A Pragmatic Analysis on Politeness Strategies Used in Online Class

With the rapid shift to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding how politeness is conveyed in virtual classroom settings has become increasingly important. Drawing from Brown and Levinson's politeness theory and utilizing a qualitative pragmatic analysis approach, this research analyzes transcripts of online interactions to identify common politeness strategies employed by instructors and students. The findings reveal that both instructors and students utilize Tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and sympathy maxim. Also, it was revealed that positive politeness, negative politeness, bald on record and off record are the common politeness strategies used by students and teachers in online class. Also, the functions of politeness strategies revealed in the online communication between teachers and students are locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act. By exploring politeness in online classes, this research contributes to our understanding of pragmatic competence in computer-mediated communication and offers practical insights for enhancing effective and respectful interactions in virtual educational settings. The implications of the findings for online pedagogy and the development of pragmatic awareness in online contexts are discussed.