquez, 2007) proved that there are so teaching process.
many types of errors made by the students in their One of the efforts is to create effective and
writing composition. efficient classroom interaction. Studies had found the
In Indonesia, one of the countries where English is significant functions of classroom interaction as a
taught as a foreign language, for example, issues on strategy to achieve better English language teaching

Email: murnimahmud@unm.ac.id
597
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

process in Indonesian EFL classroom interaction (Rido, politeness is important in the classroom interaction.
Ibrahim, & Nambiar, 2015; Setiawati, 2012; Sofyan & Maintaining politeness in the class is a good strategy to
Mahmud, 2014). These studies show that successful reach effective classroom interaction.
classroom interaction could affect the success of the In Indonesia, studies on politeness in classroom
English language teaching process as a whole. interaction had also attracted the attentions of some
To create effective classroom interaction, teachers scholars. Senowarsito (2013) had looked at politeness in
and students will rely much on their communication. EFL teachers and students’ interaction but did not
Teachers and students in the class will use languages to particularly focus deeply on the interactions among the
communicate both in verbal and non-verbal ways. English students themselves. A study by Syahri (2013)
Therefore, they need to apply effective communication on politeness just focused on learners’ request as one
strategies in order to transfer their ideas clearly. A way to express politeness but did not specifically
number of studies proved that teachers and students explore the potential strategies employed by the
need strategies in the class to communicate their ideas students in the class. In addition, Mahmud (2018) had
(see Aladdin, 2012; Moazen, Kafipour, & Soori, 2016; explored the English students’ perspectives on
Mahmud, 2017a; Somsai & Intaraprasert, 2011; Tan, politeness; however, the focus was not on the strategies
Nor, & Jaradat, 2012) of politeness. It focused only on the English students’
Teachers and students as the main actors in the perception of how to be polite in the class. Politeness
classroom interaction have different styles in studies which explore deeply about the English
communicating to each other. Kingwell stated that to students’ strategies are still limited and therefore, need
communicate is not only “phrasing interests and to be further explored.
arguments or the maximally efficient transfer of Referring to these phenomena, politeness strategies
information” but also “not hurting other people’s in the class, especially by English students in English
feelings” (1993, p. 401). This means that to language teaching are still important issues to be
communicate, people will not only pay attention to the explored. Still very few studies are focused on the
contents of the information, but also to the ways of English students’ strategies in expressing politeness,
transferring it. Effective communication is not only especially in universities. The context of studying
intended to transfer messages successfully, but also to politeness proposed in this study brings new phenomena
create comfortable communication among the of politeness research. The context of communication,
interlocutors, which can create solidarity and intimacy. classroom presentations among English university
This effective communication can be achieved by students, becomes a potential area to observe politeness
applying politeness strategies. strategies and therefore, brings significant findings in
Studies on politeness, as a part of communication, the politeness research, especially politeness studies in
have been recently conducted worldwide especially in EFL classroom interaction.
the area of sociolinguistics and anthropolinguistics This study then focuses on the use of politeness
(Basthomi, 2014; Fenclova & Horova, 2017; Izadi, strategies by English university students in the
2013; Maros & Rosli, 2017; Nor & Aziz, 2010; classroom context. The findings of this study are
Sukarno, 2018). First illuminated by Brown & Levinson expected to contribute to the study of politeness
(1987) with the idea of “face-saving view”, politeness pragmatics in EFL classroom interactions. It might also
issues have been further explored in many different serves as beneficial inputs for practitioners of classroom
languages and contexts. Nor and Azis (2010), for interaction especially English teachers and students in
example, studied politeness relation in decision making. order to create effective EFL classroom interaction.
In social media, politeness also became a good strategy
of communication (Maros & Rosli, 2017; Zena, Maros, Politeness
& Nor, 2012). Another recent study on this issue is by Politeness has been defined by many different scholars.
Sukarno (2018) who studied politeness in relation to the Geertz (1960) in his study on Javanese community,
use of requests. All of these studies proved that Indonesia referred politeness as a kind of “etiquette”. To
politeness has important roles in communication. be polite for Javanese people is to follow sets of
Politeness issues do not merely attract attentions of etiquette. Scupin (1988) and Agha (1994) referred
scholars in the field of sociolinguistics and politeness as a form “honorification” or “honorific”.
anthropolinguistics as explained above. Other settings This means that to be polite is to honor people. Lakoff
of communication, such as education and classroom (1976) stated that politeness is “forms of behaviour
setting, also highlight the important roles of politeness. which have been developed in societies in order to
Jiang (2010) claims that in the context of language reduce friction in personal interaction”, whereas
teaching, politeness is believed to enhance learning by Sifianou (1992, p. 82) formulated politeness as “a
providing a lively and friendly atmosphere in the means to restrain feelings and emotion to avoid
classroom. Payne-Woolridge’s (2010) study had conflicts”. Holmes (1995) viewed politeness as “formal
focused on facework in the classroom, which in fact can and distancing behaviour, which does not intrude or
become an alternative to introduce a fresh way of impose and therefore, to be polite is persistent with
considering the way teachers speak to pupils about respects” (pp. 4-5). Mahmud (2010, p. 369) referred
behavior. Findings of these studies confirm that politeness for Bugis people as “mutual understanding”

