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Abstract

According to Grice's theory, people follow the Cooperative Principle in conversation. But actually because of the politeness£¬we communicate usually more than we say explicitly. In this paper, through the introduction of the Cooperative Principle and its violation, this paper further discusses the Polite Principle and its application in conversation, and introduces how to adhere to the Polite Principle to save face for each other and develop the conversation. What's more important, this paper further discusses the importance of the Polite Principle and poses the methods of obeying the Polite Principle in education. The investigation of this aspect has its profound value in contemporary education.

Key words the Cooperative Principle, the Polite Principle, the face-saving theory, education

The Polite Principle and Its Application in Education

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Introduction

Traditionally, teachers and school administrators make decisions and rules, and then impose them on students. But contemporary education requires the new relationship between teachers and students. In this new type of relation, teachers and students enjoy the equal status. The responsibility of teachers is to build the bridge that leads the students to success. The students are both the object and the subject of education. They are also sociable and thinking, not just the 'products' of education. So in order to make the students be educated, they should first be respected. But in what way the students can be respected?

P.Grice's theory of Cooperative Principle claims that we should follow the principle to develop our conversations. But we can't notice that the speakers often violate them. Why? In their research, Brown and Levinson found that was because of politeness. In order to cooperative in our communication, people should follow the Polite Principle to save face for the others. For the cooperation of education, teachers should also be polite to give the respect to the students. That's to say, the Polite Principle also plays an important role in contemporary education.

Demonstration

A. The Cooperative Principle and its violation

P. Grice believes that there must be some mechanisms governing the production and comprehension of these utterances. He suggests that there is a set of assumptions guiding the conduct of convention. This is what he calls the Cooperative Principle. And in order to explain further the Cooperative Principle, he borrows from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant four categories quantity, quality, relation, and manner. That is, the Cooperative Principle is specified from these four aspects. And the content of each category is known as maxim the maxim of Quantity, the maxim of Quality, the maxim of Relevance and the maxim of Manner.

But in the process of language using, we usually come across some sentences that are used in actual situations and have some extra meaning. We can always see that speakers do not always follow these maxims; in fact they often violate them. But that is not the point. The important thing is that whether the speaker follows or violates these maxims, he produces some implicature---a kind of extra meaning that is not contained in the utterance. For example, according to the maxim of Quantity, if I say, 'the flag is white.' It has the implicature that 'the flag is only white; not red, blue and white', otherwise, I should have said so. Inferences also arise from the assumption that the maxim of Manner is being observed. For example, events are often told in the order of their occurrence. Thus ' Li hit Wang and Wang hit Li ' would be interpreted differently from 'Wang hit Li and Li hit Wang '. When any of the maxims is blatantly violated that the hearer knows that it is being violated, the conversational implicatures arise. For instance, 'is this your pen?' which appears to be a question about the ownership of a pen, may be used as a request to mean 'may I use your pen?' or as a reminder meaning ' you've left behind your pen', or as an order meaning 'pick it up'. How can this be possible? Why the speaker violate the Cooperative Principle to express in an indirect and implicit way. What is their purpose to do so?

B. Polite Principle and FST

Though we can't say that the violation of the Cooperative Principle and the production of the conversational implicature are all because of the demand of the politeness. In many cases, it is really the consideration of politeness that causes the speaker to do so. Leech (1880) has given the following examples

E.g.1 A We'll miss Bill and Agatha, won't we?

B Well, we'll all miss Bill.

E.g. Parent Someone's eaten the icing off the cake.

Child It wasn't me.

In Example 1, obviously B violated the maxim of Quantity, A used the tag question to aim to get B's agreement or disagreement about his opinion, 'we'll miss Bill and Agatha.' But B's reply just confirmed A's opinion partly, 'well, we'll all miss Bill.' This was not because that B was short of information. He can completely add the sentence 'but not Agatha' and made the information that he offered, more complete. But he didn't do so. Instead, he intentionally made A feel that there was something he had hold back. The blatant violation of the maxim of Quantity can be only explained that it is because of politeness. B doesn't want to displease someone overtly.

Example is typically the dialogue between the parent and the child. In fact, the parent knew clearly who has eaten the icing. But he didn't blame the child directly and employed an indefinite pronoun 'someone', only to refer that someone has eaten the icing. So he violated the maxim of Quantity and made his expression be polite.

Politeness is a sociocultural phenomenon, roughly to be defined as showing, or appearing to show, consideration of others. Politeness can thus be seen as one of the basic social guidelines for human interaction. The goal of politeness can then be described as reflecting or realizing the social or interpersonal function of language with politeness being 'a system of interpersonal relations designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange. Just like the above two examples, the speaker express himself in a tactful or an indirect way instead of using the impolite words to the listener.

For many researchers, politeness is a feature of language in use. Thus Brown and Levinson (187) and Leech (18) stressed the importance of politeness as a contextualised phenomenon. Further, it is generally accepted that politeness is a pervasive feature in human communication.

