2007 年8 月
第 30 卷　第4 期
中国英语教学
（双月刊）
CELEA Journal（Bim onthly）
Aug．2007
Vol．
30 No．
4
TEACHING POLITENESS AS BEING COURTEOUS
Zhang Huiqin
North University of China
Abstract
The paper advocates a view of politeness as courteousness ，w hich e m phasizes the contextual features and
social cultural assu m ptions rather than so－
called “politeness rules”
．Based on Bro w n and Levinson s（1987 ）
theory ，
the author proposes ho w to cultivate the students cultural awareness and ho w to teach politeness as
courteous in foreign language teaching．
Key w ords
teaching ；politeness ；
courteousness
1．Introduction
As co m m unicative co m petence has achieved ascendancy in the goals of foreign and second language
pedagogy ，m ore attentions have been given to functional aspects of language identified as speech acts and
to the rubric of“politeness pheno m ena”
（co m plim enting ，apologizing ，thanking ，etc．）．The underlying
pre mise see ms to be that a sufficient nu m ber of speech act studies will ultim ately reveal patterns that yield
teachable“rules of co m m unication”
． Most speech act studies have ，to so m e extent ，called upon Brow n
and Levinson s（1987）fra m ew ork for politeness．But the research results reveal so m e proble ms ，
such as
the actually undefined conception of politeness（ Watts et al．
1992 ），
the unacceptable universality of tw o
face wants ，and of the principles governing the realization of indirect speech acts ，even a linear
relationship between the m ．
Based on the proble ms m entioned above ，
the paper focuses on politeness teaching to illustrate how to
teach the politeness as being courteousness in China．
2．Historical view of politeness
The m ost approxim ate Chinese equivalent to English w ord “politeness”is lim ao ，w hich is derived
fro m the old Chinese w ord lithat was used to designate politenessin the book liji（On li）co m piled in the
West Han Dynasty．Denigrating self and respecting other is the core of the conception of lim ao．
Since the founding of the People s Republic of China in 1949 ，a new order of social structure and
social relations a m ong people have been built ，w hich brought a strong effect on politeness and its role in
the new society ，four basically notions underlying the Chinese conception of lim ao ：respectfulness ，
m odesty ，attitudinal warmth ，and refine m ent．“ Respectfulness ” is self s positive appreciation or
ad miration of others．
denigration”
“ Modesty”can be seen as another way of saying “self－
．“Attitudinal
warmth ” is self s de m onstration of kindness ，consideration ，and hospitality to others． Finally ，
“refine m ent”refers to self s behavior to others w hich m eets certain standards（Gu 1990）．
The co m m on points of the four notions are self s positive appreciation or ad miration of others and
kindness ，
consideration ，
or hospitality to others．Just asit was said ，
“Politenessis one of the m ajor social
constraints on hu m an interaction regulating participants co m m unicative behavior by constantly re minding
the m to take into consideration the feelings of others”
（He 2003）．
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Teaching Politeness as Being Courteous Zhang Huiqin
In fact ，
the politeness should be understood as strategic conflict－
avoidance ，for exa m ple ，the basic
social role of politeness is its ability to function as a way of controlling potential aggression between
interactional parties（Brow n ＆Levinson 1987 ：
1 ），or connecting politeness with sm ooth co m m unication
225 ，
230）or avoiding disruption and m aintaining the social equilibriu m and friendly relations
（Ide 1989 ：
17 ，82）
（Leech 1983 ：
．
3．Politeness and courteousness
According to Webster s revised Unabridged Dictionary（1993），politeness m eans a courteous m anner
that respects accepted social usage ，and the act of showing regard for others．
The paper tries to illustrate teaching politeness as courteous in foreign language teaching． Then ，
w hat is courteousness ？
It m eans being polite and showing respect for other people（ Long m an Dictionary
of Contem porary English ）
cultural co m m unication ，it can be explained as the
． And in Chinese cross－
following ：
Courteousness m eans being receptive to w hat the other says ，and being open to the other s voice
