A Survey About The Adaptability Of The Politeness Principle In Internet Communication

As an important pragmatics principle, the Politeness Principle (PP) has always been a focus of study over the past decades. Due to the diversity of cultures, nevertheless, researchers have come up with counterdata as to throw doubts in the explanatory adequacy of this principle. In my opinion, the PP which reflects much tropism, is still a principle that can be applied to people-to-people interaction in a large extent. Today apart from the true-life-communication, many people like to communicate on the internet, that is internet-communication. As a result, current research of pragmatics naturally extends to internet language and internet-communication, and the adaptability of the Politeness Principle in internet chatting becomes one of the topics under heated discussion This is an explicit study on the adaptability of the PP in internet communication. Through emails, a survey that contains five variables—"age", "sex", "character", "occupation", "time"was conducted on line. Then SPSS was adopted to analyze the mode, frequency, the relatedness of two samples, the relatedness of several samples. It was found that in internet-communication, PP's maxims encounter challenges. In fact almost all the PP maxims and submaxims are subject to a certain extent of revision or rectification; the more cost to self, the more revision it should be made; in a likely manner, the more benefit to other, the more revision such a maxim is needed; however, less cost to self or less benefit to other maxims are less likely to revision needs. Accordingly, the adaptability degree of Leech's Politeness Principle in internet chatting bears five levels: First level: Minimize dispraise of other, Minimize antipathy between self and other Second level: Minimize cost to other, Maximize praise of other, Minimize disagreement between self and other Third level: Maximize benefit to other, Minimize praise of self , Maximize agreement between self and other Fourth level: Minimize benefit to self , Maximize sympathy between self and other Fifth level: Maximize cost to self , Maximize dispraise of self Such an adapted PP seems to be more adequate in explaining both the everyday interaction and internet communication.