A Study On The Politeness Strategies In Teachers’ Feedback In TCSOL

Based on Brown & Levinson’s politeness strategies,the present study aims to investigate the use of politeness strategies in Teachers’ Feedback in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages(TCSOL)from the following four aspects:(1)the use of Teachers’ Feedback in TCSOL;(2)the use of politeness strategies in Teachers’ Feedback in TCSOL;(3)the differences in the use of politeness strategies among different educational levels;(4)the factors affecting the use of politeness strategies in Teachers’ Feedback.Based on the purpose,the present study investigates 4 teachers and 120 foreign students in the College of International Studies and Education of a university in Guizhou Province.Using classroom observation,questionnaires,and interviews,the results of the present study are as follows:First,the types of feedback used by teachers in TCSOL include evaluative feedback,discoursal feedback and corrective feedback.The most frequently used feedback type is evaluative feedback,followed by corrective feedback and discoursal feedback.There are great differences in the frequency of teachers’ use of the three kinds of feedback.Second,teachers have a sense of politeness in feedback and can use certain politeness strategies to meet students’ face needs,but they can not use politeness strategies flexibly and effectively.The present study also finds that the politeness strategies used by teachers in feedback are outspoken strategies,positive politeness strategies,negative politeness strategies,and indirect politeness strategies.The threat of these four politeness strategies to students’ face decreases in turn.Third,there are significant differences in the use of politeness strategies in Teachers’ Feedback among different educational levels,there are no significant differences in the dimension of the sense of politeness,and there are significant differences in the other six dimensions.Fourth,the factors affecting the use of politeness strategies in Teachers’ Feedback mainly include teachers,students,and emotion,among which teachers’ factors and students’ factors are the most direct influencing factors.The present study mainly reveals the use of politeness strategies in Teachers’ Feedback in TCSOL,and puts forward some teaching suggestions according to the use of politeness strategies,in order to provide some teaching enlightenment for teachers of TCSOL and promote the effective implementation of TCSOL.At the same time,the present study is conducive to making the majority of teachers in TCSOL realize the importance of applying politeness strategies to TCSOL,so as to improve the sense of politeness of teachers and students in classroom interaction,create a relaxed and harmonious classroom atmosphere,and achieve the real purpose of using politeness strategies to promote the TCSOL.