AUTHOR=Al-Abbas Linda S. 

TITLE=Politeness strategies used by children in requests in relation to age and gender: a case study of Jordanian elementary school students

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1175599

DOI=10.3389/feduc.2023.1175599

ISSN=2504-284X

ABSTRACT=This study aims to investigate politeness strategies used by Jordanian children in requests at different age levels in relation to their gender. The study included 80 subjects divided into two age groups, namely, six years and ten years, with an equal number of boys and girls. They met a lady puppet who had a box of gifts, and they were told to ask her politely to get the gift they wanted. Their requests were recorded and analyzed using the framework proposed by Blum-Kulka (1987) to find the most common strategies the children used and whether these strategies differed with age and gender. The study concluded that at the age of six, the concept of politeness is present in children’s linguistic competence, but the assignment of polite expressions to the proper speech act is still ill-defined. There were no significant differences in using politeness strategies according to gender. As children grow older, around the age of ten, they become more able to express politeness in requests. Girls preferred the indirect strategies while boys opted for the direct level in making requests. This study may positively help parents and schoolteachers enhance the pragmatic knowledge and linguistic politeness of children.