Examining the Representation of Verbal Politeness Strategies Based on Brown and Levinson’s Theory: A Case Study of the Farsi Biamouzim (Let’s Learn Persian) Series

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

This study examined the way politeness is represented in two volumes (Volumes 2 and 3) of “Let’s Learn Persian”. To achieve this, the conversations were extracted and the data were then coded based on Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory (1987), which includes four main politeness strategies: bald on-record, positive politeness, negative politeness and off-record. The frequency and percentage of each politeness strategy were then calculated. The findings revealed that in both volumes of the series, the most frequent politeness strategy was bald on-record and the least frequent was off-record, with positive and negative politeness ranking second and third, respectively. The data were then normalized for statistical analysis, and the two volumes were compared in terms of politeness representation using the chi-square test. The results indicated a statistically significant difference between the two volumes. Overall, the frequency of politeness strategies in Volume 3 was lower than that of Volume 2. This was the case for three of the four politeness strategies: bald on-record, negative politeness, and positive politeness. Only off-record was equally distributed between the two volumes. The findings of this study can assist authors and designers of AZFA textbooks in implementing necessary revisions in future editions of the series or upcoming AZFA publications. Moreover, by becoming aware of existing shortcomings, instructors can develop supplementary instructional materials tailored to the needs of their classes.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Bagheri Nevisi, R., & Moghadasi, A. (2020). Content analysis of Iranian high school English textbooks in terms of politeness markers, speech acts, and language functions. Issues in Language Teaching, 9(2), 155-184.
Bataineh, R. F., Salman, F. A., Roumi, H. J. A., Jawarneh, R. S. A., Shkour, A. G., Okour, S. A., & Al-Jamal, D. A. (2023). Negative politeness strategies in Jordanian EFL textbook dialogs: A content analysis of Action Pack 5 through 10. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 136-146.
Bateni, M. (1969). A description of the grammatical structure of  Persian language. Amir Kabir. [In Persian]
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.
Chen, I.-J. (2017). Face-threatening acts: Conflict between a teacher and students in EFL classroom. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 7(2), 151–166.
Deh Bozorgi, F. (2021). An analysis of cultural components in the illustrations of two Persian language teaching textbooks for Non-Persian speakers based on Lee’s (2009) framework. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Shiraz University, Iran. [In Persian]
Ebadi, S., & Ebrahimi Marjal, B. (2015). Gender representations in the textbooks of teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers: A case study of “Let’s Learn Persian” (volumes 2 and 3). Journal of Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages, 4(2), 27-46. [In Persian]
Erlinda, R., Afrinursalim, H., & Dinarta, F. (2023). The positive politeness strategies used in “English for Nusantara” textbook. Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics, 8(3), 265–276. http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/jeltl.v8i3.1158
Gholami, J. (2015). Is there room for pragmatic knowledge in English books in Iranian high schools? English Language Teaching, 8(4), 39-51.
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole and J. L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and semantics 3: Speech Acts (pp. 41-58). Academic Press.
Huang, P. (2019). Textbook interaction: A study of the language and cultural contextualisation of English learning textbooks. Learning, Social, and Culture Interaction, 21, 87-99.
Hunt, K. W. (1965). Grammatical structures written at three grade levels (NCTE Research Report No. 3). National Council of Teachers of English.
Khoeini, E., Parsanasab, M., & Kermani, N. (2020). A review on the second edition of Farsi Biyamuzim. Journal of Critical Literature and Humanities, 20(4), 151-174. [In Persian]
Lee, R. N., & Bathmaker, A. (2007). The use of English textbooks for teaching English to 'vocational' students in Singapore secondary schools. RELC Journal, 38, 350 - 374.
Meihami, H., & Khanlarzadeh, M. (2015). Pragmatic content in global and local ELT textbooks: A micro analysis study. Sage Open, 5(4), 2158244015615168.
Moradkhah, Z. (2020). A pragmatic analysis of speech acts in teaching Persian to Non-Persian speakers’ textbooks based on a combination of Austin’s and Searle’s theories. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Payame Noor Universtity of Qom, Iran. [In Persian]
Nakhostin, S. & Alimorad, Z. (2022). Uncovering gender representation in Farsi Biyamuzim (Let’s Learn Persian) series. Journal of Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages, 11, 245-267. [In Persian]
Nguyen, M. T. T. (2011). Learning to communicate in a globalized world: To what extent do school textbooks facilitate the development of intercultural pragmatic competence? RELC Journal, 42, 17–30.
Rezaei, H., & Alipour, M. (2012). An analysis of the reading texts in the “Farsi Biamuzim” series based on Haliday’s seven language function. Journal of Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages, 1(2), 163-179. [In Persian]
Roohani, A., & Alipour, J. (2016). An investigation into the use of speech acts and language functions in Iranian high school English textbooks. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 6(3), 25-33.
Sadeghoghli, H., & Niroomand, M. (2016). Theories on politeness by focusing on Brown and Levinson's politeness theory. International Journal of Educational Investigations, 3(2), 26-39.
Sanie, N., & Vahid Dastjerdi, H. (2018). Greeting speech act forms in Iranian junior high school textbooks: Prospect series vs. Four Corners series. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching & Research, 6(23), 51- 68.
Taguchi, N. (2011). Teaching pragmatics: Trends and issues. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 289-310.
Thomas, J. (1995). Meaning in interaction: An introduction to pragmatics. Pearson Education.
Ton Nu, A. T., & Murray, J. (2020). Pragmatic content in EFL textbooks: An investigation into Vietnamese national teaching materials. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language (TESL-EJ), 24(3), 1–28. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1275813.pdf
Trask, R. L. (2007). Language and linguistics: The key concepts (2nd ed.). Edited by P. Stockwell. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203961131
Wijayanto, T. (2014). A pragmatic analysis of politeness strategy in the coursebook: Look ahead 2 an English course for senior high school student year XI. S1 thesis, Universal Negeri Yogyakarta.
Young, R. (1995). Conversational styles in language proficiency interviews. Language Learning, 45(1), 3-42.
Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
Zaferanieh, E., & Hosseini-Maasoum, S. M. (2015). Pragmatic representations in Iranian high school English textbooks. Journal of English Language Pedagogy and Practice, 8(16), 187-198.
Zolfaghari, H., Ghaffari, M., & Mahmoudi Bakhtiari, B. (2001). Let’s learn Persian: Elementary Level – Volume 1. Madreseh. [In Persian]
Zolfaghari, H., Ghaffari, M., & Mahmoudi Bakhtiari, B. (2004). Let’s learn Persian: Intermediate Level – Volume 2. Madreseh. [In Persian]
Zolfaghari, H., Ghaffari, M., & Mahmoudi Bakhtiari, B. (2003). Let’s learn Persian: Intermediate Level – Volume 3. Madreseh. [In Persian]
Zolfaghari, H., Ghaffari, M., & Mahmoudi Bakhtiari, B. (2003). Let’s learn Persian: Advanced Level – Volume 4. Madreseh. [In Persian]
Zolfaghari, H., Ghaffari, M., & Mahmoudi Bakhtiari, B. (2003). Let’s learn Persian: Advanced Level – Volume 5. Madreseh. [In Persian]
Journal of Linguistics & Iranian Languages
Volume 10, Issue 2
October 2025
Pages 39-58

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 01 October 2025
  • Revise Date: 05 November 2025
  • Accept Date: 19 November 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics