Politeness and impoliteness by teachers and students in technology-assisted teaching and learning process

Abstract

Communication in virtual contexts is often misunderstood, particularly regarding politeness among interlocutors. In online media such as WhatsApp, interlocutors must appropriately use positive and negative politeness strategies. This study aims to analyze the strategies employed by students toward lecturers and lecturers toward students in WhatsApp conversations. It also identifies the dominant strategies and explores the reasons behind their different uses of politeness and impoliteness.  The research design is descriptive qualitative, with data consisting of text-based interactions collected through documentation of WhatsApp messages. Analysis was conducted using referential identity techniques. This study applies the theory of politeness from Brown and Levinson, supported by the theory of digital communication from Maricic and Kogetsidis. The findings revealed that students employed seven types of positive politeness strategies and three types of negative politeness strategies, with “considering the interlocutor’s presence” as the dominant one. Lecturers used a wider range of strategies, most frequently interlocutor “using identity markers.” Differences are shaped by social roles, power relations, and communicative goals. Academically, this study contributes to digital pragmatics by showing how politeness is negotiated in asynchronous written communication. Practically, the findings can guide students and lecturers to foster more respectful and effective communication in academic digital platforms.