Politeness strategies in Requests in the Movie series “Harry Potter”

Politeness strategies in Requests in the Movie
series “Harry Potter”

Lương Thanh Hồng

Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ
Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh; Mã số: 60.22.15
Người hướng dẫn: PGS.TS. Nguyễn Văn Độ
Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract: The study presents an investigation in how politeness strategies are
employed in requests in the movie series Harry Potter with the two main chapters. In
chapter 1, some reviews on Speech Acts, Speech Act of Requesting, Politeness,
Politeness strategies by Brown and Levinson (1987) are taken into careful
consideration to serve as a good foundation for the data analysis and findings in the
next chapter. Chapter 2 based on Brown and Levinson’s framework studies the
politeness strategies in requests used by the characters in the movie series Harry Potter
and points out how S-H relationship affects their choices of politeness strategies in
making requests. The results show that the characters in the movies are more in favor
of negative politeness strategies than positive ones in order to minimize the imposition
on the hearers when making requests. Moreover, there is a variation of the proportion
between positive and negative politeness strategies depending on the specific cases of
social relationship. The study may serve as a good start for further study on politeness
in general and politeness strategies in particular.

Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Hội thoại; Ngôn ngữ

Content
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
As it can be seen clearly, politeness plays an of great importance role in human daily

communication. It has a great influence in phenomena, rules and structures of languages.
Therefore, the effectiveness of communication is affected considerably. During the
development of civilized society, human beings have been founding standards and values
describing appropriate behaviors as well as communicative strategies and language structures
which are considered being polite in specific situations and specific cultures. There are a
number of studies on politeness issue because of its significance in communication. However,
each researcher has a different point of view. For example, Lakoff and Leech study politeness
under communicative strategies, Brown and Levinson consider politeness as behaviors saving
face. Although politeness seems to be quite familiar and very old, in fact it still develops non-

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stop and actually offers me many interests, which inspires me to carry out a research on such
issue. However, to achieve politeness in communication, it is necessary to give out suitable
politeness strategies for each certain context. Thus, the study on politeness as well as
politeness strategies is of great importance and essential to enhance the effectiveness of our
daily communication.
Moreover, what are the other reasons why I would like to investigate politeness
strategies in requests in the movie series Harry Potter? Firstly, according to many scholars not
only is requesting one of the most popular activities in human daily communication but also is
the most threatening act to the human face. Thus, choosing appropriate politeness strategies
when making requests need to be taken into due consideration, which actually brings me good
opportunities to do research on politeness strategies often used in daily requests. Secondly, I
choose the requests in the movie series Harry Potter as the data for my study because
watching movies is one of my biggest hobbies and offers me much interest. Especially, the
movie series recently have been the best ones produced by Warner Bros - a very famous
movie producer in the United States, so I believe that the reliability of the content quality is
much relevant to my study.
Finally, I would expect the result of my research: Politeness Strategies in Requests in
the Movie Series “Harry Potter” will have a great meaning to teaching and learning as well
as using politeness strategies in requests appropriately and effectively. In addition, it will be

much easier for people to choose and employ politeness strategies, which actually offers
effectiveness in daily communication.
2. Aims of the study
1. To study the performance of positive and negative politeness strategies in the requests
by the characters in the three episodes of the movie Harry Potter.
2. To study the effects of S-H relationship on the choices of politeness strategies in the
requests of the characters in the three episodes of the movie Harry Potter.
3. Research questions
1. What are the positive and negative politeness strategies in the requests by the
characters in the three episodes of the movie Harry Potter?
2. How does S-H relationship affect the choices of positive and negative politeness
strategies in making requests of the characters in the three episodes of the movie Harry
Potter?
4. Scope of the study

3
Due to the time and limitation of a minor thesis, it is impossible for me to investigate
politeness strategies in requests in all their aspects. So, I would like to focus on verbal
communication, but other important factors such as non-linguistic factors (facial expression,
gestures, eye contact, etc.), paralinguistic factors such as intonation, pause, speed of speech,
etc. are not taken into consideration in my study. Moreover, positive and negative politeness
strategies based on the theoretical framework of Brown and Levinson (1987) are under the
investigation of all the requests in three episodes: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince of the
movie Harry Potter.
5. Methods of the study
This study employs the Quantitative method which focuses much more on the
collection and analysis of numerical data and statistics. Counting and measuring are common
forms of quantitative methods. The result of the research is a number or series of number
presented in tables and charts.