Based on Brown and Levinson's Polite Principle, influenced by Grice's Cooperative Principle, Leech has anew concluded and classified the Polite Principle. It can be classified into the following maxims Tact Maxim, Generosity Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modest Maxim, Agreement Maxim, Sympathy Maxim.

In conversation, the Cooperative Principle adjusts the content of the utterance and makes the conversation goes on. And the Polite Principle has more effect of adjusting the utterance. It can defend the equivalent status and the friendly relationship of the speaker and the listener. Only under this premise, people can communicate with each other. If there is no politeness, it is impossible to make an effective communication. In order to stick to the Polite Principle, people even can sacrifice the maxim of the Cooperative Principle. Give an example, people sometimes tell lies to refuse the invitation. Though everyone knows the lie, it is more polite to tell lie than to refuse the invitation directly. As a 'real-world goal', politeness can be interpreted as the genuine desire to be 'nice' to others.

In their research, Brown and Levinson have found that in order to be polite, people avoid being frank and plain. In order to be polite, people say something but imply some other meaning. So they put forward the face-saving theory (FST).

In many language societies, when people put forward a formal request, he will use some formal words (e.g. use the indirect speech act to regret for his disturbance). When someone is not sure if it is appropriate to make a request, he may express himself in a more tactful way, to give the request by the conversational implicature. (E.g. at the table, someone says, 'it'll be nicer if it's a bit more salty.' The implicature meaning is to request the nearer to pass the salt for him.) In the above situations, the speaker do so to' save face' for himself and the audience.

To save face, we must employ the polite words. Only to save face, we can maintain the nice social relation, and communicate in a friendly atmosphere. And at last, realize the purpose of communication.

Brown and Levinson based their face-saving theory both on Grice's maxim theory and on Goffman's concept of 'face' as 'the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact '(Goffman, 1675). Face can be likened to a person's public self-esteem or self-image, which can be damaged, maintained or enhanced in interaction with others. Brown and Levinson extend Goffman's notion of face dividing face into positive face, which is similar to Goffman's face and negative face according to interactants' wants. A person's positive face is reflected in his desire for freedom of action and freedom from imposition. Deviations from Gricean maxims and motivated by employing strategies to counteract so-called 'face-threatening acts' (FTAs). By using these 'politeness strategies', speakers communicate both their primary message and also the message that they intend to be polite, which have the status of Gricean conversational implicature.

C. How to adhere to the Polite Principle

But how to be 'nice' to others, how to save face in our communication, that is, how to apply the Polite Principle in the conversation? Nearly every speech act constitutes in a specific way a threat to the Polite Principle, to the face of either of the two interactants. Certain linguistic strategies must be chosen from an elaborate repertoire of positive and negative politeness in order to provide redressive action. Certain linguistic strategies are employed

1. Positive politeness.

a. To show agreement.

E.g. That's a good idea. Why it never occurred to me?

The speaker shows appreciation to the listener's idea.

E.g. I quite agree with you that we cannot have it both ways.

The speaker shows agreement to the listener's idea.

b. To show the mutual cooperation.

E.g. You're right in saying so. I'll think it over and let you know my decision.

The speaker shows the understanding of the listener's idea and indicates that he will think about it.

E.g. I won't do it if you don't.

The speaker shows the flexibility. If the listener doesn't expect this event, the speaker will not do so.

c. To help the listener's desire to realized.

E.g. I sympathize with you and I'll do my best to help you.

The speaker shows the sympathy to the listener and makes the promise.

. Negative politeness

E.g. Never mind. I know that Robinson is a good friend of yours. I'll let David tell him about our decision.

The speaker doesn't force the listener, because he knows that the listener may be not willing to do this.

E.g. I'm sorry I didn't come to upset you. But that's a fact.

The speaker apologizes to show that he is unwilling to hurt the listener.

E.g. Under this circumstance, it seems best for one to let his colleagues know before any actions taken.

In fact the speaker is criticizing the listener, but he doesn't use the pronoun 'you', instead, he tries his best not to hurt the listener and save his face.

E.g. Let me help you with your suitcase. I'm going upstairs anyway.

The speaker wants to do the listener a favor. In order to make the listener feel at ease, he shows that he just help him by the way.

. To be covert. This strategy is mainly realized by the indirect utilization of FTA. i.e. realized by the violation of Grice's Cooperative Principle.

a. Violate the maxim of Relevance.

E.g. ----How do you think of my paintings?

----I don't have an eye for beauty, I'm afraid.

The speaker seems to give an irrelevant answer, but his implied meaning is that he doesn't like the paintings. This kind of speech act lessens the size of FTA.

b. Violate the maxim of Quantity.

E.g. A My husband doesn't stir a finger to help me with the housework.

B Women are women.

