The Realization of Power Relationships through Politeness

It has been extensively evidenced that learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) are faced with difficulty performing various speech acts appropriately and politely in the target language. This book examines the extent of appropriacy and politeness of Iranian EFL learners’ performance of the speech acts of apologizing, requesting and refusing when interacting with higher-status, equal-status and lower-status individuals, attempting to identify the factors that have contributed to the politeness as well as the impoliteness of their speech act utterances. The book will be of critical importance, primarily, to language teachers, learners, and, secondarily, to materials developers.