A Study On Teachers' Directives In English Major's Classes From The Perspective Of Politeness Strategies

With the aim of examining teachers'directives in English majors'classes from the perspective of politeness strategies, the author collects directives from English intensive reading classes. The data are classified and analyzed according to Blum- Kulka's three levels of directness in politeness strategies and Trosborg's speech modification strategies.The results show that English teachers in English intensive reading classes adopt most frequently the direct strategies, followed by conventionally strategies. The nonconventionally indirect strategies are the least frequently adopted ones. It is also found that differences exist among teachers teaching different grades when they employ politeness strategies in giving directives. They result mainly from differences in students'English level and the difficulty of the contents of what is taught. Students'questionnaires suggest that the politeness strategy adopted in teachers'directives are almost the same as what students expect. As a result, students'face wants are basically satisfied.This paper consists of four chapters in addition to introduction and conclusion. Chapter One discusses the concept of directives and reviews previous related studies at home and abroad. Chapter Two covers the theoretical framework for the study which includes theories of speech act, face and politeness strategies. Chapter Three presents research questions and the design of the study. Chapter Four analyzes teachers'directives from the perspective of politeness strategies and students'questionnaire and discusses the result.