Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia

This study analyzes the politeness strategies found in Arab postgraduate students’ e-mails to their supervisors during their period of study at Malaysian universities. Many studies have revealed that language ability, social adjustment and culture shock are the most challenging issues that are frequ...

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Main Authors:	Zena Moayad Najeeb, Marlyna Maros, Nor Fariza Mohd Nor
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit UKM 2012
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/1/pp_125_145.pdf

id	ukm-3267
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-32672016-12-14T06:34:08Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/ Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia Zena Moayad Najeeb, Marlyna Maros, Nor Fariza Mohd Nor, This study analyzes the politeness strategies found in Arab postgraduate students’ e-mails to their supervisors during their period of study at Malaysian universities. Many studies have revealed that language ability, social adjustment and culture shock are the most challenging issues that are frequently encountered by the international students. Arab students who are studying in Malaysia, likewise, encounter challenges as they experience different cultures in their new environment, and in their efforts at learning English in an academic environment. Politeness tends to have various implications in cross-cultural communication. This research used quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyze eighteen e-mails that were sent by six Arab postgraduate students to their supervisors.The politeness strategies were analyzed according to Brown and Levinson’s (1987)politeness theory, and the degrees of directness were categorized according to Cross Cultural Speech Act Realization Pattern (CCSARP) Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984)coding scheme. The findings show that Arab students used various politeness strategies, including the use of positive and negative politeness strategies. They tended to be more direct in their requests via e-mail when communicating in English. No student used the indirect strategy. This study provides an insight into the Arab students’ politeness strategies that would help to avoid misunderstanding, and misinterpretation of their emails,as well as to improve student’s pragmatic awareness in writing e-mails in English. Penerbit UKM 2012-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/1/pp_125_145.pdf Zena Moayad Najeeb, and Marlyna Maros, and Nor Fariza Mohd Nor, (2012) Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 12 (1). pp. 125-145. ISSN 1675-8021 http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/gemacurrentissues.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	This study analyzes the politeness strategies found in Arab postgraduate students’ e-mails to their supervisors during their period of study at Malaysian universities. Many studies have revealed that language ability, social adjustment and culture shock are the most challenging issues that are frequently encountered by the international students. Arab students who are studying in Malaysia, likewise, encounter challenges as they experience different cultures in their new environment, and in their efforts at learning English in an academic environment. Politeness tends to have various implications in cross-cultural communication. This research used quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyze eighteen e-mails that were sent by six Arab postgraduate students to their supervisors.The politeness strategies were analyzed according to Brown and Levinson’s (1987)politeness theory, and the degrees of directness were categorized according to Cross Cultural Speech Act Realization Pattern (CCSARP) Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984)coding scheme. The findings show that Arab students used various politeness strategies, including the use of positive and negative politeness strategies. They tended to be more direct in their requests via e-mail when communicating in English. No student used the indirect strategy. This study provides an insight into the Arab students’ politeness strategies that would help to avoid misunderstanding, and misinterpretation of their emails,as well as to improve student’s pragmatic awareness in writing e-mails in English.
format	Article
author	Zena Moayad Najeeb, Marlyna Maros, Nor Fariza Mohd Nor,
spellingShingle	Zena Moayad Najeeb, Marlyna Maros, Nor Fariza Mohd Nor, Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia
author_facet	Zena Moayad Najeeb, Marlyna Maros, Nor Fariza Mohd Nor,
author_sort	Zena Moayad Najeeb,
title	Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia
title_short	Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia
title_full	Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia
title_fullStr	Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia
title_sort	politeness in e-mails of arab students in malaysia
publisher	Penerbit UKM
publishDate	2012
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3267/1/pp_125_145.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:38:19Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:38:19Z
_version_	1777405420877381632

Politeness in e-mails of Arab students in Malaysia

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