6. Design of the study
The thesis consists of three main parts:
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
This part of the thesis presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope, method
and design of the study.
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
This is the nuclear part of the thesis containing two chapters:
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background
This chapter establishes an overview of the theories on Speech Acts, Speech act of
Request and Politeness theory which are the basis for the following analysis in the next
chapter.
Chapter 2: Politeness strategies in requests in the series of movies Harry Potter
This chapter studies how the characters in the movie series use the politeness
strategies in their requests and how S-H relationship affects their choices of politeness
strategies when making requests.
PART 3: CONCLUSION
In this part, the author recapitulates the study, offers implication, limitations and
suggestions for further research.



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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Speech Acts
1.1.1. Speech act theory
Many actions are carried out by using languages during human communication.
Although they are expressed variously, they are all called speech acts. Speech act is one of the
most issues that interests researchers most. It has been investigated seriously by different
theorists such as Austin (1962), Grice (1957, 1975), Hymes (1964), Searle (1969), Levinson
(1983), Brown and Yule (1983), Yule (1996), etc. so that human communication can be
carried out in the most effective way.
 Austin’s theory
Speech act theory is originally developed by Austin in his famous book entitled “How
to do things with words”. He presented a new picture of analyzing meaning in relationship
among linguistics conventions correlated with words/ sentences, the situation where the
speaker actually says something to the hearer, and associated intentions of the speaker.
Austin (1962) defines speech acts as the actions performed in saying something.
Actions performed through utterance production are called speech acts such as requesting,
apologizing, complaining, promising, etc. Speech acts consist of three related acts, namely
locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act.

5
Austin also focuses on illocutionary acts where we might find the force of the
statement and demonstrate its performative nature. He classified illocutionary acts into 5
categories based on performative verbs: Verdictives, Exercitives, Commissives, Behabitives,

Expositives
 Searle’s theory
According to Searle (1969:24), language is a part of theory of action and speech acts
such as promising, threatening, requesting, etc. are often performed during human
communication. There are three different types of speech acts: Utterance acts, Propositional
acts, Illocutionary acts.
He also classified illocutionary acts into five clear and useful categories: Representatives,
Directives, Commissives, Expressives, Declarations
1. 1.2. The Speech act of Requesting
According to Searle (1969: 66), a request is defined as “a directive speech act which
counts as an attempt to get H (the hearer) to do an act which S (the speaker) wants H to do,
and which S believes that H is able to do; and which it is not obvious that H will do in the
normal course of events or of H’s own accord.” From this point, it is very clear that the
speech act of request consists of three basic elements: the speaker (S), the hearer (H) and the
Act itself. Thus, in order to make a successful request, it is believed that the hearer is able and
willing to do the act intended by the speaker.
Searle (1975: 71) continued to develop Austin’s notion of felicity condition that holds
for a successful speech act by proposing the conditions for requesting as follows: Preparatory
condition, Sincerity condition, Propositional condition, Essential condition.
In the view of Blum- Kulka et.al (1989), the realization of request can be seen from
four aspects: Hearer dominance, Speaker dominance, Speaker and Hearer dominance,
Impersonal or the use of unspecific agent.
Although a request is realized in any perspectives, it possesses similar basic
characteristics. Firstly, it gives us an idea about the expectations of the S and the H with
regard to verbal or non-verbal action (Blum-Kulka et. al 1989: 11). Secondly, like other
speech acts such as refusal, apology, requesting is inherently face-threatening in that it allows
the Hs to interpret it as an intrusive act towards their freedom of action (Brown and Levinson
1978). Thirdly, it indicates the power of the interlocutors: the superior tends to produce more
direct requests while the inferior tends to produce more indirect requests. Finally, Brown and
Levinson 1987 also pointed out that the conventionalized realizations of requests, as well as

its frequency, are vivid indicators of whether a society is a positively or negatively oriented