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

598
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

expressed in the terms of sipakatau “to treat each other selected purposively. They were students English
as humans”, sipakalebbi’ “to treat each other Literature program and took Anthropolinguistic course
modestly”, and sipakaraja “to treat each other as a great where students were assigned to give a presentation on
person”. In the study of politeness in classroom one anthropolinguistic case. The presentations were
interaction, Senowarsito (2013) defined that politeness recorded by the students themselves using mobile
is a tool for character building whereas Mahmud (2018) phones. They lasted for 5-10 minutes for each student.
claimed that politeness is a need in education, a strategy The classroom interactions where politeness can be
to build character, and as a motivation in the class. observed were analyzed.
The popular theory of politeness is “the Brown- The data analysis is based on the framework of
Levinson face-saving view” (1987). The central idea of discourse analysis which relies on data recording, data
this theory is the notion of “face” (Goffman, 1967, p. 5). transcription, data selection, and data interpretation.
Brown and Levinson (1987, p. 62) stated that “face” is Discourse analysis is “the study of language-in-use; the
“the public self-image that every member wants to study of language at use in the world, not just to say
claim for himself”. Every person wants to maintain each things, but to do things” (Gee, 2011, p. 9). For this
other’s face, otherwise Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) study, analysis relied on 50 transcriptions from 50
such as being offended, or annoyed may result. To be students (each accounts for 3-4 pages). Since the
polite is to preserve “face” and to avoid acts that transcriptions were long and plenty, the data were then
threaten each others’ “face”. selected based on the purposes of the present study, with
Brown and Levinson (1987) proposed five the content based. The data were then interpreted and
strategies of politeness. The first strategy is “baldly on analyzed in the forms of conversation extracts. In the
record without redressive action”, which is to follow extracts, relevant data were identified, discussed, and
what it says. The speakers do the FTA in the most analyzed to explore the students’ politeness strategies
direct, clear and unambiguous way because they believe based on the framework of politeness strategies by
that there are occasions when some constraints force Brown and Levinson (1987).
people to speak very directly. For example, if there is an
emergency or if there is a major time constraint in
which the speaker saves time in order to be effective. FINDINGS
The second strategy is “positive politeness strategy”. It This part provides the politeness expressions used by
is an appeal to solidarity towards others, that is how to the students in their presentation. The strategies can be
make hearer feel good or to make him feel that his seen in the forms of greetings, thanks, address terms,
values are shared. Positive politeness utterances are apologies, fillers, and vernacular language (see table 1).
used to extent intimacy, to imply common ground or to The detail analysis are then explained.
share wants. The third strategy is “negative politeness
strategy” which refers to an attempt to demonstrate Greetings
awareness not to be imposed on, that is, to avoid Extract 1: Opening the Presentation
interfering the interlocutor's freedom of action by using Presenter: Asssalamu’ Alaikum Warahmatullahi
hedges and apologies among others. Brown and Wabarakatu
Levinson (1987) consider this strategy as the heart of “peace be upon you”
respect behavior because it performs the function of Audience: Wa’alaikumsalam Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu.
“peace be upon you too”
minimizing the imposition over the hearer. The fourth Presenter: Today I will [am] going to present my material...
strategy is “off record”. Generally, it is the use of
utterances that are not directly addressed to another. It is In extract 1, the presenter wanted to start the
called indirect speech. In this strategy, the speaker presentation. Before explaining his topic, he said,
performs the FTA by saying something indirectly “Asssalamu’ Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu”
(implicative). (peace be upon you). The audience then replied by
saying “Wa’alaikumsalam Warahmatullahi
METHOD Wabarakatu” (peace be upon you too). These ways of
This study applied a descriptive qualitative design. It is greetings are kinds of Islamic greetings which are
“the collection, analysis, and interpretation of usually uttered in Muslim community to spread the
comprehensive narrative and visual data in order to gain blessings to other people. The students who are mostly
insights into a particular phenomenon of interest” (Gay, Muslim are affected by the Islamic teaching and
Mills, & Airasian, 2006, p. 399). As a descriptive therefore, they apply several utterances from their
qualitative research design, this study was intended to Islamic teaching in their conversation in order to be
collect, analyse, and interpret several data which were polite. When greeting people, for example, they are
related to one particular phenomenon, that is politeness expected to use Islamic greeting, although they can also
strategies by the students in the classroom interaction. use other kinds of greeting from different language such
This research was conducted at the undergraduate as “Good Morning” and “Selamat Pagi”. Using Islamic
program at one public university in Makassar, Indonesia utterances signals their Islamic belief which emphasized
in 2015. The participants were 50 students which were on good human relations besides good relation to God.
The use of Islamic greetings in this extract showed the

