CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES

Abstract

This study examines cross-cultural variations in politeness strategies in English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Russian. Drawing on conversational corpora and textbook examples, the research analyzes requests, refusals, and apologies using Brown and Levinson’s framework of positive and negative politeness, supplemented by language-specific markers such as honorifics, verb endings, and pronouns. Findings reveal that English favors indirectness and hedging, Japanese and Korean emphasize hierarchical respect through linguistic markers, Spanish relies on pronouns and softening phrases, and Russian uses directness moderated by tone. The study highlights how cultural norms shape politeness strategies and emphasizes the importance of pragmatic awareness in intercultural communication. Implications include improved intercultural competence and the need for culturally sensitive approaches in global interactions.