Unveiling Politeness Strategies in Students-Teachers Email Interactions

Abstract

This paper examines the various politeness strategies employed by students when emailing their teachers, as well as teachers' perceptions of the use of these strategies. This study also aims to shed light on the effect of cultural background on politeness. The study employs a qualitative approach, using content analysis and a semi-structured interview. The content analysis focuses on 17 emails from Master two students at the English department of Ibn Khaldoun University in Tiaret, Algeria, where the study was conducted, and includes interviews with six teachers from the same department. Findings indicate that students use the four politeness strategies in a random manner without regard to cultural influences. While teachers perceive negative politeness as most appropriate.