A Comparison of Jordanian and Syrian EFL Students' Politeness Strategies in Agreement Speech

Abstract

This paper examines positive politeness agreement strategies among Jordanian and Syrian EFL students. It examines how cultural norms in Jordan and Syria influence these strategies in academic settings, aiming to identify and analyze the strategies employed to understand face-saving and relational harmony in their interactions. It adopts one of the politeness theories to analyze the politeness strategies employed by participants in their interactions. Using qualitative methods, data will be collected through note-taking and semi-structured interviews with English and translation students at Jerash University. Note-Taking will be gathered through interactions of students in and out of their classes. After sorting the notes, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 10 students from each group to delve into the vital reasons for using some of the politeness strategies in their agreements. The central hypothesis posits that both participants employ various positive politeness strategies to maintain their 'saving face' and acknowledge others in interactions. The findings will highlight prevalent strategies for both groups and their sociolinguistic implications, contributing to knowledge in cross-cultural communication and EFL education in similar contexts. This study recommends that future researchers conduct more comparative studies between these two groups and other Arabic societies to identify similarities and differences in the agreement strategies used in their interactions.