Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán

Centro Universitario Regional Santa Rosa de Copán

Sociolinguistic

Differences Between Male and Female English Teachers the Words Politeness at

Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision

Instructor: 

Sandra Alvarado

Student Name:

Esperanza Grissell León Hernandez    1413200200375

Santa Rosa de Copán

April 12th, 2022

 Table of Content

Introduction................................................................................................................................ 2
Objectives of the Research......................................................................................................... 4
Theoretical framework............................................................................................................... 5
Language.............................................................................................................................. 5
Teacher Language.................................................................................................................5
Politeness..............................................................................................................................5
Theory.................................................................................................................................. 6
Theory of positive/ negative politeness by Brown & Levionson, (1987)............................ 6
Methodology.............................................................................................................................. 8
Approach of the Research ................................................................................................... 8
Design of the research ......................................................................................................... 8
Population of the Research...................................................................................................9
Instrument of Data Collection.............................................................................................. 9
Data Analysis........................................................................................................................... 10
Conclusions.............................................................................................................................. 15
References................................................................................................................................ 16

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 Introduction
The present research focuses on the differences between male and female English

teachers in their use of the word politeness at Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future

Vision. As stated by Sülü A. (2015), “politeness is one of the basic aspects of human

interaction." (p. 216). It is assumed that, like any other interaction, teacher-student interaction

is also positively affected by politeness. The interaction between student and teacher should

always be constant and, above all, respectful, which leads to words of courtesy between them.

This research was conducted in the interest of exploring the difference in politeness

words used by male and female English teachers in the Centro Educativo No Gubernamental

Future Vision. For effect, categorizing polite words into positive and negative appears as a

means to improve the learning environment among students, as it is a more comfortable and

safe environment for them.

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 Justification
Etiquette, or the practice of being polite in communication, is a technique followed in

society. People coexist in a civilization and adhere to the customs and standards of that

culture, using politeness as a defense mechanism.

Conflict that may arise in social interactions as well as foster positive relationships or

a sense of community. Politeness refers to socially accepted conduct standards.

Politeness must be practiced in a defined community like the classroom since rudeness leads

to conflict between the teacher and students. In order to foster positive relationships between

teachers and students, it is required that manners be utilized in classroom interactions. By

taking the tactic of politeness into account when speaking with teachers and students.

It is obvious that discussing the implications of the politeness strategy used by the students

and teachers is important in the classroom interaction.

This research study aimed to explore the difference in the politeness of words used by

male and female English teachers at the Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision.

To know in which situations they use the words more and to establish which gender uses

them more.

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 Objectives of the Research
General Objetives

● Explore the difference in politeness words used by male and female English Teachers

at Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision.

Specific Objectives

● Demonstrate the different words politeness that are used by male and female English

Teachers at Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision.

● Categorize the different politeness words into positive and negative usage by male

and female English Teachers at Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision.

● Establish who uses more words of politeness between male and female English

Teachers at Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision.

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 Theoretical framework

Language
Language is our means of communication to transmit knowledge and feelings.

According to Julie S. (2009), “Language is first and foremost a means of communication, and

communication almost always takes place in a social context.” (p. 2) Therefore, for

communication to be effective, it is necessary to understand and recognize the links between

a language and the people who use it in order to obtain an understandable and sustainable

language.

Teacher Language
The language of the teachers is one of the most judged by society since they are the

ones who educate children, and it depends on if the student will be good or not in the

language aspect. Depending on the objectives that are pursued, language teaching can

promote the intellectual, emotional, moral, and social development of children. Also, the

language of the teacher can promote the intellectual, emotional, moral, and social

development of the students since what is learned will be expressed in any environment that

the student is exposed to, and it is in those moments that you will know the quality of the

teacher that they have.

Politeness
Politeness is a common social phenomenon that occurs in communication within a

society. According to Fitriyani (2020), “politeness is defined as a behavior that occurs in

society to make members respect each other and reduce the possibility of entering into

conflict or dispute among members of society." (p. 261). Politeness is the ability of a person

to show respect for the listener by using language in a good manner.

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 Politeness is classified as linguistic behavior. Politeness is about minimizing the

negative and maximizing the positive effects of what the speaker says about others.

Politeness is very important in language use as it is considered polite social behavior.

It is related to how someone interacts with others, as people can express themselves in

different ways depending on what they want to say and how they want to say it in relation to

certain types of phrases, words, or sounds.

Theory

Theory of positive/ negative politeness by Brown & Levionson, (1987).

Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness will be employed while analyzing the

teacher’s politeness in class. When we are polite to people, we are appealing to one of these

two types.

Positive politeness: appealing to a person's Positive can mean making the individual

feel good about themselves. Give importance to the hearers, and the relationship is friendly

(e.g., Is it ok for me to have some water?). Positive politeness could be defined as an

involvement based approach made by the speaker for understanding, approving of, and

admiring the positives of the hearer. is concerned with preserving the positive aspects of other

people. When we use positive politeness, we use speech strategies that emphasize our

solidarity with the hearer.

Negative politeness: appealing to a person's negatives can mean making the other

person feel like they haven't been imposed upon or taken advantage of. recognizes the

hearer’s face, as well, but it also admits that you are in some way imposing on the hearer

(e.g., I don’t want to bother you, but would it be possible for me to have some water?).

Focuses on preserving the negative aspects of other people.. This is much more likely if there

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is a social distance between speaker and hearer. When we use negative politeness, we use a

speech strategy that emphasizes our deference for the hearer.

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 Methodology

Approach of the Research 

The following research project was conducted with male and female English teachers

from the Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision of San Marcos Ocotepeque. To

carry out this project, qualitative research was used in order to achieve the expectations and

objectives that were proposed. This research is qualitative because it focuses on exploring the

different words used in courtship between men and women. According to Palmer and

Bolderston (2006), qualitative studies are "an interpretive approach, which attempts to

understand the specific meanings and behaviors experienced in certain social phenomena

through the subjective experiences of the participants" (p. 16). This strategy allows an

approach to investigate the effect of the use of words of courtesy in comparison between

male and female teachers in dealing with their students.

Design of the research 

The design of this research project is action research, as it was intended with the

Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision in the city of San Marcos Ocotepeque.

According to Elliott (1993, cited in Latorre, 2005), ''The action research process begins with a

''general idea'' whose purpose is to improve or change some problematic aspect of

professional practice; the problem is identified, diagnosed and then the hypothesis of action

or strategic action is proposed'' (p. 41). Thus, this research involves thoughtful planning and

implementation by the researcher with the intention of improving and generating

educationally valuable changes in the classroom.

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Population of the Research

To carry out this research, a population of six teachers, divided into three females and

three males, from Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision in the city of San

Marcos Ocotepeque, between the ages of 25 to 35 years, was considered. . These participants

were selected because they met the following criteria: being natives, residents, and teachers

of a bilingual school in San Marcos, Ocotepeque.

Instrument of Data Collection

To carry out this research, collect the analysis data and answer each of the objectives,

the interview method was used to explore, categorize and establish the difference in cutting

words between men and women For Denzin and Lincoln (2005), the interview is “a

Conversation is the art of asking questions and listening to answers" ( p. 64) which is why

this was the best way to collect data

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 Data Analysis
To answer the three objectives, we used an open-ended interview with six statements,

which were the same for all six participants who answered the results of each statement.

Statement 1

“You are going inside the classroom; how do you start the class?”
Men Women

Positive Politeness ➢ Good morning, ➢ Good morning

students. How are everybody, how are
you? This morning you this beautiful
we are going to start morning? Are you
the class with the ready to start a class?
Lord's Prayer. ➢ Start the glass
➢ Hello guys, how are making a dynamic or
you today? How was a game that is related
yesterday afternoon? to the new topic or
the topic that they are
looking at.
➢ Morning students,
we are going to start
with the class.

Negative Politeness ➢ Let's start the class

In this statement, one male teacher had a negative courtesy; instead, they had all

positive ones, making the students feel good and confident from their first interaction of the

day.

Statement 2

“How do you answer questions that students have?”

Men Women

Positive Politeness ➢ OK tell me and I ➢ OK tell me and I will

listen carefully listen carefully to
➢ Yes, tell me! answer the best I can.

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 ➢ Yes. Tell me
➢ Shure, what's your
questions

Negative Politeness ➢ Okay, I will answer

your question at the
end of the class.

This statement is to show the importance of the questions in the class. A male teacher

prefers to leave it until the end of the class, thus making the student feel that his question is

not important. On the other hand, female teachers all gave it importance at the time.

Statement 3

“How do you respond to bad answers or incorrect opinions?”

Men Women

Positive Politeness ➢ Thank you for your

opinion. Thank you
for your answer, but
the correction is….