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society. “A positive society” is a society in which speakers’ need for approval and belonging
(in groupness) are emphasized whereas showing of deference and keeping distance are
emphasized in “negatively-oriented society”.
1.2. Issues of Politeness
1.2.1. Definition of Politeness
Politeness is one of the most noticeable issues in the research of intercultural
communication and cross-cultural communication of human beings. According to the
foreword of Gumperz (cited in Brown and Levinson, 1987: xiii), “politeness is basic to the
production of social order, and a precondition of human cooperation, so that any theory
which provides an understanding of this phenomenon at the same time goes to the foundations
of human social life.”
During the vast development of linguistics, many researchers have been interested in
the field of politeness with various points of view and from different aspects. However,
according to Nguyen Quang (2004: 10), three main important approaches to politeness are
mentioned:
 Set the ideal standard for polite acts to refer such as Grice
 Propose the principles of politeness in communication in the form of do’s and
don’ts like Lakoff, Leech
 Specify the necessary strategies to encounter Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) in
communication as in Brown and Levinson, 1987
The most influential theory of politeness was originated by Brown and Levinson
(1978 and revised in 1987). The significant point of their theory of politeness is the concept of
“face”. The term “face” in the sense of “reputation”, or “good name” was developed from
Goffman’s concept of “face” (1955) to explain the use of politeness phenomena.
According to Brown and Levinson (1987:66), face refers to the public self-image that
every member (of a society) wants to claim for himself consisting of two related aspects:
Negative face, Positive face.

Concerned with “positive face” and “negative face”, the concepts of positive and
negative politeness are developed.
According to Yule (1996:69), negative politeness is a face saving act which oriented
to the person’s negative face will tend to show deference, emphasize the importance of the
other’s time or concerns, and even include an apology for the imposition or interruption.
Brown and Levinson state that “negative politeness is redressive action address to the
addressee’s negative face: his want to have his freedom of action unhindered and his

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attention unimpeded” (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 129). Thus, negative politeness focuses on
individualism and avoids intruding others’ privacy. It is also the most preferred in English
culture.
Unlike negative politeness, positive politeness a face saving act which is concerned
with the person’s positive face will tend to show solidarity, emphasize that both Ss and Hs
want the same thing, and that they have a common goal (Yule, 1996:69).
According to Brown and Levinson (1987:101), positive politeness is redress directed
to the addressee’s positive face, his perennial desire that his wants should be thought of as
desirable.
They also mentioned four kinds of Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) so that people could
respect others’ face, feelings and avoid FTAs.
1. Acts threatening to the hearer’s negative face by indicating that the speaker does
not intend to avoid impeding the hearer’s freedom of action. E.g.: ordering,
suggesting, threatening, requesting, promising, etc.
2. Acts threatening to the hearer’s positive face by indicating that the speaker does
not care about the addressee’s feelings and wants. E.g.: disapproving, contempting,
complaining, criticizing, disagreeing.
3. Acts threatening to the speaker’s negative face. E.g. accepting an offer, excusing,
promising unwillingly
4. Acts threatening to the speaker’s positive face. E.g.: apologizing, confessing.
Brown and Levinson also point out five macrostrategies that speakers can seek to

avoid these above Face Threatening Acts.

