A Pragmatic Analysis of Politeness Strategies of Online Chatting Employed by Iraqi EFL Students in Al-Anbar Distinguished Schools

Abstract

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The aim of this paper is to identify the politeness strategies employed by Iraqi EFL students in Al-Anbar Distinguished Schools which is regarded an area that is infrequently investigated by scholars. To attain this aim, the participants of the study were selected from Al-Anbar Distinguished Schools, represented by 53 female students and 50 male students during the academic year (2021-2022) to be in direct and frequent online interaction (via text messages) with each other as students, and with their teachers of English language. Consequently, WhatsApp and Telegram groups were created for this online chatting. A qualitative research design was conducted whereby online text chatting was collected to ensure the data of this study. The collected data were analyzed qualitatively by using content analysis procedure based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) model of politeness strategies. The findings of the study revealed that the participants utilized various types of politeness strategies in their communication via online chatting. Based on the calculated frequencies and percentages, Positive Politeness Strategies were the most frequently used (dominant type), then Negative Politeness Strategies, Bald On-Record and Off-Record Politeness Strategies respectively. Additionally, the findings indicated that Off-Record Politeness Strategies were used rarely by the participants of the study.