m ore co m pletely and fairly ，
it is an attitude．
Courteousness gives value to the other by denoting that the other is w orth attending to in a serious or
close m anner ，
so it is a m anner．
Courteousness involves a“feeling with”the other ，and it stresses engrossm ent ，
so it is a feeling．
Courteousness is exactly the quality that m akesit possible for one to be open－minded and fair ，
so itis
a quality．
So ，being courteous m eans to be a person with open－minded quality ，
take the right attitude towards
the cultural differences ，have a feeling with others ，shift your perspective view of others with
courteousness ，and be courteous about other people s ideas ，other life styles ，or even inanim ate objects ，
respect the other as a separate ，autono m ous person ，w orth of being courteous．
All the distinguished features of courteousness just prove the substance of the Politeness Principles
denigration Maxim ，
the Address Maxim ，
the Tact Maxim and
（PP）and its m axims（Gu 1995），the Self－
the Generosity Maxim ，and w hich can be understood as a sanctioned belief in individual s social behavior
warmth and refine m ent．
Co m paring with Politeness and Courtesy in their usage ，politeness denotes ease and gracefulness of
m anners w hich first sprung up in cities ，being connected with a desire to please others by anticipating
their wants and wishes and studiously avoiding w hatever might give the m pain． Courtesy is ，
ety m ologically ，
the politeness of courts．It displays itself in the address and m anners ；
it is show n m ore
especially in receiving and entertaining others ，and is a union of dignified co m plaisance and kindness．
4．The Process of teaching politeness as being courteous
Teaching politeness is a tim e－
consu ming process ，
it can be divided into the following steps．
4．
1 Be aware of the politeness pheno menon
The first is to arouse the students to think about the politeness pheno m enon．
The class begins with an opening speech ，
“there are ways to go about getting the things we want．
When we are with a group of friends ，we can say to the m ，
‘Go get m e that pen ！
’，or‘close the door ！
’
However ，w hen we are surrounded by a group of seniors at a form al function ，
in w hich the seniors or
VIPs are attending ，we m ust say ，
‘Could you please pass m e that pen ，if you don t mind ？
’ and ‘I m
sorry ，
Idon t m ean to interrupt ，but Ia m not able to hear the speaker in the front of the roo m ．
’ In
different social situations ，we are obligated to adjust our use of w ords to fit the occasion．It w ould see m
socially unacceptable if the phrases above were reversed．
”
Such speech will m ake it easier for the students to know being polite is just being courteous about
others feeling by the speakers proper attitude and diction in the process of co m m unication．
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CELEA Journal 74
4．
2 Cultivate the students cross－
cultural awareness
Being courteous is highly situation－
dependent ，contextual factors beco m e the utm ost im portant ，and
contextual factors as well as co m m unicative acts the mselves often have different values and
interpretations across cultures ，how to cultivate the students cross－
cultural awareness ？The cultivation of
learners cross－
cultural awareness is the answer．
4．
2．
1 What is culture
The m ost widely accepted definition of culture is ：
“Culture is the total accu m ulation of beliefs ，
custo ms ，values ，behaviors ，
institutions and co m m unication patterns that are shared ，
learned and passed
dow n through the generalizations in an identifiable group of people ”
15 ）
（ Du 2004 ：
． An im portant
characteristic of culture is that it is shared．People with the sa m e culture share ideas ，ways of thinking ，
and w hole way of life． They m ay also share a distinctive history and artifacts as well as an artistic
tradition including m usic ，
literature and folk stories．
4．
2．
2 How to cultivate cross－
cultural awareness
The reason for teaching culture is thatit not only helps the learnersinternalize a particular culture or
subculture ，but also ，as Seelye（1984 ：
31）states ：
“get the students to begin looking for the reasons behind