Circumstance determining choice of strategy
1.2.2. Social factors affecting politeness strategies

8
Brown and Levinson (1987:15) propose that three sociological factors are crucial in
determining the level of politeness which a speaker (S) will use to an addressee (H); they are
relative power (P) of H over S, the social distance (D) between S and H, and the ranking of
the imposition (R) involving in doing the face- threatening act (FTA).
As it can be seen obviously, all three dimensions P, D, and R have a great contribution
to the seriousness of the FTA which will determine the appropriate type of strategy to be used.
1.2.3. Politeness and Indirectness
The notions of indirectness and politeness play an important role in the negotiation of
face during the realization of speech acts. In fact, there are many studies on the relationship
between politeness and indirectness such as Leech (1983), Brown and Levinson (1987),
Blum- Kulka (1987), LoCastro (2003).
Brown and Levinson show that there is a close relationship between the use of indirect
speech acts and politeness. The degree of indirectness relates to the degree of face
threatening. Moreover, negative politeness is more polite than positive politeness because the
speaker puts more effort in face- preserving work of the hearer in the use of more indirect
speech acts.
LoCastro (2003) points out the link between indirectness and politeness further
supported by Searle’s observation that “politeness is the most prominent motivation for
indirectness in requests, and certain forms tend to become the conventionally polite ways of
making indirect requests” (cited in Dung, 2008).
However, Blum- Kulka (1987) has a different view on the relationship between
politeness and indirectness when studying perception of politeness and indirectness in
requests in Hebrew and English. She shows that indirectness does not necessarily imply
politeness. She also argues that too much indirectness may be perceived as lack of clarity

which is a marker of impoliteness.
Although there may be different views on the relationship between politeness and
indirectness in different cultures, in this study I believe there exists a positive correlation
between politeness and indirectness.
1.2.4. Politeness strategies
Brown and Levinson propose 15 strategies for achieving positive politeness and 10 for
negative strategies:
1.1.1.1. Positive Politeness Strategies


1. Notice, attend to H
You must be hungry, it’s a long time since
breakfast. How about some lunch?

9




Positive
Politeness
Strategies
2. Exaggerate
What a fantastic garden you have!
3. Intensify interest to H
There were a million people in the Co-op
tonight.
4. Use in-group identity markers
Come here, honey.
5. Seek agreement

A: John went to London this weekend!
B: To London!
6. Avoid disagreement
A: Can you hear me?
B: Barely.
7. Presuppose, assert common
ground
I had a really hard time learning to drive,
didn’t I?
8. Joke
Ok if I tackle those cookies now?
9. Assert or presuppose people’s
knowledge and concern for H’s
wants
I know you can’t bear parties, but this one
will really be good- do come!
10. Offer, promise
I’ll drop by sometime next week.
11. Be optimistic
Look, I’m sure you won’t mind if I borrow
your typewriter.
12. Include both S and H in the
activity
Let’s have a cookie, then.
13. Give reasons
Why don’t I help you with that suitcase?
14. Assume or assert reciprocity
I’ll do X for you if you do Y for me.
15. Give gifts
I’m really sorry to hear about that.

1.1.1.2. Negative Politeness Strategies




Negative
Politeness
Strategies
1. Be conventionally indirect
Can you please pass the salt?
2. Question, hedge
I suppose that Harry is coming.
3. Be pessimistic
Perhaps you’d care to help me.
4. Minimize the imposition
I just want to ask you if I can borrow a little
paper.
5. Give deference
Thank you, sir.
6. Apologize
I’m sorry to bother you, but …
7. Impersonalize S and H
I ask you to do this for me.
8. State FTA as a general rule
We don’t sit on tables, we sit on chairs,
Johnny.
9. Nominalize
I’m surprised at your failure to reply.
10. Go on record as incurring a debt

