Politeness
Course code
KOI7060.FK
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Viisakus
Course title in English
Politeness
ECTS credits
3.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2023/2024 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2024/2025 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Course aims
The course objectives are to understand the connection between communication, language and politeness, gain an overview about pragmatic approaches to politeness, use politeness theory to describe and explain differences between languages and their connection with cultures, and to find insights into interaction analysis, in particular relational aspects.
Brief description of the course
Politeness is one of the most important links between language, communication and culture. Politeness is also an important element of intercultural competence: many of the problems we have to deal with in intercultural encounters are questions such as “Which is the correct or appropriate way to address a person in a specific context?”, “What do partners expect me to say or do in a certain situation?” These and similar issues can be analysed in terms of politeness. The first part of the course aims at the discussion of linguistic, in particular pragmatic, definitions of politeness and of the use of language for the construction, maintenance or modification of interpersonal relationships. On this ground it will be possible to discuss universal aspects of polite behaviour as well as culture-specific features and to introduce contrastive analysis in the field of pragmatics. The results of the discussions will then be applied to intercultural communication, focusing especially on relationship management.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- knows about the main theories of linguistic politeness and is able to contextualize them within a broader vision of linguistic pragmatics;
- will be able to apply the concepts to the description and analysis of intercultural communication and on contrastive approaches;
- is able to distinguish between stereotypical and scientific descriptions of cultural differences in terms of politeness;
- can judge the correctness of messages on a relational level;
- is able to present her reflections in short presentations in class;
- is aware of the relational level of communication and its implications for many forms of communication;
- is able to work independently on the description and analysis of cultural differences.
- knows about the main theories of linguistic politeness and is able to contextualize them within a broader vision of linguistic pragmatics;
- will be able to apply the concepts to the description and analysis of intercultural communication and on contrastive approaches;
- is able to distinguish between stereotypical and scientific descriptions of cultural differences in terms of politeness;
- can judge the correctness of messages on a relational level;
- is able to present her reflections in short presentations in class;
- is aware of the relational level of communication and its implications for many forms of communication;
- is able to work independently on the description and analysis of cultural differences.
Teacher
Claus Ehrhardt