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

599
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

students’ good manner as indicator of politeness. In this “in the name of God, peace be upon you”
extract, the greetings were used to acquire attentions Audience: Waalaikumsalam Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu
from the audience and make the presentation more “peace be upon you too”
formal. In addition, the greetings signaled their Islamic Fahri: Thank you very much for the chance. The first one
is ...
and polite interaction. These sorts of greetings can also
In extract 3, Fahri wanted to ask questions. He first
be observed in the following extract:
recited Basmalah by saying “Bismillahirrahmanirrahim”
(in the name of God) followed by Islamic greeting. In
Extract 2: Opening the Presentation
Presenter: Assalamu’ Aalaikum Warahmatullahi
Islam, all Moeslims are obliged to express Basmalah
Wabarakatu before starting an activity. Reciting Basmalah indicates
“peace be upon you” that people respect to God, The Human’s Creator.
Audience: Waalaikumsalam Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu Reciting Basmalah shows that all of the activities are on
“peace be upon you too” behalf of God. Since the students are all Moeslims, their
Presenter: Good morning, guys! attitude is also affected by Islamic teachings. Being
Audience: Morning! polite for them can be seen by the application of Islamic
Presenter: How are you today? teachings by expressing good and polite utterances. One
Audience: Fine, thank you! of the examples is by reciting Basmalah in their whole
activities, including in the class when they want to
Table 1: Politeness Strategies of the Students
study. As a Muslim, it shows the respect to religion and
Features Expressions Frequencies
of Utterances good manner as Muslim. In the Islamic teachings,
Greetings Asssalamu’ Alaikum 80 people are recommended to show good relation to
Warahmatullahi humans as well as to God.
Wabarakatu.
Wa’alaikumsalam 77 Thanks
Warahmatullahi Extract 4: Opening and Presenting the topic
Wabarakatu Presenter: Assalamu’ Alaikum Warahmatullahi
Good morning 11 Wabarakatu.
How are you today? 4 “peace be upon you”
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim 6 Thank you very much. Ee.. ee.. I would like to
Thanks Thank you 108 explain about my material. It’s about code-
Address Saudari/Saudari 5 switching...
Terms Names 146
Pronoun 21 In extract 4, the presenter used the Islamic greeting
Ma’am 23
in the first time of the presentation. After that, she
Kak 6
Apologies Excuse me? 7
expressed her thanks by saying “Thank you very
I am so sorry 5 much”. It was continued by introducing the topic she
Tabe’ 6 wanted to present. In this extract, both greetings and
Fillers Well 79 thanks were used as signals to begin the presentation
I mean 11 and to acknowledge the presence of the participants.
aaa 130 These marked the politeness of the students in the
yeah 16 formal situation of the class. The same case can also be
hmm 120 seen in extract 5 below:
ee 280
so 189
As we know 9
Extract 5: Opening the Presentation
Vernacular di’ 7 Presenter: Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarokatuh
“peace be upon you”
Language mi 11
Audience: Waalaikumsalam Warahmatulahi Wabarokatuh
“peace be upon you too”
In extract 2, the presenter also used the Islamic Presenter: di ulangki salamnya! Okay, sekali lagi
greetings such as in extract 1 previously. After that, she Bismilahirohmannirrohim, Assalamualaikum
greeted the audience by using English greetings: “Good Warahmatullahi Wabarokatuh
Morning” and “How are you today?”. Since the “the greeting is repeated! Okay, once more, In the
participants were English students and they were name of God, peace be upon you”
expected to present their topics by using English Audience: Waalaikumsalam Warahmatulahi Wabarokatuh
language, English greetings were also applied to start “peace be upon you all too”
the presentation. These greetings also functioned as a Presenter: Okay, thanks for the chance that has given to
me. Today I’m going to ee.. explain about my
good way to be polite and therefore, made their
material...
presentation became formal. Another example can be
seen in extract 3 below:
In extract 5 above, the presenter opened the
Extract 3: Questions and Answer presentation by using Islamic greetings. However, it
Fahri: Bismillahirahmanirahim. Assalamu’ Aalaikum seemed that the audience did not pay attention to it. She
Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu tried to repeat her greeting loudly for the second time.