hu m an behavior”
．This enableslearners to be better“understanders”of both their ow n w orld and others ，
encouraging a m ore positive attitude towards differences ，na m ely ，an understanding of the m rather than
a m ere identification ，w hich m ay in turn lower the barriers of stereotyping．Especially through co m paring
your ow n culture with other cultures you can get so m e idea of how it m ay appear to others ，w hich help
you learn to approach your ow n culture m ore analytically and encourage you to be cautious w hen
interpreting another culture．
4．
2．
3 Four levels of cultivating cross－
cultural awareness
According to Hanvey s study ，
there are four distinct levels of cross－
cultural awareness．
Level one ，cultural differences are exotic．The learners can see very visible cultural traits that they
m ost often respond to with a stereotyped view of the unfa miliar culture ，w hich just get fro m the foreign
culture study in classroo m ．At this level of contact people learn about so m e unfa miliar things ，entertain
others and the mselves with tales of the strangeness of others ，
but w hatis entertaining is how unbelievable
the culture is．But the teacher should teach the learners to learn to live with conflicts．
Level tw o ，cultural differences are frustrating．The learners gained the knowledge of other culture
but it is still unbelievable． They find people fro m other culture to be arrogant ，insensitive ，dirty ，
superstitious ，m anipulative ，or in so m e other ways not very hu m an by their standards．
Level three ，the different culture is believable． Entering into the third level ，the learners have
extensive knowledge of significant and subtle cultural traits and recognize that they are different fro m
their ow n traits ，but now they accept the other culture and its people as funny hu m an．The culture of the
other beco m es believable and to be accepted．The learners atthislevel are able to look beyond the surface
behavior of people in the unfa miliar culture to appreciate w hat m otivates that behavior．They respect the
value that people in that culture live by after the acade mic study of culture as a part of foreign language
curriculu m ．
Level four ，
the different culture is believed as lived experience．At the highest level of cross－
culture
awareness a person experiences how another culture feels fro m the standpoint of the insider．The culture
is believable because the person accepts it e m otionally．The learner participates in the culture by learning
the language ，m aking friends and accepting it on its ow n terms．The participants experience the culture
subjectively．It beco m es fa miliar as lived experiences．
The goal for cross－
cultural co m m unication is to reach Level Three or Level Four awareness． The
teacher should cultivate the learners ability to “feel with ”so m eone w ho m ay be different fro m the m ．
One of the challenges of life in the global village is to develop a m ore global psychology．Part of this
psychology is the ability to project ourselves e m otionally into the minds and hearts of people with w ho m
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Teaching Politeness as Being Courteous Zhang Huiqin
we do not share culture．Historical records tell us that the achieving m utual understanding is not easy ，
it
takes effort and patience．
4．
3 Cultivating the cross－
culture awareness
The four levels of cultural different awareness cultivation m ay well require a readjustm ent of focus
and practice in the teaching of prag m atic in the foreign language classroo m ，to view the classroo m as a
venue for culture teaching．
4．
3．
1 How to give a self－
introduction
In classroo m teaching ，
the teacher first begins with the introduction to each other as the following
exchanges were held between a Mainland Chinese （ M ） and a Singapore Chinese （S ）（all literal
translation）：
［1］ M ：nin guixing ？
［2］ S ：miangui xingzhang．
［3］ S ：nin zunxing ？
xiaodi xing Wang
［4］ M ：
M ：Your precious surna m e ？
S ：My w orthless surna m e is zhang．
S ：Your respectable surna m e ？
S ：Little brother surna m e is Wang．
When M refers to S s surna m e ，he elevates it as“precious surna m e”to show his respect ，w hereas in
