语用学礼貌原则在中学英语教学中的应用

彭辉

【摘要】禮貌体现了人类文明，存在于各种语言和文化中，在人们的交流中扮演着十分重要的角色。它帮助维持和巩固和谐的人际关系，促进和谐的社会交际。礼貌原则也是语用学领域重要的理论之一，并且引起了很多英语教学专家和老师的关注。本文阐述了礼貌原则的定义及其相关理论，并且给出教学案例阐述如何将其运用到具体的中学英语课堂教学中。

【关键词】语用学 礼貌原则 英语教学

I. The definition of the politeness principle

The politeness principle is a series of maxims， which Geoff Leech has proposed as a way of explaining how politeness operates in conversational exchanges. Leech defines politeness as forms of behaviour that establish and maintain comity. That is the ability of participants in a social interaction to engage in interaction in an atmosphere of harmony.

II. Theoretical background：

Pragmatic approaches to the study of politeness begin to appear in the mid-1970s. Robin Layoff （1973） provided pioneering work by linking Politeness （with its three rules： ‘dont impose； ‘give options； ‘make the other person feel good， be friendly） to Grices Cooperative Principle to explain why speakers do not conform to maxims such as Clarity.

In 1983， on the basis of Cooperative Principle put forward by American philosopher H. P. Grice.Leech holds the view that CP is necessary， but CP cannot fully explain conversational implicature. Politeness principle explains what CP cannot explain. It is the complementary of CP， and it can explain conversational implicature. Politeness principle saves CP.So English linguist G. N. Leech set forth influential Politeness Principle， considering aspects of rhetoric and stylistics. Being independent of Cooperative Principle， Politeness Principle is a necessary complement for CP.

III. The case study

Teaching case： politeness in face-to-face communication.

Teaching aims：

1. through the analysis of the polite expression of the dialogue to make the students aware of the politeness in the cross-culture communication.

2. To improve the students ability of applying the politeness principle to face-to-face cross-culture communication.

Teaching procedures：

Step I： Introduce some knowledge about politeness both in China and western countries.

Step II： foster students politeness skills： analyze the polite language in the dialogue.

（1）Let the students make a role play in group of two， and then have a discussion in groups to find out the polite expression in the dialogue.

David： I was wondering if you could help me. Do you happen to know where theres a good place to buy art supplies？

Li Hua： Im not really sure exactly. Hey， let me think for a minute. Oh yeah， theres that new place， Mixed Media—you know， its down on Main Street？endprint

David： Mm， I dont know that store—exactly where on Main Street？

Li Hua： Well， you know where the new vegetarian restaurant is—its right up the block.

David： Oh yes， I know where you mean now. Thank you.

Li Hua： Hey， I hope you dont mind my asking， but are you taking up painting？

David： （laughs） Are you kidding？ I cant paint！ Im just asking for my sisters son. Hes really into it.

Li Hua： Ah...oh， I see. Hey， are you still doing your photography？ Youre good at that.

David： Yeah， thats the one thing I really enjoy.

Li Hua： Hey listen. This may sound like a dumb question， but can you get any good pictures on an automatic？

David： No， no， no， now thats a very interesting question. Automatics are OK， except for special effects， or stop action.

Li Hua： Oh， and it... listen， theres something else I was wondering about—like， should you do all your own developing？

David： Oh no！ You dont have to develop your own. You can get good prints if you send them out.

（2） analyze the polite expressions in the dialogue above：

politeness makers（such as please、thank you）， hedge（such as not exactly、not quite）， polite expressions（I wonder if youd mind...、Could you tell me...）， discourse feedback（very interesting， I see）.

（3） to divide the students in groups of two and change the communication variables such as the relationship between them， familiarity， and the aim of communication， ask them to substitute the underlined words or phrases so as to make the learners fully grasp the usage of politeness principle and can apply it to various occasion of communication.

Step III： Politeness output drill： You are in the Dong Zhou Peoples Park and you meet a foreign teacher from Great Britain there at the English Corner. You are eager to practice your English and you ask him some questions about his country.

IV. Conclusion

From the discussion above， we can know that Politeness Principle by leech in pragmatics included 6 maxims： Tact， Generosity， Approbation， Modesty， Agreement， and Sympathy are very practical in English classroom. Theoretically， this study confirms the view that Politeness Principle is an important aspect in foreign language education. More specifically， these six maxims also can be used in English classroom although they are the concepts in pragmatics.

References：

[1]Leech.A Communicative Grammar of English[M].NewYork： Long man Publishing，1994.endprint