B's answer doesn't contain the necessary information and violates the maxim of Quantity. But his meaning is clear. That's to say the women are always garrulous to blame their husbands. This kind of speech act avoids the direct conflict.

b. Violate the maxim of Quality.

E.g. Teacher Where is Teheran?

Student In Egypt.

Teacher London is in U.S.A.

Obviously, what the teacher says is wrong. He violates the maxim of Quality. But the student immediately realizes that his answer is incorrect. The teacher doesn't directly point out the error, just to save face for the student.

d. Violate the maxim of Manner.

E.g. Miss X produced a series of sounds that corresponded closely with the score of 'Home Sweet Home'. This sentence means, 'Miss X sang ¡®Home Sweet Home''. The speaker expresses this meaning in so many words. He violates the maxim of Manner; only want to save face for Miss X, and to express this meaning by conversational implicature.

D. The application of Polite Principle in education

Politeness is a feature of language in use. It pervades every aspect of our life. In teaching, as a teacher, in order to realize our purpose of education. Teachers need to establish a warm, caring, and supportive environment in which all the students are treated with care, respect, and compassion. They also must model acceptance and respect for the feelings of others. Teachers should avoid favoritism, sarcasm, or any other behavior that embarrasses or humiliates a student and save face for them.

1.The teacher should first find out why the students make mistakes and then give the education in the right way, not just criticize. It is the period of students' physical and mental growth in school. So the teacher should help the student maintain positive self-esteem and avoid sarcasm.

E.g. Class begins; a student rushes into the classroom out of breath.

Student Sorry, I'm late. Because¡­

Teacher (Be serious) Why you are so late? Don't you know you will make our class be criticized?

Student My bike's fall into broken in the half way. I ran to school.

Teacher You always have your reasons. Why don't you set out earlier? You must have slept over in the morning. Come to my office after class!

The student goes to his seat worriedly and can't focus his attention in the class. But if we change to another way, the same event will have a completely different result

Student Sorry, I'm late.

Teacher What's wrong? What has happened?

Student My bike's fall into broken in the half way. I ran to school.

Teacher I hope you will never be late again, ok? Go back to your seat as soon as possible. We'll begin our class at once.

The teacher gave both the sympathy and the requirement but no burden. This can let the student get into the state of study as soon as possible.

. Criticism is not the most important way in education. The teacher should mainly give praises. When the students are simply punished for disobedience, it does not promote the understanding that leads to higher levels of moral developments. Everyone makes mistakes. It is very common that the students make mistakes. Facing their mistakes, we should choose the right way to correct them.

E.g. There is a student who is very naughty. His study is the worst in the class. One day, the teacher found him copying some other's homework. But the teacher didn't criticize him as a typical 'bad boy'.

Teacher What are you doing?

Student (silence)

Teacher You write very carefully. In fact, yours is neater than that one.

Student Sorry, sir. I'm copying other's homework.

Teacher I'm glad that you can see your error. But if you do the homework by yourself, even if incorrectly, it is better than do nothing, yes? I hope you can let me know what you don't understand, so I can help you on time. OK?

So after class, this student said these words to the teacher, 'you haven't made me embarrassed. I know you don't hate me. I will try my best to make you satisfied.' In the following days, though the student is still naughty, he became to be warm-hearted to the classmates. So the teacher gave him a chance to be the monitor. The student himself even can't believe that the teacher would make such a 'bad boy' to be the monitor. So he became to try his best in study and working. This is how a 'bad boy' became an excellent student.

That's to say, teachers' praises and encourages are very important to the student. They first get the trust from the teacher, and then they get the self-confidence. Everyone has his merits and defeats. As a teacher, he should be good at discovering the students' merits and saving their faces. So we can help them to maintain a positive self-esteem.

. We'd better give the criticism in an indirect way. The following are the comments that the teacher gives to the 'bad' students.

E.g. In classes, you dare not put up your hands to answer the questions. When the teacher announces the result of the exam, you are so shame to want to go out. Why you always feel that you are inferior to others. I know you have difficulties in understanding the text and you don't know how to write a composition. But you can ask the teacher and your classmates. No pains, no gains. If you are more earnest in your study, you also can get high marks in the examination. The most important thing is that you can't look down upon yourself.

E.g. I know you want to make a progress, to be an excellent student, to make your parents happy. And you look forward to getting the teacher's praise and appreciation. But you are lazy and short of perseverance. You need more actions instead of words. Hurry up. Everyone hopes you make a progress.

So this kind of comment is tactful but concrete, explicit and sentimental. It can make a more close relationship between the teacher and the student.

Conclusion

In the above example and analysis, we can conclude that the polite principle is applicable in teaching. In the process of education, the Polite Principle should presuppose by the esteem to the student, based on different situation and then put to use. The above strategies can make our education more effective. So learning how to use the Polite Principle and utilizing it in education ought to become a basic skill of an educator. It has a perspective future in contemporary education.

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