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

600
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

The audience finally responded quickly and loudly. same case can be seen in extract 8 where Ratna wanted
Seeing that situation, she expressed her gratitude by Emy to explain more clearly about one of her
saying “thanks for the chance that has given to me”. statements. This use of Saudara was also meant to be
She then continued to introduce her topic. This extract polite in her request. These extracts show that the
shows that thanks were used as a way to be responsive students still applied polite address terms in the class,
and to show appreciation for other people’s conduct. although they were addressing their fellow friends.
Therefore, this created polite situation in the interaction. These address terms made their communication more
Another function of thanking expression can be seen in polite such as in asking questions and in requesting
the following extract: during the presentation. Using address terms reduce the
possibility of face threatening caused by activities like
Extract 6: Ending the presentation and inviting asking questions and requesting. Compare with extract 9
questions. below:
Presenter: I think that’s all from my topic today ee thank
you for your attention and…do you guys have Extract 9: Addressing by personal name and
any questions? pronoun
Audience: [Silence] Audience: Oh iya, any questions? Aahh me?
Presenter: Any questions? “oh yes, any questions? Aahh Me?”
Audience: [Silence] Audience: Wee! Imran mau bertanya, Wee!.
Presenter: Okay. That’s all. Thank you and Assalamu “Hello! Imran wants to ask questions, hello!”
Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu (peace be Audience: Siapa duluan?
upon you) “who is the first? [to ask questions]”
Presenter: Kamu. Iya kamu.
In extract 6, the presenter said “I think that’s all “you! yes, you!”
from my topic today”. She signaled the audience that it
was the end of her presentation. She expressed thanks to The students used personal names and direct
the audience by saying, “thank you for your attention” pronouns to address their fellow friends in the class.
to show her appreciation for those who had listened to This can be seen in extract 9 where one of the students
her presentation. Next, she invited questions. However, pronounced his friend’s name “Imran”. The presenter
after waiting for a minute, no one asked questions. To also used direct pronoun “kamu” (you). In this extract,
make sure that there were no more questions, she asked the use of personal name and direct pronoun as address
again, “Any questions?” Finally, she said “Okay. terms was prompted by the familiarity of the
That’s all. Thank you and Assalamu’ Alaikum interlocutors in the class. Since the audience is mostly
Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu” to end her presentation. their friends, they could use personal names and direct
The use of thanks in this extract functioned well to pronoun (although it was rather less polite). Their
acknowledge the ideas and the activities that had been familiarity as friends could minimize the situation. It is
conducted. Thanking expressions and greetings in this advisable to compare the following two extracts.
extract also function to maintain the flow of the
interaction between the presentation and in the question Extract 10: Address term of Ma’am
and answer session. These led to polite interaction Lecturer: Anyone from you can ask a question, you are still
among the students. recording? you are still recording?
Ririn: Iye, Ma’am
Address Terms “Yes, Ma’am”
Extract 7: Address term of Saudari
Presenter: Any questions? Iye, terima kasih Saudari Tuti. Extract 11: Address term of Kak
“Any questions? Yes, thank you, Sister Tuti” Audience: Oh iye bisa ji bertanya?
Tuti: Could you explain what are the differences “Oh yes, can [we] ask questions?”
between sign of language and body language? Presenter: Oh iye Kak.
“Yes, older brother/sister”
Extract 8: Address term of Saudara Extract 10 shows the use of “Ma’am” as an
Ratna: Mungkin Saudara Andi Emy bisa memperjelas address term. Ririn, one of the students, used “Ma’am”
tadi ada eksplisit dan implisit dalam melakukan to address her female lecturer, a female who was
komunikasi dengan interlocutor considered as a respectable person. She positioned
“Maybe Sister Andi Emy could explain explicitly herself as a child. This utterance indicated that she had
and implicitly about the ways to communicate with good emotional relationship, and felt close to her
the interlocutors”
lecturer. In extract 11, the address term “Kak” which
means “older brother/sister” was used. That address
Extracts 7 and 8 demonstrate the use of address term was employed by the presenter to address her
terms “Saudara” and “Saudari” (sister or brother) classmates who were senior in the class. The use of
which were attached to the names of the other students address terms in these two extracts were also intended
in the class. In extract 7, the term of Saudara was used to be polite in the presentation. This was influenced by
to offer the time to ask question. This was meant to be the presence of different interlocutors in the class.
polite although Tuti was one of their classmates. The

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

601
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

Apologies when we fight or.. eee, something like that

Extract 12: Ordering to pay attention (clearing throat sounds).”
Presenter: The method that [is] used in school is ethnography
and the method…the method… Excuse me? In extract 15, the presenter used some expressions
Excuse me? such as “well”, “as we know”, “I mean” “hmm” and
Audience: yes… yes “eee”. These expressions are categorized as fillers. At
the time, the presenter was explaining the materials but
In this extract, the presenter ordered the audience he found some difficulties in explaining the topic. In
to pay attention to his presentation. It was such a noisy order to maintain the flow of the conversations, he used
condition and no students in the class paid attention to those fillers to build the gaps in his explanation. The use
his presentation. The audience was very busy talking to of those expressions could also function as polite
each other. He said, “Excuse me? Excuse me?”. This markers under his hesitations. Another example can be
expression was meant to be polite in his presentation. seen in extract 16 below:
He could be less polite if he directly asked the audience Extract 16: Fillers in answering the question
to stop talking to each other. The use of this kind of Aulia: Thank you, thank you so much. Well, aaa I think
apology was able to minimize the impoliteness of the aaa the..the lecture Anthropology is about culture
presenter in the class caused by noisy class. The same right? Right?
case can be seen in the following extract: Audience: Yeah!
Presenter: anthropology is about culture and every culture
have their own perspective about poetry.
Extract 13: Asking to stop talking
Audience: Ainun!..
Presenter: [shouting] Hijra and Ainun! Okay I am so sorry... In extract 16, the presenter was about to start the
presentation. At the first time, she said “Well, aaa”. At
In this extract, the presenter ordered the audience the time, she intended to give emphasis that everyone in
to stop talking while she was presenting. The presenter the class really knew the topic. The expressions “well”,
mentioned the name of audience, Hijrah and Ainum, “aaa” “yeah” are also categorized as fillers in order to
who were busy talking to each other. She ordered Hijrah maintain the flow of the ideas. By the use of those
and Ainun to stop talking and pay attention to the expressions, the presenter could manage her
presentation. She shouted “Hijra and Ainun!”. nervousness and therefore, she could communicate her
However, after that she said “I am so sorry” as a kind of ideas.
apology which was meant to be polite after shouting her
friends. The same case can be seen in the following Extract 17: Fillers in explanation
extract: Presenter: I mean here, we have to understand what does a
speech mean and ee..community itself. So, speech
Extract 14: Using apologetic term of tabe’ here means..ee..hmm..oral representation of our
Presenter: I think that’s all for my material. So far, any thoughts, our feelings hmm..and while community
questions? Yes. Tabe’ Tuti [offering Tuti to ask here is a group of people who share the same
questions] knowledge, beliefs and social structure.
Tuti: Thanks for the chance.
In extract 17, the expression of “I mean” was used
Extract 14 above also shows the use of apology in by the presenter to show that she was going to rephrase
the class by the presenter. After finishing the as well as to repeat her explanation to mark the prior
presentation, she asked for questions from the audience. utterance or information given by her. Next she said
One of them raised her hand, named Tuti. Before giving “so” to give conclusion about the definition of speech
the chance to Tuti to deliver her question, she said an community she had explained previously.
apology “tabe”. The expression “tabe” means “sorry” Furthermore, the expression of ee and hmm were used
but it was derived from students’ vernacular language, as pause fillers in order to continue the ideas and the
that is Bugis-Makassar language. In this extract, information she wanted to give to audiences. These
apology was used not only to order or instruct such as in pause fillers could help the presenter to be polite
extract 12 and 13 but also to give a chance to the during the presentation. She could be very nervous at
students to speak. This apologetic expression could the time, but those fillers helped her to minimize her
soften the flow of the interaction and maintain the good hesitance and therefore she managed to transfer her
communication in the class. ideas to the audience.

