A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...

finally would be able to attain their purpose of expressing intended meanings.
Politeness
The issue of politeness was mentioned a great deal in the first findings of this
study. Many students believed that “topic avoidance” was not a very appropriate
strategy, not only because it did not express clearly their need to change the topic, but
it could cause confusion in the speakers.
Actually, the issue of politeness in communication was regarded as significant
both in the east and west. According to Confucius (551-479 BCE), anyone who
possesses the fine virtues of politeness, tolerance, generosity, honesty, diligence, and
benevolence would be regarded as a person of humanity. He persuaded Chinese
people to be polite because politeness saved one from insults by others. In Analects
of Confucius, he noted that, “Without politeness, the respectfulness becomes
laborious bustle. Without politeness, the carefulness becomes timidity. Without
politeness, the courage becomes insubordination. Without politeness, the frankness
becomes rudeness” (Confucius, BC 500, Taibo). He argued, “if it is not polite, don’t
listen to it; if it is not polite, don’t say it” (Confucius, BC 500, Yenyun).
In comparison, Brown and Levinson (1987) and Leech (1983) in the west also
emphasized the importance of politeness in communication. Leech (1983) provided
pragmatic principles for gaining politeness in communication. Furthermore, Brown
and Levinson (1987) pointed out that if the speeches were not articulated in a polite
way, they might cause potential face-threatening situations, especially in the speech
acts of requests and invitations.
In this study, many students discussed the importance of politeness for the
strategy of topic avoidance. Their statement was similar to Watts, Ide, and Ehlih’s
178