Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari

The importance of politeness and the limited Malaysian studies on politeness in apologies prompted this research to examine the use of politeness in Malaysian public apology texts. This study examined 50 Malaysian online naturally-occurring public apology texts from 2000 to 2012 for politeness in te...

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Main Author:	Azhari, Muhammad Aizat
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2015
Subjects:	Applied linguistics
Online Access:	https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/15956/1/TM_MUHAMMAD%20AIZAT%20AZHARI%20APB%20%2015_5.PDF
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spelling	my-uitm-ir.159562022-03-10T02:17:51Z Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari 2015 Azhari, Muhammad Aizat Applied linguistics The importance of politeness and the limited Malaysian studies on politeness in apologies prompted this research to examine the use of politeness in Malaysian public apology texts. This study examined 50 Malaysian online naturally-occurring public apology texts from 2000 to 2012 for politeness in terms of apology strategies, positive politeness strategies and negative politeness strategies. The content analyses of apology strategies and politeness strategies were based on researchers’ apology taxonomies and Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Positive and Negative Politeness Strategies respectively. The content analyses provided four (4) important findings. First, the 50 individual Malaysian public apology texts reflected the use of a range of three (3) to 10 apology strategies out of the total 17 apology strategies. Second, the 50 Malaysian public apology texts focused dominantly on eight (8) apology strategies that reflected features of: a) AS 11 (Offer Repair to Rectify the Wrongdoing), b) AS 10 (Downgrade the Harm), c) AS 4 (Justify the Wrongdoing / Action), d) AS 9 (Acknowledge the Harm Resulting from the Wrongdoing), e) AS 5 (Explain the Wrongdoing/ Action), f) AS 6 (Admit One’s Responsibility for the Wrongdoing/ Action), g) AS 2 (Show the Intention to Apologize) and h) AS 3 (Intensify the Intention to Apologize). Third, both positive and negative politeness strategies were found across the Malaysian public apology texts. The 16 apology strategies found across the 50 public apology texts reflected the use of 11 positive politeness strategies and six (6) negative politeness strategies. Fourth, across the 16 apology strategies, the two (2) most dominant positive politeness strategies present were: a) PPS 1 (Notice, attend to Receiver (his interests, wants, needs, goods) and b) PPS 10 (Offer, promise), and the two (2) most dominant negative politeness strategies used were: a) NPS 6 (Apologize) and b) NPS 4 (Minimize the Imposition). There were three (3) conclusions. First, the content of the Malaysian public apology texts did reflect the use of politeness in terms of the use of some apology strategies and positive and negative politeness strategies. Second, the Malaysian public apology texts included dominant apology strategies relevant to apologies. Third, the Malaysian public apology texts reflected the use of both positive and negative politeness strategies suggesting that focus was given to maintaining positive public self-image and relationships and giving respect to the apologizees. Four (4) recommendations were proposed. First, there should be formal instruction on public apologies focusing on internationally acceptable standards and criteria of politeness in terms of use of apology strategies and pragmatic politeness strategies at secondary, tertiary and professional levels of education. Second, the designers of education syllabus and book writers should incorporate apology strategies and pragmatic politeness strategies in their respective syllabus and academic books for effective writing of public apologies. Third, teachers, academicians, educators and journalists should optimize the data of this study for further understanding and improvement of current practices of public apologies in the Malaysian context. Fourth, this study should be used as guidelines for further research on public apologies in important contexts of business, medicine, legislation, politics, and religion. 2015 Thesis https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/15956/ https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/15956/1/TM_MUHAMMAD%20AIZAT%20AZHARI%20APB%20%2015_5.PDF text en public mphil masters Universiti Teknologi MARA Academy of Language Studies
institution	Universiti Teknologi MARA
collection	UiTM Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	Applied linguistics
spellingShingle	Applied linguistics Azhari, Muhammad Aizat Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari
description	The importance of politeness and the limited Malaysian studies on politeness in apologies prompted this research to examine the use of politeness in Malaysian public apology texts. This study examined 50 Malaysian online naturally-occurring public apology texts from 2000 to 2012 for politeness in terms of apology strategies, positive politeness strategies and negative politeness strategies. The content analyses of apology strategies and politeness strategies were based on researchers’ apology taxonomies and Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Positive and Negative Politeness Strategies respectively. The content analyses provided four (4) important findings. First, the 50 individual Malaysian public apology texts reflected the use of a range of three (3) to 10 apology strategies out of the total 17 apology strategies. Second, the 50 Malaysian public apology texts focused dominantly on eight (8) apology strategies that reflected features of: a) AS 11 (Offer Repair to Rectify the Wrongdoing), b) AS 10 (Downgrade the Harm), c) AS 4 (Justify the Wrongdoing / Action), d) AS 9 (Acknowledge the Harm Resulting from the Wrongdoing), e) AS 5 (Explain the Wrongdoing/ Action), f) AS 6 (Admit One’s Responsibility for the Wrongdoing/ Action), g) AS 2 (Show the Intention to Apologize) and h) AS 3 (Intensify the Intention to Apologize). Third, both positive and negative politeness strategies were found across the Malaysian public apology texts. The 16 apology strategies found across the 50 public apology texts reflected the use of 11 positive politeness strategies and six (6) negative politeness strategies. Fourth, across the 16 apology strategies, the two (2) most dominant positive politeness strategies present were: a) PPS 1 (Notice, attend to Receiver (his interests, wants, needs, goods) and b) PPS 10 (Offer, promise), and the two (2) most dominant negative politeness strategies used were: a) NPS 6 (Apologize) and b) NPS 4 (Minimize the Imposition). There were three (3) conclusions. First, the content of the Malaysian public apology texts did reflect the use of politeness in terms of the use of some apology strategies and positive and negative politeness strategies. Second, the Malaysian public apology texts included dominant apology strategies relevant to apologies. Third, the Malaysian public apology texts reflected the use of both positive and negative politeness strategies suggesting that focus was given to maintaining positive public self-image and relationships and giving respect to the apologizees. Four (4) recommendations were proposed. First, there should be formal instruction on public apologies focusing on internationally acceptable standards and criteria of politeness in terms of use of apology strategies and pragmatic politeness strategies at secondary, tertiary and professional levels of education. Second, the designers of education syllabus and book writers should incorporate apology strategies and pragmatic politeness strategies in their respective syllabus and academic books for effective writing of public apologies. Third, teachers, academicians, educators and journalists should optimize the data of this study for further understanding and improvement of current practices of public apologies in the Malaysian context. Fourth, this study should be used as guidelines for further research on public apologies in important contexts of business, medicine, legislation, politics, and religion.
format	Thesis
qualification_name	Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.)
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Azhari, Muhammad Aizat
author_facet	Azhari, Muhammad Aizat
author_sort	Azhari, Muhammad Aizat
title	Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari
title_short	Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari
title_full	Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari
title_fullStr	Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari
title_full_unstemmed	Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari
title_sort	politeness strategies in public apologies: the malaysian context / muhammad aizat azhari
granting_institution	Universiti Teknologi MARA
granting_department	Academy of Language Studies
publishDate	2015
url	https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/15956/1/TM_MUHAMMAD%20AIZAT%20AZHARI%20APB%20%2015_5.PDF
_version_	1783733469909614592

Politeness strategies in public apologies: the Malaysian context / Muhammad Aizat Azhari

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