or off record as indebting H
I’ll never be able to repay you if you…


10
(Brown and Levinson, 1987 pp. 101-135)
1.3. Previous studies on request and politeness strategy
According to Chieko Takezawa in her M.A. thesis at the University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, Canada “Politeness and the speech act of Requesting in Japanese as a
second language” she studied how native Japanese speakers and native English speaking
learners of Japanese approached and attained their requests goals while maintaining the face
of both requester and requestee. She used oral role play to collect data. The results showed
that there was not much difference in the use of honorific language between the Japanese and
learners of Japanese. But different linguistic devices were used for sentence endings,
especially request speech act endings, between the native Japanese and the learners of
Japanese.
Thảo (2010) also studied how politeness strategies manifested in requests in the novel
“The Thorn Birds” by following the theoretical framework of Brown and Levinson 1987 in
her minor M.A. thesis at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National
University. The results show that characters in the novel use positive politeness strategies in
their requests at a little higher frequency than negative politeness and the variation of the
proportion between positive and negative politeness strategies depending on social
relationship.
According to Hòa (2010), she investigated politeness strategies in cross- cultural
communication with respect to conversations found in the coursebook Inside Out (Pre-
Intermediate). The data analysis was conducted mainly in the light of the politeness theories
by Brown & Levinson and Nguyen Quang. The results revealed that the frequency of positive
and negative politeness strategies depended largely on the relationships between the speaker
and the hearer. In addition, some suggestions were offered and sample exercises were given
for better and more effective teaching and learning of positive and negative politeness

strategies.




CHAPTER 2:
POLITNESS STRATEGIES IN REQUESTS IN THE
MOVIE SERIES “HARRY POTTER”
2.1. Politeness strategies in Requests in the movie series “Harry Potter”

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This chapter investigates how the characters in the series of movies Harry Potter make
their requests politely by the frequency of using politeness strategies in their requests as well
as how S-H relation affects their choice of politeness strategies. Brown and Levinson
framework of politeness strategies is employed in this study with 15 positive politeness
strategies and 10 negative politeness strategies.
2.2. The frequency of politeness strategies in requests employed in the movie series
“Harry Potter”
2.2.1. Sampling process
The process of collecting data consists of three steps. Firstly, all the request utterances
in the conversations of the characters in three movies series Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince
are picked up and classified by the author through her careful movie watching with the useful
support of the English subtitles. 313 requests found in three episodes of the movie Harry
Potter belong to three categories of politeness strategies employed: positive, negative and
sometimes mixed politeness strategies. Secondly, all contexts with S-H relationships are
considered in order to see how S-H relationship affects the choice of politeness strategies in
requesting by the characters in the movies. Finally, all the statistics needed for the study are
calculated carefully and presented in the following tables as well as charts.
2.2.2. The frequency of politeness strategies in requests employed in the movie series

“Harry Potter”
Positive politeness
strategies
Negative politeness
strategies
Mixed politeness
strategies
Sum
%
Sum
%
Sum
%
105
33.55%
184
58.78
24
7.67
Table 1: The statistic of positive, negative and mixed politeness strategies
The statistics can be converted into Pie-chart 1 as follows:

33.55%
58.78%
7.67%
Positive politeness strategies Negative politness strategies Mixed politness strategies

Pie- chart 1: The frequency of positive, negative and mixed politeness strategies

12

It can be seen clearly from the chart, the frequency of negative politeness strategies is
quite 1.5 times higher than the frequency of positive and mixed politeness strategies. This
seems that the presumption of Brown and Levinson about the usage of politeness strategies is
quite appropriate in Western countries. It means that negative politeness strategies are
preferred much more than positive ones because Western culture attaches more importance on
individual territory. However, according to Nguyen Quang (2002), Vietnamese people in
particular and Oriental ones tend to be more in favor of positive politeness and familiar
interactions as they wish to show their concern to or for others, and thus, narrow the distance
between S and H.
2.2.2.1. Positive politeness strategies in requests in the movie series “Harry Potter”
According to 15 positive politeness strategies in the framework of Brown and
Levinson, the requests in the three episodes are grouped as the following table:

Positive politeness strategies
Sum
%
1. Notice, attend to H
2
1.53
2. Exaggerate
0
0
3. Intensify interest to H
0
0
4. Use in- group identity markers
91
68.7
5. Seek agreement
0

