Teacher’s politeness: Does it matter in student’s motivation?

Abstract

Politeness is a battery of social skills to ensure that everyone in a social interaction feels validated. In a pedagogical context, politeness goes beyond just being courteous specifically for language learning since it can be intimidating for beginners; politeness strategies can alleviate anxiety and fear of making mistakes. Hence, the revelation calls for a profound transformation in teacher-student interaction. This study shed light on an intriguing aspect of classroom dynamics, where a mere fraction of students dauntlessly approaches their teachers with questions, while a significant 60% opt for peer communication to seek answers. The focus was on investigating the types of politeness strategies used by teachers and how these strategies impact student motivation in learning English. To gather data, the researcher attended and recorded a class consultation session conducted via Google Meet, capturing real-time interactions between the teacher and students. After recording the session, the researcher transcribed and analyzed the recordings, paying particular attention to the implementation of politeness strategies. Additionally, the researcher conducted interviews with five randomly selected students after the class to gain further insights into their perceptions and experiences related to politeness in the classroom.

The findings revealed that the four politeness strategies of Brown and Levinson (1987) can be effectively employed in the teaching-learning method. By employing these strategies, teachers created a positive and supportive learning environment, motivating students to engage actively in the English learning process. Moreover, the research identified that certain factors influence the adoption of politeness strategies. Among these factors, students' personal interest in the subject played a role in how they responded to and engaged with polite language and actions. Additionally, the tone of voice used by the teacher influenced how the politeness strategies were perceived and received by the students.