m entioning his ow n surna m e［2］，he denigratesit by calling it“w orthless surna m e”
though he does
．To S ，
not denigrate his surna m e in response to A s enquiry［4］，by replying“little brother”indicated that he is
inferior to M ．
Fro m such introduction ，
the teacher then ask the students to give the self－
introduction in English ，
it
starts with the speaker s ow n na m e rather than ask for H s na m e ，and is m otivated by the desire of
avoiding potentialthreat．The Chinese way ，on the other hand ，
is m ore likely to be due to the constraint
of the self－
denigration Maxim ；
to take the first chance to elevate others．
4．
3．
2 How to address the interlocutor
The address Maxim requires addressing your interlocutor with respectfulness and attitudinal warmth ，
considering the noticeable differences between Chinese and English address syste m ，w hich are likely to
cause proble ms in cross－
cultural co m m unication ，the teacher should help the students to su m up the
differences of the proper na m e order between English and Chinese ，the Chinese surna m e is a non－
kin
public address term ，and can be used alone by people outside the fa mily ，but the middle or given na m e
and the given na m e are kin fa mily address terms．In contrast ，the English surna m e ，is non－
kin and
private ，and ，unlike the Chinese surna m e ，cannot be used as an address term unless it is co m bined with
other titles．And so m e Chinese kinship terms have extended and generalized usage ，w hich is not the case
with the English counterparts ，
such as“nainai”
（grand m a），
“shushu”
（uncle），etc．can be used to address
people w ho have no fa milial relation w hatever with the addresser．Besides this ，
the m ost errors that the
students are likely to m ake are addressing so m ebody by using the occupational titles． This can be
illustrated by the following talk exchange w hich actually occurred between Chinese students and foreign
teachers．
［1］ C ：Teacher ，how do you do ？
［2］ E ：How do you do ？Where do you teach ？
［3］ C ：No ，I m not a teacher．I m a student．
The Foreign teacher felt puzzled w hy the student told her that he is a teacher but at the sa m e tim e
denied it．The puzzle m ent is caused by the use of the w ord“teacher”as an address term ．The Chinese
equivalent for “teacher”is laoshi ，w hich is an address term ． When C said ［1］ to E ，C was using
introduction．The right address to the
“teacher”as an address term ，w hich is interpreted by E as a self－
teacher should be“Sir”or“ Mada m ”，w hich is m uch m ore popular in Western countries．
4．
3．
3 How to m ake invitations
The key point to the politeness is being courteous．The following sa m ple analysis of“inviting” m ay
serve to illustrate how to be courteous．In Chinese ，
it is rare that a successful perform ance of inviting is
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CELEA Journal 74
realized in a single utterance．It m ore often than not takes several talk exchanges．It is therefore m ore
appropriate to regard inviting as a transaction than a single speech act．The following is a case in point．It
took place between A ，a prospective m other－
in－
law and B ，
a prospective son－
in－
law and B ，a prospective
son－
in－
law ．Ainvites Bto have dinner with A s fa mily（w ord－
for－
w ord translation）：
［1］ A ：mingtian guo lai chijiaozi（ar）
（To m orrow co m e to eat jiaozi）
tai m afan．
［2］ B ：bu qule．
（not to go ，too m uch trouble）
［3］ A ：m afan shen m e（ya）．
（trouble nothing）
［4］ A ：rouxian dou zhunbei hao le．
（fillings have been prepared）
［5］ B ：na huan dei bao（wa）
（that still need to m ake）
［6］ A ：ren duo re nao ，bao de kuai．
（m ore people ，high efficiency．）
bu lai w o ke shengqi
［7］ A ：yi ding lai（ar），
（le）．
（m ust co m e not co m e shall feel offended．）
［8］ B ：hao（ba）．na za jiu guang chijiaozi ，bie zai zheng caile．
（all right ，just jiaozi ，rather than dishes m ore）
Note that the ele m ents in parentheses are tone softening m arks．They create an overall attitudinal
warmth of the transaction． And in those cases ，A sincerely invites B ，and B wants to accept the
invitation． Why he doesn t accept it im m ediately and goes through such a lengthy procedure ？In Chinese
culture ，
it is m uch easier to issue an invitation than to accept one ，
