Use of Politeness Strategies by Teachers in the School Staffroom in Kirinyaga County.
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Date
2018-10
Authors
Waithira, Wambugu Rose
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The purpose for this study was to analyze the politeness strategies used by
teachers in the school staffroom in Kirinyaga County. The objectives were; to
determine the strategies of politeness employed by teachers in their
interactions, to analyze how the sociological factors such as age, gender,
power, rank and social distance influence politeness strategies used by teachers
and to determine how the politeness strategies affect interactions among
teachers in Kirinyaga County. Descriptive research approach was adopted for
this study. Three secondary schools were randomly sampled. All teachers in
the sampled schools were selected for the study. Research instruments were
video recorder, observation and field notes to reinforce the data collected
through video recording. Qualitative approach to data analysis was used in the
study to present the utterance by teachers. However descriptive data from the
frequencies of use of the politeness strategies by teachers was presented in
tables. The positive politeness strategies used by teachers included notice,
attending to hearer, optimism and seeking agreement. Negative politeness
strategies used were minimization of imposition, apology and impersonalizing
of speaker and hearer. Bald-on-record and off-record strategies were also used
by the teachers. The Power of the principals was considered great because they
were influential, eloquent and the fact that they acted as representatives of the
teachers’ employer. This was evident from the straight forward orders and
requests they made to the teachers. The distance of the speaker and hearer was
identified from the way teachers interacted amongst themselves and with the
principals. The use of the word ‘sir’ to address the principal was social distance
characteristic. The social distance helped teachers to freely interact with each
other and keep it official with the principals. The social distance between the
speaker and hearer was however varied among participants of the same gender,
age and rank among different schools. Gender, age and the ranks of teachers
played a crucial role in the manner in which the teachers interacted. Politeness
strategies brought about respect and cohesiveness among the teachers and the
principals. Teachers need to understand the politeness strategies that can be
used among them and the administrations to avoid friction and
misunderstanding. This study observes that politeness has an instrumental role
in the social interaction among teachers and therefore, use of politeness
strategies is highly encouraged to foster good working relations among
teachers and principals. Politeness strategies would also enhance output among
teachers since it helped create unity of purpose among teachers. The findings
of this study correctly predict how politeness is used in face to face
conversations. For instance, this study observed that small talk upholds social
relationships among teachers agreeing with the theory on positive face. A study
to establish politeness strategies used by teachers on learners at different school
levels and subjects would help to highlight reasons for varied perceptions on
different subjects, teachers and schools among learners.
Description
Department Of English and Linguistics
A Project Submitted to School of
Humanities and Social Sciences in Partial
Fulfilment for the Requirements for the
Award of the Degree of Master of Arts of
Kenyatta University. October, 2018