0
6. Avoid disagreement
4
3.05
7. Presuppose, assert common ground
0
0
8. Joke
0
0
9. Assert or presuppose people’s knowledge and concern for
H’s wants
0
0
10. Offer, promise
2
1.53
11. Be optimistic
6
4.58
12. Include both S and H in the activity
20
16.03
13. Give reasons
6
4.58
14. Assume or assert reciprocity
2
1.53
15. Give gifts

0
0
Table 2: The statistics of positive politeness strategies


13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
%
1.53
0
0
68.7
0
3.05
0
0
0
1.53
4.58
16.03
4.58
1.53
0

PPS1
PPS2
PPS3
PPS4
PPS5
PPS6
PPS7
PPS8
PPS9
PPS10
PPS11
PPS12
PPS13
PPS14
PPS15
Chart 1: The frequency of positive politeness strategies
The chart above reveals that in the three episodes of the movies Harry Potter, positive
politeness strategy 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 15 are not found in the request utterances. However,
positive politeness strategies 1, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13 are employed quite often.
Positive politeness strategy 4: use in-group identity marker has the most usage
frequency with 68.7%. This is one of the strategies that S can use to claim common ground
with H. It appears the most effective in expressing in-group memberships with the most usage
of address forms.
E.g.: Harry, open the door. Watch it there, boy
Forget about it, guys. Keep up, girls
Positive politeness strategy 12: Include both S and H in the activity ranks the second in
term of usage frequency with over 16%. By using “we”, “us”, “let’s” in the process of
communication, the S shows that the S and H are cooperative in doing something.
E.g.: in Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban
Let’s practice it now.

Let's walk you off a tower and see what you look like.
We'd better take this back.
Positive politeness strategy 11: Be optimistic is used about 4.58% among other positive
politeness strategies to show speaker’s good attentions of helping a hearer obtain his/her
desires by asking the hearer to cooperate with the speaker in carrying out a tacit commitment.
E.g.: I think it's best if you simply cast them away.
Harry, I must insist you accompany me back to the castle immediately!
2.2.2.2 Negative politeness strategies in requests in the movie series “Harry Potter”

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Following 10 negative politeness strategies in the framework of Brown and Levinson
(1987), the NPS in the requests in the three episodes of the movie Harry Potter are grouped as
the following table:
Negative politeness strategies
Sum
%
1. Be conventionally indirect
25
11.85
2. Question, hedge
33
15.64
3. Be pessimistic
4
1.89
4. Minimize the imposition
1
0.47
5. Give deference
3

1.42
6. Apologize
3
1.42
7. Impersonalize S and H
140
66.35
8. State FTA as a general rule
0
0
9. Nominalize
2
0.96
10. Go on record as incurring a debt or off record as
indebting H
0
0
Table 3: The statistics of negative politeness strategies
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
%
11.85
15.64
1.89

0.47
1.42
1.42
66.35
0
0.96
0
NPS1
NPS2
NPS3
NPS4
NPS5
NPS6
NPS7
NPS8
NPS9
NPS10

Chart 2: The frequency of negative politeness strategies
From the chart above, we can see clearly that the characters in the three episodes of
the movies Harry Potter seem to be more in favor of employing negative politeness strategies

15
as most of negative politeness strategies are used in making requests except for negative
politeness strategy 8 and 10.
The negative politeness strategy 7: Impersonalize S and H accounts for about 67% in
comparison with other strategies. With this kind of strategy speaker do not want to put any
imposition on hearer by avoiding using “I” and “you”. Moreover, it is realized by the most
use of imperative utterances, performative verbs and impersonal verbs.
E.g.: Do as I say. Take my hand.

