№2(78)/2015 Серия педагогика
Peculiarities of concept «politeness» in Russian and English languages and its
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| Peculiarities of concept «politeness» in Russian and English languages and its
influence on forming foreign and cross-cultural competence The article in question represents the results of a practical research of various ways of expressing politeness in the Russian and English linguistic communicative cultures depending on the context and the country of residence of the English speaking respondents. An analysis is done of different approaches to defining polite- ness in Russian and in English on the basis of the cultural background. The results are contrasted and com- pared, explained and analyzed with the description of their cultural specifics and also their possible reasons. In conclusion the ways are explained that can be used in teaching foreign languages to secondary school and university students as a part of forming linguistic and intercultural competences. Key words: concept, politeness, culture, influence, stereotypes, foreign competence, cross-cultural compe- tence, survey. Politeness is an inseparable part of any nation’s culture and being an element of communicative con- sciousness can be studied as a communicative category which has its own mental value [1; 12]. Communicative politeness is a key requirement of effective communication. Using it we demonstrate our cultural behaviour. Politeness as a communicative category is universal, that is it can be witnessed in be- haviour of all the people in the world. However it manifests itself differently in different cultures. That is why teaching politeness at a foreign language lesson becomes so important. It is one of the corner stones of intercultural competence, one of the many that enable people with various ethnical, cultural and linguistic backgrounds communicate with each other effectively [2; 34]. In the English language politeness in communication is expressed both lexically and grammatically. A combination of these variants can also be observed. First it is necessary to give a definition to the word «politeness». This lexical unit was derived from the word «polite» that is why one should begin with defining it. Definitions from several dictionaries were com- pared: 1. Longman: Polite I. behaving or speaking in a way that is correct for the social situation you are in, and showing that you are careful to consider other people's needs and feelings; II. you make polite conversation, remarks etc. because it is considered socially correct to do this, but not necessarily because you believe what you are saying [3]. 2. Oxford learner’s dictionaries: I. having or showing good manners and respect for the feelings of others; II. socially correct but not always sincere [4]. 3. Macmillan dictionary: I. someone who is polite behaves towards other people in a pleasantway thatfollows all the usual rules of society [5]. 4. Cambridge dictionary: I. behaving in a way that is socially correct and shows understanding of and care for other people's feelings; II. socially correct rather than friendly [6]. The definition analysis of the lexical unit «polite» has shown the following semantic features were re- vealed: rules of behaving in the society, observing rules and regulations, using good manners (socially cor- rect 2, follow rules of society 1, behaving in a way that is socially correct 3, show good manners 1); taking into account and respecting feelings, emotions and other needs of an interlocutor (to consider other people's needs and feelings 1, respect for the feelings of others 1, show understanding of and care for other people's feelings 1). These features can be used in defining the nucleus of the concept «politeness». It is worth mentioning that sometimes the British express politeness in the ways which are seldom em- ployed in other languages. Peculiarities of concept «politeness»… Серия «Педагогика». № 2(78)/2015 161 For example, in order to sound polite Britons often resort to indirect evasive expressions or seems to be indecisive in the situations where speakers of other languages would be more straightforward. At the same time Americans are usually more direct in the same communicative situation Another example is the use of the phrase «thank you» by the British to show gratitude even for minor and inconspicuous services in the situations where speakers of other languages don’t find it necessary, e.g., a cashier giving changes to a customer and both of them saying «thank you» to each other. On the other hand British English allows not to respond to «thank you» in some contexts, while in American and several other variants of English one needs to give an answer saying for instance «you’re welcome» [7; 2]. In a number of languages consider it polite to refuse a compliment or praise and to criticize or self criti- cize something or somebody praised. Though in British English it is possible to hesitate a little before ac- cepting a complement, an active refusal is considered rude [1; 25]. In some countries it is obligatory to resort to different form of expressing politeness depending on the social status (that might be higher or lower) of the interlocutor. In English there are special forms of address which are to be used in certain situations, but there are no strict demands connected with the social status of the speaker and the addressee. As for the Russian culture, many nations have stereotypes about impolite, rude and arrogant Russians. These concepts are wrong. According to M. Honkanen and A. Mikluha, Russians have two separate forms of social life: public and private. They might seem to be rude and impolite in public but at the same time be kind, caring and communicative [8, 46]. T.V. Larina distinguishes two types of behaviour which are typical for the Russians: with unknown people and with close friends/relatives. She states that Russians are mostly polite with their close friends/relatives and quite often might be rude and impolite with strangers [9; 56]. I.A. Sternin points to the concept «a polite smile» in intercultural communication. He stresses that Rus- sians are characterized by «social unsmilingness». A smile is not a signal of politeness in the Russian culture. Russians are cautious about a purely polite smile of an interlocutor. They call constant smiling a «social smile» and consider it a display of insincerity and a reserved character. Russians usually smile only to people they know while a smile by an unknown person is a signal to look for reasons of this smile. Despite it a Rus- sian smile is thought a true display of high spirits or positive disposition to the interlocutor. The idea of a smile in the Russian culture is clearly reflected in the Russian proverb «You are stupid if you smile without any reasons». Russians also don’t smile to raise one’s spirits or to encourage somebody if there are people nearby experiencing difficulties or hardships. These are the main peculiarities of the Russian smile [10; 42]. It should be noted however that a smile is not a symbol of politeness for the Russians. A person’s being kind is much more importance than presence or absence of a smile on his/her face. It happens so because in the Russian mentality politeness is manifested through kindness. As in English, there lexical and grammatical means of expressing politeness in Russian. The most common phrases showing politeness are «пожалуйста», «спасибо», «не за что» and others. As for the grammatical structures «не могли бы вы», «извините, не подскажите ли вы…», etc. are the most com- mon. These expressions highlight frequent using of the negative particle «не» («not») in Russian requests as compared with the English language. Nevertheless the English tendency not to use this particle is getting widespread nowadays, e.g. today it becomes preferable to say «подождите, пожалуйста» instead of «не могли бы вы подождать». To find out associative peculiarities of politeness among speakers of English and Russian an experiment was held. The interview method was chosen as the main for this experiment. The respondents were several residents of the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Russia. The results of the survey were later used to create an associative field of the concept «politeness» in the English language and for the comparative analysis of this concept in Russian and English. An associative field is a set of associates, i.e. reactions to stimulus words. It is created after results of an associative experiment are processed. An associative experiment can be of two types – free and directed. A free an associative experiment means that its participants can respond at a stimulus using any word. In the case of a directed associative experiment a response is restricted by some predetermined conditions (e.g. the necessity to use certain part of speech or constructions). Both free and directed associative experiments were used in the study. Two questionnaires were com- piled for speakers of Russian and English. About 60 respondents aged 16 to 72 from the USA, Great Britain and Canada took part in the first sur- vey. They were suggested to answer the following questions: |