Accidental impoliteness and digital deference
A pragmatic analysis of freshmen interactions in an Indonesian EFL virtual classroom
Abstract
In an increasingly globalized academic landscape, understanding the pragmatic dynamics of EFL classroom interactions in culturally nuanced contexts like Indonesia is essential. This study offers an exploration of the interplay between politeness and impoliteness strategies within the hierarchical and communal culture of an Indonesian higher education setting. Using a qualitative case study design, the research was conducted at a public university in East Java, involving one lecturer and 50 first-year students. Data were collected through video recordings of classroom interactions, followed by transcription and coding using a framework based on Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory and Culpeper’s model of impoliteness. Findings indicate that while positive politeness predominates to foster a collaborative atmosphere, a unique pattern of accidental impoliteness emerges among freshmen. This lack of pragmatic awareness suggests that impoliteness in this context is not a tool for social friction, but a byproduct of the transitional struggle between secondary school norms and university expectations. These findings imply that EFL pedagogy in Indonesia must go beyond linguistic accuracy to include explicit pragmatic instruction. Specifically, there is a need for curriculum adjustments that help students navigate the socio-cultural expectations of higher education to prevent unintentional communication breakdowns in the classroom.
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References
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Sapitri, P. A., Chasanah, A., Putri, A. A., & Paulima, J. (2019). Exploring Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategies: An explanation on the nature of the politeness phenomenon. REiLA: Journal of Research and Innovation in Language, 1(3), 111-117. https://doi.org/10.31849/reila.v1i3.3801
Sedkey, W. E. A. O., Aref, H. M., & Methias, N. W. (2024). Advice and suggestions as related to politeness strategies used in post-Observation meetings in Universities in Egypt. Journal of the Faculty of Arts Port Said University, 27(3), 106-151. https://doi.org/10.21608/JFPSU.2024.253668.1316
Senowarsito, S. (2013). Politeness strategies in teacher-student interaction in an EFL classroom context. TEFLIN Journal, 24(1), 82–96. https://journal.teflin.org/index.php/journal/article/view/156
Suwarni, A., & Bestari, A. (2021). The students’ talk on politeness and impoliteness interaction in classroom. In International Congress of Indonesian Linguistics Society (KIMLI 2021) (pp. 146-150).
Tsamratul’aeni, T. (2019). Politeness strategy used by lecturer in teaching process. Ideas: Journal on English Language and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 7(2), 212-220. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v7i2.1036
Udoh, C. V., & Ugochukwu, N. T. (2024). Impoliteness strategies in lecturer-student classroom discourse. Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies, 10(1), 246–267. https://journals.unizik.edu.ng/ajells/article/view/3197
Wibowo, G, P., & Kuntjara, K. (2013). Impoliteness strategies used on online comments in an Indonesian football website. K@ta, 1(1), 166-173.
Ali, H. V. (2024). The politeness strategies: Male and female politeness strategies in a group discussion. English Community Journal, 7(2), 83-92. https://jurnal.um-palembang.ac.id/englishcommunity/article/view/6703
Anugrawati, N., Strid, J. E., Haryanto, M. M., & Salija, K. (2020). Politeness strategies of Indonesian students in mediated communication. International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, 29(6), 3771-3785. https://doi.org/10.31849/reila.v6i3.20409
Aydinoglu, N. (2013). Politeness and impoliteness strategies: An analysis of gender differences in Geralyn l. Horton's Plays. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 83, 473-482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.093
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage (Vol. 4). Cambridge university press.
Culpeper, J. (1996). Towards an anatomy of impoliteness. Journal of Pragmatics, 25(3), 349-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(95)00014-3
Culpeper, J. (2011). Impoliteness: Using language to cause offence. Cambridge University Press.
Culpeper, J., & Hardaker, C. (2017). Impoliteness. In Culpeper, Jonathan, Haugh, Michael and Daniel Kadar (eds.) Palgrave Handbook of (Im)politeness. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 199-225.
