Politeness in Making Requests: A Study on EFL Learners’ Communicative Strategies and Attitudes

Abstract

This study highlights the importance of politeness strategies in making requests, particularly for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). While numerous studies have examined politeness strategies in teacher-student interactions within EFL classrooms, few have focused on EFL learners’ own perceptions and attitudes toward these strategies in making requests. This study aims to investigate how EFL learners perceive and apply politeness strategies in request speech acts in relation to their communication strategies and pragmatic awareness. Employing a quantitative descriptive design, the study involved nine students from the English Education study program who had completed the Semantics and Pragmatics course. Data were collected using a closed-ended questionnaire based on a Likert scale, developed in reference to Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory. Responses were gathered via Google Forms and analyzed using descriptive statistical methods to determine the frequency and percentage of politeness strategy preferences. The findings indicate that participants predominantly preferred positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record strategies, while bald on-record strategies were generally avoided due to their perceived impoliteness. The study concludes that EFL learners demonstrate a solid level of pragmatic competence and tend to select politeness strategies that promote respectful and harmonious communication. These findings suggest the need for more explicit instruction on pragmatic aspects of language use in EFL curricula to further enhance learners’ communicative effectiveness.