Don’t use that name. Leave it alone.
The use of questions and hedges is also quite often in making requests with 15.64%
to make hearer feel less threatened and more polite.
E.g.: In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:
- Harry, wonder if I might have a word.
- Less talking, if you don't mind.
in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:
- Perhaps you could give us the last unforgiveable curse, Ms Granger.
- I think it's unwise for you to linger over these dreams, Harry.
or in Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince:
- Well, I think you should put it back in order for them, don't you?
- I think your question had better be posed to Professor Snape.
Characters in the movies seem to be interested in this kind of strategy Be
conventionally indirect with nearly 12% of using it in their requests. It is believed that the
more indirect an utterance is, the more effort speaker puts on the face-preserving work, and
therefore the more he will be seen as trying to satisfy H’s face wants.
E.g.: - May I help your arm? - Will you join me, please?
- Would you like me to fix it for you?
Although the negative politeness strategy 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 are also employed in making
requests by the characters in the movies, the frequency is not as high as the others. They are
just used in some specific situations.
E.g.: Not trying to lure Potter into one of the Ministry's summer internships, are we?
(Strategy 3: Be pessimistic strategy)
- Got a bit of toothpaste. (Strategy 4: Minimize the imposition)
- Mr. Filch, if you please. (Strategy 5: Give deference)
- Forgive my mawkishness, Harry. (Strategy 6: Apologize)
- Your attention, please. (Strategy 7: Nominalize)

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2.3. Politeness strategies in the movie series Harry Potter and S-H relationship

S - H relationship under the research is classified into three categories: close
relationship, neutral relationship and far relationship in which close relationship is understood
as the relationship between: family members, close friends, students and intimate professors;
neutral relationship is for friend - friend, professor - professor, student - professor, boss -
slave and acquaintances; far relationship is for enemies and strangers.
2.3.1. Positive politeness strategies and S - H relationships
S- H relationship
Positive politeness strategies
Sum
%
Close relationship
72
54.96
Neutral relationship
47
35.88
Far relationship
12
9.16
The statistics can be converted into the following pie chart:







Pie chart 3: The frequency of positive politeness strategies under S-H relationship
From the chart above, we can see clearly that people who have close relationship such
as family members, close friends or students and intimate professors account for a big number

nearly 55% in using positive politeness strategies to show their solidarity and closeness.
For example: in the conversation between Harry Potter and his dear professor Hagrid,
Mr Hagrid is fond of using positive politeness strategies in making requests to instruct Harry
how to get access to a Buckbeak.
- Not so fast, Harry (Strategy 4)
- Slow down, Harry (Strategy 4)
Moreover, in neutral relationship between normal friends, students - professors,
professors - professors in Hogwarts magical school, people seem to be in favor of using
positive politeness strategies about 36 % to make friends with each other.
For example: when Harry Potter asks two classmates how to get Hogsmeade village,
they employ some positive strategies to have closer relationship.
54.96%
35.88%
9.16%
Close relationship Neutral relationship Far relationship

17
- Guys, let me go. (Strategy 4)
- We’ll get you there. (Strategy 12)
- We’ll show you a quicker way. (Strategy 12)
On the other hand, far relationship including enemies and strangers in the movies use
positive politeness strategies much less than the other two groups with just over 9 %.
For example: in the conversation of Harry Potter and his biggest enemy Voldemort-
the Lord of Dark, Voldemort pretends to be friendly and close with Harry by using such
strategies.
- Pick up your wand, Potter. (Strategy 4)
- Come on, now, Harry. The niceties must be observed. (Strategy 4)
- Don’t turn your back on me, Harry Potter. (Strategy 4)
However, the common feature of three groups is that the characters in the movie use
positive politeness strategy 4: Use in-group identity markers much more often than any other

positive politeness strategies, over 50% for each group of relationship.
2.2.2. Negative politeness strategies and S - H relationships
Negative politeness strategies
Close
relationship
Neutral
relationship
Far relationship
Sum
%
Sum
%
Sum
%
1. Be conventionally indirect
6
7.89
14
13.21
5
16.67
2. Question, hedge
9
11.84
21
19.81
3
10
3. Be pessimistic
1

1.32
1
0.94
2
6.67
4. Minimize the imposition
1
1.32
0
0
1
3.33
5. Give deference
0
0
3
2.83
0
0
6. Apologize
1
1.32
2
1.89
0
0
7. Impersonalize S and H
58
76.32
63

