The Role of Politeness in Language Teaching: A Study of Face-Saving Strategies

Politeness is a way of using language or actions to uphold social identity and dignity, especially in challenging situations. Brown and Levinson’s theory introduces the concepts of positive face, representing the desire for acceptance and approval, and negative face, relating to the desire for independence and autonomy. This study examines how the Real Listening and Speaking books, used in English conversation teaching curricula in Iraqi universities, prioritize polite language usage. The study analyzes strategies used in conversations in the book that promote politeness, illustrating the connection between pragmatics knowledge and second language acquisition. The results highlight the use of face-saving strategies in various contexts, including defending a point of view, making complaints, requests, and compliments without offending others. Indirect speech acts are used as a face-saving strategy to preserve negative face, acknowledging the other person’s time or concerns and apologizing for any inconvenience or interruption.