A Study On Politeness Strategies Of Teacher Talk In Middle School Reading Class

Teacher talk is an important medium for teachers and students to communicate in class,and is also an important way of language input.Therefore,teacher talk plays an important role in the quality of teaching.English class is the main place for teachers and students to communicate.And politeness is an essential and important criterion in communication,so the use of politeness strategy can effectively save the face of both parties in communication,so as to make the communication successful.Therefore,the reasonable use of politeness strategy also has an important impact on classroom teaching.Based on Brown&Levinson’s face theory,through the observation,transcription and analysis of the eight middle school English reading classes in the13^th National High-Quality Teaching,this study explores the using of bald on-record politeness strategy,positive politeness strategy,negative politeness strategy and off-record politeness strategy in instructions,questions and feedbacks.Therefore,the purpose of this study is to explore:（1）What is the frequency of politeness strategies used in teacher talk?（2）What politeness strategies do English teachers use in their classroom teaching?（3）What are the roles of the politeness strategies in teacher talk?The results show that:（1）Politeness strategies are common in teacher talk.From the overall perspective,only three politeness strategies are used in instructions,and the most frequently used strategies are bald on-record strategy and negative politeness strategy.Negative politeness strategy was the most commonly-used politeness strategy in questions.The most commonly used politeness strategy in feedbacks is positive politeness strategy.From the individual point of view,each teacher has his own preference in the use of politeness strategies.（2）There are 5 specific ways that teachers use in instructions,including using imperative sentences,using imperative sentences+please,using rhetorical questions,including both speaker and hearer in the activity,and making a promise or offer.There are 10 specific ways for asking questions,including asking questions directly,including both speaker and hearer in the activity,using questions to check,simplifying or paraphrasing the questions,using rhetorical questions,repeating the questions,encouraging students,showing deference,answering questions directly by teacher,and giving associated clues.In feedbacks,teachers adopt 10 ways to realize the application of politeness strategy,including showing disagreement,correcting directly,showing thanks,showing agreement,praising,repeating the answer,offering help,further explaining the answers,being vague and giving right answer when students can’t answer.（3）There are three roles of using politeness strategies.Firstly,teachers can show respect to students by using politeness strategies.Secondly,teacher can save students’face by using politeness strategies.Thirdly,teachers can encourage and guide students by using politeness strategies.Based on the results,this study puts forward some suggestions.For example,teachers need to attach great importance to students’face wants,and learn more related knowledge about politeness strategy so that they can use politeness strategies flexibly and in order to achieve better teaching effects,they also need enrich teacher talk.