Politeness Strategies in WhatsApp Text Messaging

A Case Study of Lecturers’ Politeness in Sending Text Messages to Students in Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Yogyakarta

Abstract

Lecturers and students frequently interact in both formal and semi-formal settings. Communication between students and professors must, of course, be maintained in such a way that it is always polite, even in informal situations. The availability of social media undoubtedly enhances contact between teachers and students. However, the use of social media has an impact on the language style of lecturers and students. This research aims to explain and examine the ethics of lecturers when responding to students’ text messages using the WhatsApp messaging application. Furthermore, this study examines violations from etiquette norms in short messages from the lecturer to the students. This study was qualitative in nature. The primary data of this research were the screenshots of interactions between instructors and students via the WhatsApp messaging application. This research also employed observation, note-taking, and interviews. According to the preliminary study, there are still numerous short messages between lecturers and students that do not match the courtesy standard. The unfulfilled value of politeness is the use of slang, impolite ways of expressing intentions or the use of inappropriate linguistic aspects.