Fitriyani, S., & Andriyanti, E. (2020). Teacher and students’ politeness strategies in EFL classroom interactions. IJELTAL (Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics), 4(2), 259-273. https://doi.org/10.21093/ijeltal.v4i2.473
Hutahaean, D. T., Herman, H., & Girsang, A. F. F. (2021). An Analysis of politeness strategies found in Pesbukers variety show. Wanastra: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, 13(1), 39-46. https://doi.org/10.31294/w.v13i1.9218
Karimnia, A., & Khodashenas, M. R. (2017). Patterns of politeness in teacher-student interaction: Investigating an academic context. The Journal of Applied Linguistics and Applied Literature: Dynamics and Advances, 5(1), 69–87. https://doi.org/10.22049/jalda.2018.26181.1055
Laughlin, V. T., Wain, J., & Schmidgall, J. (2015). Defining and operationalizing the construct of pragmatic competence: Review and recommendations. ETS Research Report Series, 2015(1), 1–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12053
LoCastro, V. (2003). An introduction to pragmatics: Social action for language teachers. University of Michigan Press.
Mahmud, M. (2018). The use of politeness strategies in the classroom context by English university students. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), 597-606. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v8i3.15258
Nguyen, T. T. M., & Ho, G. A. L. (2013). Requests and politeness in Vietnamese as a native language. Pragmatics, 23(4), 685-714. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.23.4.05ngu
Níkleva, D. G. (2018). Markers of politeness and impoliteness in student-teacher interaction in the discourse genre of emails. Revista Signos, 51(97), 214–235. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0718-09342018000200214
Onebunne, L. A., & Ugwumba, O. M. (2024). Investigating politeness and face threatening acts in classroom discourse among selected students of UNIZIK, AWKA. NJIKO: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal of Humanities, Law, Education and Social Sciences, 2(1). https://www.acjol.org/index.php/njiko/article/view/4630
Peng, L., Xie, F., & Cai, L. (2014). A case study of college teacher’s politeness strategy in EFL classroom. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(1), 110-115. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.4.1.110-115
Pradita, L. E., Rachmawati, U., Widyanto, D., & Hananto, I. (2024). Language politeness in elementary school students learning activities. Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 4(1), 61-70. https://doi.org/10.36312/jolls.v4i1.1760
Rahayuningsih, D., Saleh, M., & Fitriati, S. W. (2020). The realization of politeness strategies in EFL teacher-students classroom interaction. English Education Journal, 10(1), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.15294/eej.v10i1.33822
Sapitri, P. A., Chasanah, A., Putri, A. A., & Paulima, J. (2019). Exploring Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategies: An explanation on the nature of the politeness phenomenon. REiLA: Journal of Research and Innovation in Language, 1(3), 111-117. https://doi.org/10.31849/reila.v1i3.3801
Sedkey, W. E. A. O., Aref, H. M., & Methias, N. W. (2024). Advice and suggestions as related to politeness strategies used in post-Observation meetings in Universities in Egypt. Journal of the Faculty of Arts Port Said University, 27(3), 106-151. https://doi.org/10.21608/JFPSU.2024.253668.1316
Senowarsito, S. (2013). Politeness strategies in teacher-student interaction in an EFL classroom context. TEFLIN Journal, 24(1), 82–96. https://journal.teflin.org/index.php/journal/article/view/156
Suwarni, A., & Bestari, A. (2021). The students’ talk on politeness and impoliteness interaction in classroom. In International Congress of Indonesian Linguistics Society (KIMLI 2021) (pp. 146-150).
Tsamratul’aeni, T. (2019). Politeness strategy used by lecturer in teaching process. Ideas: Journal on English Language and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 7(2), 212-220. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v7i2.1036
Udoh, C. V., & Ugochukwu, N. T. (2024). Impoliteness strategies in lecturer-student classroom discourse. Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies, 10(1), 246–267. https://journals.unizik.edu.ng/ajells/article/view/3197
Wibowo, G, P., & Kuntjara, K. (2013). Impoliteness strategies used on online comments in an Indonesian football website. K@ta, 1(1), 166-173.
Published
2025-12-31
How to Cite
PUTERI, Celiacika Gustisiwi; RUZIN, Moh.; AZIZI, Pedja Rifki.
Accidental impoliteness and digital deference.
Pioneer: Journal of Language and Literature, [S.l.], v. 17, n. 2, p. 388-403, dec. 2025.
ISSN 2655-8718.
Available at: <https://unars.ac.id/ojs/index.php/pioneer/article/view/7194>. Date accessed: 05 mar. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.36841/pioneer.v17i2.7194.
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