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Term Paper on Politeness

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Redressive Language Politeness Strategy At our Group meeting in March, XYZ’s leadership team outlined our strategy to become the world’s leading international air cargo company. (line 2-3) Positive, Intensify interest to hearer This means we have to become a company that is easier for our customers to do business with and where it is easier for you to work. (line 4-5) Positive, Give reason We, our (line 4) Positive, Use in-group identity markers For all of XYZ’s many strengths as an organization, we can be unnecessarily complex and bureaucratic. These weaknesses make us less effective and efficient. (line 5-7) Positive, Give reason We (line 6) Positive, Use in-group identity markers Can (line 6) Negative, Hedge Us (line 7) Positive, …show more content…

The addressees are employees of the XYZ Company in Hong Kong. They have Chinese culture background that concerns about showing respect for others’ feeling and giving “face” which is defined as the positive social value one effectively claims for oneself by the line others assume he or she has taken during a particular contact. (Goffman 1955:213) Moreover, as both the addresser and addressees work in the same company, using positive politeness strategies can help emphasize the solidarity between them. Once the solidarity is built within the company, it helps encourage the employees consider the whole company as oneself and accept the lay-off activity as it can make the company become stronger as the CEO mentioned in the email. Furthermore, the use of positive politeness strategies can show addressees that the addresser is interested and care for them. With feeling to be cared, employees can find it easier to accept the message about the lay-off activity. Therefore, with more positive politeness strategies than negative politeness strategies to be adopted in the email, it proves that the CEO does the face threatening act ‘on record’, but with redressive action in the form of positive politeness. Brown and Levinson (1987) states this strategy can help addresser show respect to addressees and address the positive face wants of the addressees to be like or approved of. Different politeness systems would be employed according to the relationships between the

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