➢ answered to incorrect
opinions explaining
why, because that is
how you're going to
reinforce the learner
that they have
learned.
➢ Let me explain more
about that.

Negative Politeness ➢ That's incorrect. I

will give you a better
explanation to the
answer.
➢ That's bad answers or
incorrect opinions?

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 ➢ No, you are not in
class
For male teachers, it is disrespectful that their students do not answer correctly, and

therefore their answers are polite refusals, while female teachers accept it and give feedback

to clarify any other doubts.

Statement 4

“When students don't pay attention to the class, how do you ask for attention?”
Men Women

Positive Politeness ➢ May I have your ➢ Listen to me. Don't

attention, students, forget you are in
please? class and you need to
pay attention if you
want to understand
the class.
➢ Students, I have your
attention.

Negative Politeness ➢ Clap his hands so ➢ Ask questions about

that it works. the topic of what
➢ Hello, I am here have spoke.

Lack of attention in class is a common problem where two of the females and one of

the males have a positive courtesy calling their attention with awareness, to the contrary, two

men and one woman call their attention annoyed with a negative courtesy.

Statement 5

“When students don't bring their homework, what do you say?”

Men Women

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 Positive Politeness ➢ Why didn't you bring ➢ Ask why? What is
yours? Homework. the reason?
Was it difficult? ➢ Ask why and then
➢ Why didn't he do it? she start to say that
According with the they have to be
answer, He say you responsible, either
can Bring the that they have
homework tomorrow something else to do,
➢ It something happen that they have to
to you to don't bring make it
the homework ➢ I will give one
opportunity more

Negative Politeness

Not providing homework, the three male and three female showed positive courtesy

to the students by giving them attention and opportunity

Statement 6

“You have to speak with the parents of a student because he has bad notes and behavior. How

do you do it?”

Men Women

Positive Politeness ➢ I have tried to be ➢ I try to speak in a

honest but not upset calm, free and little
and I have talked boy giving parents.
carefully about that The impression that
and I have tried to their child. Is
say in the best way hopeless. I try to
that their children stay. Positive.
need to be better for ➢ He or she has bad
the next turn or the notes in behavior and
next week. how we can solve
that. I can tell them
that I will help, but
they have to help me
too because this is

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 something that it's
going to be best for
them to help and then
for me.
➢ She looks for the
better words to
notice about their son
but at the same time
takes care of the
feelings.

Negative Politeness ➢ Hello I want to

inform you that your
son is not studying or
not doing his
homework and that is
why he has bad
grades and his
behavior is bad.
➢ Your son is not bring
homework and I give
him many
opportunity so the
results are bad notes

In the case of talking to the parents of a student who is performing poorly, the three

women had positive courtesies and tried to find the best words so as not to make the parents

feel bad, while two of the male doctors just gave the information regardless of how the

parents felt.

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 Conclusions
The main objective of this research was to explore the difference in politeness words used by

male and female English teachers at the Centro Educativo No Gubernamental Future Vision.

In summary, the research found the following findings:

● Positive words of politeness between men and women teachers are very different in

most statements.

● Negative words of politeness are very infrequent among women teachers but more so

among men teachers.

● Each teacher's positive and negative words of politeness can be categorized in their

proper statements.

● Women teachers use more positive words of politeness than men teachers.

● Men teachers use negative words of politeness more frequently than women teachers.

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 References
Brown & Levionson, (1987) Teacher’s Politeness In Efl Class
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/276292787.pdf

Denzin and Lincoln (2005) The interview in qualitative research

http://www.ujaen.es/investiga/tics_tfg/pdf/cualitativa/recogida_datos/recogida_entrev
ista.pdf
Latorre, A. (1993). La investigación-acción conocer y hacer la práctica educativa. Editorial
Graó, de IRIF, S.L. https://www.uv.mx/rmipe/files/2019/07/La-investigacion-accion-
conocer-y-cambiar-la-práctica-educativa.pdf

Fitriyani (2020) Teacher and Students’ Politeness Strategies in EFL Classroom Interactions
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1291632.pdf

Julie S. (2009) What is language?

https://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/52579/excerpt/9780521852579_excerpt.pdf

Palmer C., & Bolderston A. (2006). A Brief Introduction to Qualitative Research The
Canadian journal of medical radiation technology CAMRT
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237892956_A_Brief_Introduction_to_Quali
tative Research

Sülü A.(2015) Teacher and Students’ Politeness Strategies in EFL Classroom Interactions h
ttps://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1291632.pdf

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