Fillers Extract 18: Fillers in asking a question

Extract 15: Fillers in presentation Presenter: So, you know what is sign language?
Presenter: Well, guys, as we know that conversation is really Audience: [silence]
important in our life, I mean we cannot live Presenter: Well, Sign Language. Do you ever hear what a
without conversation. I mean we interact hmm ... sign language is...?
we interact to each other by using conversation like
when we greet, when we complain something, In extract 18. the presenter wanted to make sure
that everybody understood what he had explained in his

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

602
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

presentation. He said “so you know” to bridge the ideas stated that positive politeness was intended to
before asking the question. After getting the sign that “minimize the distance between speaker and hearer and
the audience understood the ideas, he continued by to reduce the hearer’s disappointment by expressing
saying “well”. This also helped him to communicate his friendliness”. Another study by Tan, Teoh, and Tan
ideas before continuing his presentation. These fillers (2016) also found the important functions of greetings,
were meant to bridge what the presenter said in order such as to acknowledge the interlocutors. In addition,
that he did not show his hesitation in speaking. In this studies proved that greetings are a feature of good social
kind of situation, the presentation became more polite manner (Soo, David, Kia, & Pei, 2011; Hei, David, &
and therefore, it created polite situation between the Kia, 2013). In this study, greetings were used by the
presenter and the audience. students to be close and friendly to their fellow friends.
This shows that although the activities in the
Vernacular language presentations tended to be rather formal, the use of
Extract 19: Explaining about the topic greetings made the presentations more friendly.
Presenter: About language, language is a medium to express Another important finding is about the use of
our emotional and identity is ee.. display how Islamic greetings such as Assalamu Alaikum
display you are, ee..apalagi di’? [what is again, Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh and other Islamic
anyway?]. . utterances such as Basmalah. These expressions can
become a symbol of obedience as Muslim people. It had
Extract 19 is the example of using students’ been known that Islamic teachings mostly focus not
vernacular language in the presentation. When the only on good relation to God, but also to other humans.
presenter explained his materials, he was thinking about Maintaining good communication influenced by Islamic
what he should explain next. Then he asked a question, teachings will become a way to show good human
“apalagi di’?” (what is again, anyway?). The use of “di” relations, in which being polite is one of the important
was derived from Bugis-Makassar language, which aspects of those good relations. This finding is also in
means “anyway” in Indonesian language. The use of line with Al-Khatib’s study (2012) who had found some
‘di’’ could soften his question during the presentation strategies of politeness in the Holy-Quran which
and could help him to be indirect in his conversation. contributed to God-man communication and man-man
Another example was seen in the following extract: communication, the important principles Islamic
teachings. Another study by Bouchara (2015) also
Extract 20: Asking questions showed that politeness can be expressed when greeting
Presenter: Any question?
Audience: [silent]
one another by using religious vocabulary and giving
Presenter: Tidak adami? religious praises. Bouchara (2015) furthermore stated
“no more already. that “the use of religion as a politeness strategy appears
to function as a way of protecting the self-image of both
Extract 20 is also the example of using students’ the speaker and the hearer” (p. 71).
vernacular language in the presentation. When the The use of thanking expressions (extract 4, 5, and
presenter finished her presentation and asked the other 6) was also a category of positive politeness. These
students for questions, no more audience seemed to thanking expression functioned well as a polite
have questions. She then asked a question to confirm if expression to start the presentation and to acknowledge
there were no more questions by saying, “Tidak the presence of the audience. These strategies are also in
adami?” (no more already?). The use of mi was derived line with Brown and Levinson’s (1987) idea which
from Bugis-Makassar language which means “already”. states that expressing thanks/gratitude is considered a
This word was sometimes used by Bugis-Makassar polite or courteous device which avoids face threatening
speakers to soften their expressions and made them acts and therefore it can also be used to express
indirect. The expression “tidak ada” (no more) was solidarity above the power. Several studies in terms of
more polite when it was attached to the word “mi”. using thanks also proved the crucial functions of thanks
as one way to be polite in the interaction (Özdemir &
Rezvani, 2010; Tan, Teoh, & Tan, 2016; Yusefi,
DISCUSSIONS Gowhary, Azizifar, & Esmaeili, 2015). The use of
All of the twenty extracts above demonstrate the thanks in this study also functioned as polite strategies
application of politeness strategies in the students’ among the students during the presentation.
presentations in the class. From Brown and Levinson’s Address terms were also a positive politeness
framework of politeness, two important strategies strategy of the students (extract 7-11). They used
emerged, namely positive politeness and negative “saudara/saudari” (brother/sister), “kak” (older
politeness. brother/sister), “ma’am”, the personal name, and the
Findings show the use of positive politeness pronoun “kamu” (you). With reference to Brown and
strategies in the form of greetings (extract 1, 2, and 3). Levinson (1987), these address terms were known as
These kinds of expressions were used as the ways to be “in-group identity markers” which aim to minimize the
polite in the interaction and therefore, the situation of distance between speaker and hearer and to reduce the
the class became formal. Brown and Levinson (1987) hearer’s disappointment by expressing friendliness. In

