A STUDY ON POLITENESS AND GENDER AMONGSENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TAIWAN

高中生台灣地區禮貌與性別之研究教 授 : 鍾 榮 富 老師研究生 : 蘇 聖 翔學 號 : NA1C0023

Background and Motivation According to a global courtesy test conducted by Hemelryk(2006) in

Reader’s Digest Females more polite than males?Will a gender difference in politeness be found among senior high school

students in Taiwan?Is the gender of the teacher a contributing factor to politeness in teacher-

student interactions?

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Introduction

The purposes of the study

1. To investigate the relationship between senior high school students’ genders and their performance of politeness.

2. To compare the relationship between the teacher’s gender and students’ performance of politeness.

3. To probe the effects of significant others’ discipline on students’ performance of politeness.

4.To examine the differences between male and female students, motives for their performance of politeness.

5.To explore the relationship between the teacher expectations and students’ performance of politeness.

Research Questions

1.Do students’ genders show significant effects on their performance of politeness?

2.Does the teacher’s gender have a significant influence on students’ their performance of politeness?

3.Does significant others’ discipline of politeness show significant effects on students’ performance of politeness?4.What are the differences between male and female students’ motives for their performance of politeness?5.Are there any gaps between teacher expectations and students’ performance of politeness?

Literature Review•Lakoff (1975) suggests that “politeness is developed by societies in order to reduce friction in personal interaction.

•According to Fraser’s(1990) research , there are four different perspectives on politeness: the face-saving view, the conversational-maxim view, the social-norm view, and the conversational-contract view.

The primary uses of nonverbal behavior are (1)expressing emotion,(2)conveying attitudes,(3)communicating one's personality traits, and (4)facilitating verbal communication (Argyle,1975)

According to Eagly's(1987) social role theory, a theory of sex differences, most societies have a division of labor based on gender.

The general flow can be conceptualized as follows:

MethodologySubject•The subjects used as participants in this study included two groups.

•One group of the subjects included 600 third-year students from three senior three senior high schools in Pingtung (298 males and 302 females).

•All these students were composed of 120 males and 120 females from six classes at Chauchou Senior High School 178 males from four classes at Pingting Senior

High School , and 182 females from four classes at Pingtung Girl’s Senior High School Respectively.

Instruments•The instruments employed in the study included an observation list and two questionnaires.

•An observation list for students’ performance of politeness.

•Questionnaires.

•A questionnaire on students’ performance of politeness.

•A questionnaire on teacher expectations for students’ performance of politeness.

Procedures

Data Analysis•First ,the data from the OLSPP and the questionnaires was computed and calculated by the descriptive statistics.

•The results were displayed in frequency and percentage to examine students, actual performance of politeness and the responses to politeness on QSPP and QTESPP.

•Second, an independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the gender differences in students’ actual performance of politeness and the responses to politeness on QSPP and QTESPP.

•Third, the Pearson product-moment correlation was used to explore the relationship between students’ performance of politencess and the effects of significant others’ discipline.

•At last, students’ responses and teachers’ responses to the open-ended questions on QSPP and QTESPP were categorized and analyzed qualitatively to explore students’ motives for the performance of politeness.

Conclusions•On the basis of the quantitative and qualitative data analyses, the major findings of the study are summarized as follows.

Suggestions•The findings in the study can help teacher, parents and students to better understand male and female students’ performance of politeness, attitudes and motive.

•Besides, it is hoped that multiple politeness should be provided by family and school education to help them live up to the social expectations in advance and fit in with the society in the future.

•Furthermore, teachers should improve the teacher-student relationship and actively realize students’ motives and thoughts to shorten the gap between teacher expectations and students’ performance of politeness.

Thank you!