2013 IJRSLL – Volume 2 Issue 4
Author/s:
Alemi, Minoo*
Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran (alemi@sharif.ir)
Razzaghi, Sajedeh
Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran (sajedeh_razzaghi@yahoo.com)
Abstract:
The inadequacy of research studies in evaluating ESP textbooks in terms of politeness markers in business communication cannot be neglected. To this end, the present study aimed to investigate the politeness markers based on House and Kasper’s (1981) politeness structure taxonomy in the spoken discourse of the ESP textbook entitled Business Result in order to find a pattern of these politeness markers in business conversations. The overall findings of the present study revealed that according to House and Kasper’s (1981) taxonomy of politeness structures, the intermediate level of the Business Result textbook suffers from the inadequate inclusion of politeness structures categorized by this taxonomy. Due to limited amount of politeness structures in this ESP textbook in order to attenuate or compensate the unwelcome impact of any face threatening acts (FTAs), the ESP learners may encounter serious difficulties in developing a comprehensive communicative competence in the business setting. The lack of this pragmatic input especially in ESP textbooks in which the learners are to master the English in order to be able to communicate in an international business context can lead to inappropriate development of communicative competence which may eventually result in more serious financial or economic losses.
Keywords: ESP textbook evaluation; business textbook; politeness markers; business result; House and Kasper’s politeness structure taxonomy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsll.2012.191
*Corresponding Author