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

603
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

his study in Javanese society, Susanto (2014) also found study, such as the use of terms influenced by Islamic
that address term is used “to designate the person they teachings and the use of vernacular language influenced
are talking to or to show the possession of formal and by the cultural context of the students. Other previous
informal manners” (p. 140). The students in this study studies on politeness also show the different strategies
used these address terms to show their politeness to the employed to show politeness. Senowarsito (2013), for
different interlocutors during the presentation. example, found some positive and negative politeness
The negative politeness can be seen in the use of strategies in the class, and all function as a tool for
apologizing (extract 12-14). According to Brown and character building. Zander (2013) also found some
Levinson (1987), apologies function mostly to express politeness and impoliteness behaviours in the class.
respect rather than friendliness, solidarity, or intimacy. Paying attention to the lesson in the class is considered
Apologies indeed hold crucial functions as politeness polite whereas coming late to the class is considered
strategies (Al-Sobh, 2013; Banikalef, Maros, Aladdin, impolite behaviour. All of the findings of these studies
& Al-Natour, 2015). In this study, apologies were used confirm that politeness is important in the EFL
by the students to minimize the impolite situation classroom interaction and therefore, there are some
caused by their expressions (such as shouting and strategies that can be used by the English students in
asking questions). order to contribute to effective EFL classroom
Using fillers in their presentation helped the interaction.
students to be formal and therefore can show their
politeness (extract 15-18). Since the presentations were
conducted in the class, the students were expected to CONCLUSION
maintain the formality of the situation. The use of these It can be concluded that several strategies of politeness
fillers could be categorized as hedges which according of Brown and Levinson (1987) were used by the
to Fraser (2010) are “words and expressions in the English students in their presentation both positive
forms of modals, fillers, tag questions, that can attenuate politeness and negative politeness. This finding shows
the force of the speech acts and to express the levels of that the idea of politeness (Brown & Levinson, 1987) is
uncertainty towards the propositions in the utterances”. applicable in Indonesian EFL classroom context,
These fillers could also be categorized as discourse especially in Makassar. The findings from this study
markers or discourse particles which serve important also show that a cross-cultural context study of
functions as communicative tools (Ahmed & Maros, politeness is required in order to examine the cultural
2017; Don & Sim, 2016 Nor, 2012). In terms of Brown influence in practicing politeness in the class. Practices
and Levinson’s politeness strategies (1987), using these of politeness by English university students in Makassar
fillers can become ways to be conventionally indirect are proved to be influenced by religious and cultural
which may create politeness. aspects of the interlocutors.
The findings also show that students adopted some Findings from this study have contributed
terms from their vernacular language to communicate significantly to the process of English language teaching
such as tabe’, di’, mi. (extract 19-20). This contributes in universities in Makassar. The findings can also
to the new strategy of politeness. These expressions become input to other universities in Indonesia,
softened their expressions, and made them indirect. The especially for practitioners of the EFL classroom
idea of indirectness is also a way to be polite (Brown & interaction (e.g. teachers and students) about how they
Levinson, 1987). should behave in the classroom in order to reach
The findings also show that politeness will have effective ways of interaction in the English language
different linguistic realizations in different cultures and teaching. The findings of this study are also expected to
different circumstances. One culture may regard one contribute to the literature of politeness research in
behaviour as polite while others may not. What is polite classroom context in particular and in Asian context, in
in one situation may not be regarded as polite in another general. However, further studies need to be conducted
situation. Therefore, people in different society will in terms of politeness practices of teachers and students
perceive and practice politeness differently. These which are influenced by factors such as age and gender,
finding supports the idea of Kadar and Mills (2011, p. especially through the language choices they will use to
21) which emphasized that no culture will have “a set of communicate.
norms for what counts as polite or impolite behaviours”.
Previous studies on politeness in different languages
REFERENCES
and contexts had also proved the different practices and
Agha, A. (1994). Honorification. Annual Review of
perceptions of politeness expressions and behaviors.
Anthropology, 23(1), 277-302. doi:
Geerts (1960) with his “etiquette”, Scupin (1988) and
10.1146/annurev.an.23.100194.001425
Agha (1994) with their “honorification” or “honorific”,
Ahmed, W. K. & Maros, M. (2017). Using hedges as
and Mahmud (2010) with her “mutual understanding”
relational work by Arab EFL students in student-
remark that politeness is expressed differently in
supervisor consultations. GEMA Online Journal of
different context of society.
Language Studies, 17(1), 89-105. doi:
Different expressions of politeness are also found
10.17576/gema-2017-1701-6
in English classroom context as can be seen in this

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

604
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

Aladdin, A. (2012). An analysis of the usage of Hei, K. C., David, M. K., & Kia, L. S. (2013).
communication strategies in Arabic oral Politeness of front counter staff of Malaysian
communication. GEMA Online Journal of private hospitals. GEMA Online Journal of
Language Studies, 12(2), 645-666. doi: Language Studies, 13(1), 5-23.
10.17576/gema-2017-1701-13 Holmes, J. (1995). Women, men, and politeness.
Al-Khatib, M. A. (2012). Politeness in the Holy Quran: London and New York: Longman.
A sociolinguistic and pragmatic perspective. Izadi, A. (2013). Politeness in spoken review genre:
Intercultural Pragmatics, 9(4), 479–509. doi: Viva voce context. Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum.,
10.1515/ip-2012-0027 21(4), 1411–1429.
Al-Sobh, M. A. (2013). An analysis of apology as a Jiang, X. (2010). A case study of teachers’ politeness in
politeness strategy expressed by Jordanian EFL class. Journal of Language Teaching and
university students. International Journal of Research, 3(5), 661-655. doi:10.4304/jltr.1.5.651-
Humanities and Social Science, 3(2), 150-154. 655
Banikalef, A. A., Maros, M, Aladdin, A & Al-Natour, Kadar, D. Z. & Mills, S. (2011). Politeness in East Asia.
M. (2015). Apology strategies in Jordanian Arabic. USA: Cambridge University Press.
GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 15(2), Kingwell, M. (1993). Is it rational to be polite?. The
83-99. Journal of Philosophy, 90(8), 387-404. doi:
Basthomi, Y. (2014). No=Yes or Yes=No? Strategies in 10.2307/2940877
responding to an offer/invitation among Lakoff, R. T. (1976). Language and woman's place.
Indonesians. Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum., 22(4), Language in Society, 2(1), 45-80.
1133-1146. Mahmud, M. (2010). Language change in Bugis
Bouchara, A. (2015). The role of religion in shaping Societ y: To be polite or to be maju Linguistik
politeness in Moroccan Arabic: The case of the Indonesia, 28(1), 85-89.
speech act of greeting and its place in intercultural Mahmud, M. (2017a). Communicative styles of English
understanding and misunderstanding. Special students at the State University of Makassar.
Issue: Politeness in Africa. Journal of Politeness GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 17(1),
Research, 11(1), pp. 71-98. doi:10.1515/pr-2015- 223-238. doi: 10.17576/gema-2017-1701-13
0004 Mahmud, M. (2017b). Teaching students to develop
Brown, P. & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some paragraphs through poetry writing. International
universals in language use. Cambridge; New Journal of Language Education (IJOLE), 1(1), 37-
York: Cambridge University Press. 50. doi :10.26858/ijole.v1i1.2870
Don, Z. M. & Sim, T. S. (2016). Prosody and particles: Mahmud, M. (2018). Exploring students’ politeness
A study of interaction in a Malaysian academic perspectives at the State University of Makassar.
meeting. 3L: Language,Linguistics and Journal of Education and Learning, 12(1), 36-43.
Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English doi: 10.11591/edulearn.v12i1.6926
Language Studies, 22(3), 17-33. doi: 10.17576/3L- Mahmud, M. & Nur, S. (2018). Exploring students’
2016-2203-02 learning strategies and gender differences in
Fenclova, M. & Horova, M. (2017). The expression of English language teaching. International Journal
politeness and modesty in the texts of the social of Language Education, 2(1), 51-64. doi
sciences. Xlinguae, 10(1), 42-48. doi :10.26858/ijole.v2i1.4346
:10.18355/XL.2017.10.01.05 Maros, M. Hua, T.K. & Salehuddin, K. (2007).
Fraser, B. (2010). Pragmatic competence: The case of Interference in learning English: Grammatical
hedging. New approaches to hedging, 1534. Errors in English essay writing among rural Malay
Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Group Limited. secondary school students in Malaysia. Jurnal e-
Gay, L. R., Mills, G. E., & Airasian, P. (2006). Bangi, 4(1), 1-15.
Educational research: Competencies for analysis Maros, M. & Rosli, L. (2017). Politeness strategies in
and applications. Columbus, OH: Pearson twitter updates of female English Language
Education Studies Malaysian Undergraduates. 3L: The
Gee, J. P. (2011). How to do discourse analysis: A Southeast Asian Journal of English Language
toolkit. New York and London: Routledge. Studies, 23(1), 132-149. doi: 10.17576/3L-2017-
Geertz, C. (1960). The religion of Java. Illinois: The 2301-10
Free Press of Glencoe. Moazen, M., Kafipour, R., & Soori, A. (2016). Iranian
Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on face- EFL learners' perception of the use of
to-face behaviour. Garden City, New York: communication strategies and gender effect.
Anchor Books, Doubleday and Company, Inc. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences &
Hamra, A. & Syatriana, E. (2010). Developing a model Humanities, 24(3), 1193-1204.
of teaching reading comprehension for EFL Nor, N. F. M. & Aziz, J. (2010). Discourse analysis of
students. TEFLIN Journal, 21(1), 27-40. doi: decision making episodes in meetings: Politeness
10.15639/teflinjournal.v21i1/27-40 theory and critical discourse analysis. 3L: The