so［2］see ms to decline A s invitation ，
because he thinksitis too m uch trouble for the host or hostess to prepare the prospective dinner ，
［3］ and
［4］ refute B s reason is stated in［2］，that is ，it is not true since fillings of jiaozi have been prepared ，
w hich m ake it easier for Bto accept the invitation．In［5］，
［6］ and ［7］，B and A continue exchanging
argu m ents ：Binsists that he cannot co m e to the dinner because it is botherso m e to A ．A ，on the other
hand ，argues that B s presence will not incur any extra cost ，for the m ore people there are m ore
delightful．A even“threatens”that she w ould be offended if Bshould decline her invitation any longer．
On the contrary ，if the sa m e invitation took place in US ，B w ould like to accept it or refuse it
directly．
4．
3．
4 How to accept co m pliment
At the sa m e tim e ，in terms of Brow n ＆ Levinson （1987 ） s m odel of politeness ，accepting
co m plim ent ，
in Western context indicates the responder s attention to the co m plim enter s positive face
wants because the form er anoints the face of the addressee to be liked and approved（Brow n ＆Levinson
1987 ：70）
．However ，the m odel cannot explain the use of other kinds of strategies ，such as returning ，or
deflecting by English speakers（Herbert 1988 ；Holm es 1988 ；Wolfson 1983）or the predo minant use of
the rejecting strategy by Mandarin Chinese speakers on Mainland China （ Gu 1990 ；Chen 1993 ）
． For
exa m ple ：
［1］ A ：Ni zhe tiao qunzi zheng piaoliang．
（Your skirt is so beautiful．）
［2］ B1 ：qu nian xia tian zai Guidu da zhe m ai de．
（Ibought it on discount in Guidu last su m m er）
B2 ：hai ，xia chuan zhe wan ne ，w o geng xi huan ni zhe tiao．
（Oh ，Just for fun to take it ，your skirt is m uch better．）
B3 ：
zheng de ，xiexie ，
．w o you dian pang ，ni chuan shang hui genghao．
（Really ，thank you ，Ia m a bit fat ，it is m ore fit to you．）
B1 indicates that the skirt is very cheap that it is just so－
so ；B2 uses the w ord“fun”to evaluate her
ow n skirt and gives a co m plim ent to A s skirt ；B3 accept the co m plim ent on the surface ，but it indicates
103
Teaching Politeness as Being Courteous Zhang Huiqin
the it doesn t well fit on her． Unlike those in Western countries ，Chinese people predo minantly use the
Rejection strategy in co m plim ent responses．
When being co m plim ented ，an English－
speaking person w ould readily accept the co m plim ent by
saying so m ething like“Thank you”to show his appreciation of the praise ，but a Chinese speaker w ould
try to deny the truth of the co m plim ent．They both think they are behaving properly． Yet neither of
the m w ould think the other is being polite． The English speaker is being polite to the extent that by
accepting and showing appreciation of the co m plim ent ；the Chinese speaker is showing m odesty by
denigrating himself ，
ignoring the factuality of the co m plim ent paid to him ．As has been m entioned ，
self－
denigration has been at the core of the Chinese notion of politeness for over tw o thousand years ，
in order
to show m odesty the Chinese will go to such lengths as to underrate w hat he himself has achieved and
deny the truth of a co m plim entary re m ark．
All this helps to cultivate the learners cross－
cultural awareness ，
because it depends on your awareness
of being courteous ，be courteous to individualize yourself and the foreigners you m eet ，including the
interests and experiences ，
so as to m ake your conversation goes sm oothly and politely．
5．Conclusion
Being polite is like lubricant w hich can help our society beco m e harm onious and peaceful to so m e
extent ，cultivating the cultural differences pro m ote the learners understanding to the different
behaviors ，different reactions to the sa m e politeness pheno m enon ，w hich lead the learners to take an
attitude of acceptance and trust ，
inclusion and openness to different cultures．So the process of teaching
courteousness isjust the teaching politeness ，
such as saying hello or wearing a smile m akes him or her feel
being concerned by us．Then he or she m ay feel good ，
too ，
and w ould like to m ake friends with us．To be
courteous is to be polite in cross－
culture co m m unication．
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