International Journal of Sustainable English Language, Education, and Science
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2026)

An Analysis of Politeness Strategies in an English Textbook for University Students

Abd Ghofar (Universitas Kristen Cipta Wacana)
Gigih Dwiananto (Universitas Kristen Cipta Wacana)
Iman Jauhari (Universitas Kristen Cipta Wacana)
Aulia Noor Eliza (Universitas Kristen Cipta Wacana)



Article Info

Publish Date
18 Jul 2026

Abstract

This study investigates the types and distribution of politeness expressions in an English textbook for university students in Indonesia. Drawing on Brown and Levinson's (1987) Politeness Theory as the analytical framework, the study employs a qualitative content analysis design to systematically identify and classify politeness expressions across the textbook's dialogue sections. A total of 121 utterances from nine dialogues were analyzed and categorized into four politeness strategies: Positive Politeness, Negative Politeness, Off-Record, and Bald On-Record. The findings reveal that Positive Politeness is the most dominant strategy (f = 77, 63.6%), followed by Off-Record (f = 17, 14.0%), Negative Politeness (f = 16, 13.2%), and Bald On-Record (f = 11, 9.1%). While all four strategies are represented in the textbook, their uneven distribution suggests it presents a pragmatically imbalanced model of English communication. These findings indicate that the textbook is primarily oriented toward solidarity-building and informal interaction, at the expense of preparing learners for formal, asymmetrical, and register-sensitive communicative contexts. The study concludes with recommendations for textbook developers and EFL practitioners to incorporate a more balanced and explicitly contextualized range of politeness strategies in university-level English instructional materials to foster socio-pragmatic competence for real-world communication.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

IJSELES

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

The focus and scope of the journal covers topics such as innovation in teaching methods, sustainable curriculum development, application of technology in education, teaching English as a foreign or second language, applied linguistics, literature, and English language teaching, with emphasis on ...