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

605
 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), January 2019

Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 140-155. doi:
Studies, 16(2), 66-92. 10.17509/ijal.v4i1.606
Nor, S. N. M. (2012). Discourse markers in turn-initial Sofyan, R. R. & Mahmud, M. (2014). Teacher talk in
positions in interruptive speech in a Malaysian classroom interaction: A study at an English
radio discourse. Multilingua, 31(2012), 113-133. department in Indonesia. ELT Worldwide, 1(1), 45-
doi: 10.1515/mult.2012.005 58. doi: 10.26858/eltww.v1i1.841
Özdemir, Ç., & Rezvani, S. A. (2010). Interlanguage Somsai, S. & Intaraprasert, C. (2011). Strategies for
pragmatics in action: Use of expressions of coping with face-to-face oral communication
gratitude. Procedia-Social and Behavioral problems employed by Thai university students
Sciences, 3, 194-202. doi: majoring in English. GEMA Online Journal of
10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.032 Language Studies, 11(3), 83-96.
Payne‐Woolridge, R. (2010). Classroom behaviour and Soo, K. C. H., David, M. K., Kia, L. S., & Pei, A.
facework: Balancing threats and enhancements. (2011). Openings and closings in front counter
Classroom Discourse, 1(2), 167-180. doi: transactions of Malaysian government hospitals.
10.1080/19463014.2010.514193 SEARCH-The Journal of the South East Asia
Rachmawaty, N. & Hermagustiana, I. (2010). Does Research Centre for Communication and
retelling technique improve speaking fluency? Humanities, 3(1), 13-30.
TEFLIN Journal, 21(1), 1-8. doi: Syahri, I. (2013). Resemblance of indirectness in
10.15639/teflinjournal.v21i1/1-8 politeness of efl learners’request realizations.
Rido, A., Ibrahim, I., & Nambiar R. M. K. (2015). Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1),
Interaction strategies of master teachers in 148-165. doi: 10.17509/ijal.v3i1.197
Indonesian vocational classroom: A case study. Tan H. K., Teoh M. L., Tan S. K. (2016). Beyond
3L: Language,Linguistics and Literature, The ‘greeting’ and ‘thanking’: Politeness in job
Southeast Asian Journal of English Language interviews. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of
Studies, 21(3), 85-98 English Language Studies, 22(3), 171-184. doi:
Scupin, R. (1988). Language, hierarchy, and hegemony: 10.17576/3L-2016-2203-12
Thai Muslim discourse strategies, Language Tan, K. H., Nor, N. F. M., Jaradat, N. (2012).
Sciences, 10(2), 331-351. doi: 10.1016/0388- Communication strategies among EFL students:
0001(88)90020-4 An examination of frequency of use and types of
Senowarsito. (2013). Politeness strategies in teacher- strategies used. GEMA Online Journal of
student interaction in an EFL classroom contents. Language Studies, 12(3), 831-848.
TEFLIN Journal, 24(1), 82-96. doi: Vasquez, D.A.L. (2007). Error Analysis in a written
10.15639/teflinjournal.v24i1/82-96 composition. Profile, 10:135-146.
Setiawati, L. (2012). A descriptive study on the teacher Yusefi, K., Gowhary, H., Azizifar, A., & Esmaeili, Z.
talk at EYL classroom. Indonesian Journal of (2015). A pragmatic analysis of thanking strategies
Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 33-48. doi: among Kurdish speakers of Ilam based on gender
10.17509/ijal.v1i2.83 and age. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,
Sifianou, M. (1992). Politeness phenomena in England 199, 211-217. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.507
and Greece. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Zander, R. (2013). Ethnography of polite and impolite
Sukarno, S. (2018). Politeness strategies, linguistic student classroom behaviour in the intensive
markers and social contexts in delivering requests English center. Linguistic Portfolios, 2(11), 116-
in Javanese. Indonesian Journal of Applied 130.
Linguistics, 7(3), 659-667. doi: Zena, M. N., Maros, M., Nor, N. F. M. (2012).
10.17509/ijal.v7i3.9816 Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia.
Susanto, D. (2014). The pragmatic meanings of address GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 12(1),
terms Sampeyan and Anda. Indonesian Journal of 125-145.

Copyright © 2018, IJAL, e-ISSN: 2502-6747, p-ISSN: 2301-9468

606