CHAPTER 1 - Introduction1.0 Personal Experience with L2 Politeness1.1 The Importance of Politeness Strategies in Effective Communication 1.2 Research Questions 1.3 Dari 1.4 Politeness in Dari1.5 Politeness in American English1.6 SummaryCHAPTER 2 - Literature Review 2.0 Introduction2.1 The Concept of Face2.2 Politeness 2.3 Politeness and Formulation of Requests across Cultures 2.4 Effectiveness in Letter Writing2.5 Goal of the Study and Hypotheses2.6 SummaryCHAPTER 3 - Methodology3.0 Introduction 3.1 Study Design 3.1.1 Phase 13.1.2 Phase 2 3.2 Participants 3.2.1 Afghan participants3.2.2 American evaluators 3.3 Data Collection 3.4 Evaluation of the Data: Perceptions of Politeness 3.4.1 Effectiveness in communicating purpose or meaning 3.4.2 Appropriate salutation 3.4.3 Appropriate closing3.4.4 Perception of directness 3.4.5 Perception of politeness3.5 SummaryCHAPTER 4 - Discussion of the Results 4.0 Introduction 4.1 Scoring the Letters4.2. Effectiveness in Communicating the Purpose or Idea 4.2.1 Highly effective letters4.2.2 A comparison of highly effective and ineffective letters 4.2.3 Evaluators’ comments on ineffective letters 4.3 Politeness of Letters4.3.1 Politeness4.3.2 Impolite letters4.3.3 Possible ways to increase the level of politeness4.3.4 Politeness and effectiveness4.3.5 Impolite and highly effective letters4.4 SummaryCHAPTER 5 - Critique of the Methodology5.0 Introduction 5.1 Letters of inquiry 5.2 Letters of complaint5.3 Indirectness5.4 SummaryCHAPTER 6 - Conclusion 6.0 Findings6.1 Implications for Pedagogy6.2 Avenues for Future Research Appendix A - Afghan Task 1 Appendix B - Afghan Task 2Appendix C - Afghan Language Back Questionnaire Appendix D - Afghan Informed Consent FormAppendix E - Afghan Debriefing Appendix F - American Informed Consent Form Appendix G - American Language Background Questionnaire Appendix H - American Task Instruction Appendix I - American Survey QuestionnaireAppendix J - American DebriefingTHE ACQUISITION OF POLITENESS STRATEGIES BY AFGHAN LEARNERS OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE by SONA QURAISHI B.A., Balkh University, 1994 A THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS Department of Modern Languages College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2009 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Mary T. CoppleCopyright SONA QURAISHI 2009Abstract Using the framework for politeness developed by Brown and Levinson (1987), this research evaluates the production of politeness strategies by sophomore and senior EFL learners in Afghanistan by focusing on the language used in letters of inquiry. Twenty eight letters emailed by Afghan students at Balkh University were surveyed by thirteen native American English speakers. Each letter was surveyed by six different American participants who gave their perspectives about the effectiveness and politeness of the language used in the letters by the students. The American participants’ evaluations of politeness were compared with actual linguistic features employed, including the word choice in the salutation and closing, the use of indirect language, and politeness markers (e.g. thank you or other expressions of appreciation). The results show that a relationship between proficiency and politeness exists, consistent with the findings of Tanaka and Kawade (1982) who found that second language learners acquire both linguistic and pragmatic knowledge as the learning of the target language progresses. In addition, this study describes the linguistic behavior perceived as most polite by the native speakers and reflects on possible instructional implications.iv Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ ix Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 - Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.0 Personal Experience with L2 Politeness ............................................................................... 1 1.1 The Importance of Politeness Strategies in Effective Communication ................................ 2 1.2 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Dari ....................................................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Politeness in Dari .................................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Politeness in American English ............................................................................................ 9 1.6 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER 2 - Literature Review ................................................................................................. 12 2.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 The Concept of Face ........................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Politeness ............................................................................................................................ 14 2.3 Politeness and Formulation of Requests across Cultures ................................................... 15 2.4 Effectiveness in Letter Writing ........................................................................................... 19 2.5 Goal of the Study and Hypotheses ...................................................................................... 20 2.6 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER 3 - Methodology