Politeness in the EFL Classroom Interaction: Strategies in Avoiding Face Threatening Act (FTA)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to look into how lecturers from Methodist University's Letters Faculty express politeness in their words and actions during the learning process in classroom interaction. Observing lecturers and students of various ethnicities, religions, and cultures, one must be understanding and well-managed in order to avoid the face threatening act and retain the diversity among them. The study was conducted at the Letters Faculty's classes at The Methodist University of Indonesia. The researchers took a qualitative approach to the study, monitoring lecturers’ activities with students in classroom interaction and recording their communication during the process of learning. The lecturers used the three types of politeness strategies to respond to the context of avoiding conflict and maintaining harmony, as evidenced by the results. Bald On-record politeness strategy, positive politeness strategy, and negative politeness strategy are the three types of the strategies. The bald on record strategy is the most commonly employed of the three types of politeness strategies used by the lecturers. It's because the lecturers are having more power in the class. Lecturers have right to ask students without asking the students first.  Surprisingly, lecturers are not shy to say sorry and thank you even they have more power in the class. In short, lecturers try to avoid the face threatening acts by this way of communication. Unluckly, the result of the study also presents the act of some lecturers who were sitting in student’s table during the learning process. Thus, it creates discomfort for students.