59.43
19
63.33
8. State FTA as a general rule
0
0
0
0
0
0
9. Nominalize
0
0
2
1.89
0
0
10. Go on record as incurring a debt or
off record as indebting H
0
0
0
0
0
0
Table 6: The statistics of negative politeness strategies and S- H relationship
The statistics can be converted into the following pie chart:

18

35.85%
50.00%
14.15%
Close relationship Neutral relationship Far relationship

Pie chart 4: The frequency of negative politeness strategies under S-H relationship
There is no doubt from the pie chart that neutral relationship category accounts for
about a half in the total use of negative politeness strategies in making requests compared to
the other 2 groups with the most typical negative politeness strategy 7: Impersonalize S and
H. In addition, questions, hedges and be conventional indirect are employed commonly in
characters’ requests in order to minimize the imposition of the speaker on the hearer.
For example: in the conversation between the head master of the Hogwarts school - professor
Dumbledore and his colleague professor Horace Dumbledore employed negative politeness
strategies in his requests.
Well, I think we should put it back in order for them, don’t you?
Do you mind if I use the loo?
(Negative politeness strategy 2)
or Luna offers to fix Peter’s face:
Would you like me to fix it for you? (Negative politeness strategy 1)
Close relationship group ranks the second in the usage of negative politeness strategies with
nearly 36%. They also use the negative politeness strategy 7 most with the form of
imperative utterances by avoiding using I and you in their requests.
E.g.: In the close relationship between Harry and professor Dumbledore:
I would like you to meet an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn.
(Negative politeness strategy 1)
Take my arm.
Do as I say.
(Negative Politeness Strategy 7: Imperative)
Far relationship is rarely met in the movie, so the less usage of negative as well as positive
politeness strategies than other groups with just over 14 % is understood easily. People often

use negative politeness strategy 7, 1, 2 to be more polite and make the hearer feel less
threatened.
E.g.: Harry with his enemy Malfoy
Come on.

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Enjoy your ride back to London.
(Negative Politeness Strategy 7)




PART 3: CONCLUSION
1. Recapitulation
According to the study of the manifestation of 15 positive politeness strategies and 10
negative politeness strategies of Brown & Levinson 1987 employed in making requests,
characters in the movies are more in favor of using negative politeness strategies with 58.78%
than the positive ones with just 33.55%. They sometimes use mixed politeness strategies in
making requests, about over 7%. Among 15 positive politeness strategies, strategy 4: Use in
group identity marker is employed the most with nearly 69% when the speaker tries to give
address action to a hearer’s positive face. However, there is no occurrence of strategy 2, 3, 6,
7, 8, 9, 14, 15 in making requests. In terms of negative politeness strategies, characters in the
movies prefer using strategy 7: Impersonalize S and H much more than other strategies with
nearly 67% in order to minimize the imposition on hearer by using imperative utterance
instead of using “I” and “you”.
Regarding the role of S - H relationship in using politeness strategies, it is revealed
that in terms of positive politeness strategies, people who have close relationship tend to
employ more than the other groups about nearly 1.5 times to show their closeness and
solidarity whereas neutral relationship category accounts for over 35% and far relationship
one occupies just over 9%. On the other hand, in general, characters in the movies employ

negative politeness strategies more than the positive ones. Especially, characters having
neutral relationship prefer using negative politeness strategies with nearly 50% in comparison
with the two others groups: close relationship (35.85%) and far relationship (14.15%).
2. Implications for teaching politeness strategies in requests
Firstly, teachers should help students be more aware of cross-cultural differences in
employing politeness strategies effectively. For example, the finding of the research shows
that English speakers prefer using negative politeness strategies in making request than using
positive ones. So, Vietnamese speakers should pay attention to using negative politeness
strategies rather than positive ones when making requests in order to minimize the imposition
on the hearers and let them have more freedom in doing things.

20
Secondly, it is advisable for teachers to focus on teaching functions of language by
attracting students to take part in teachers’ designed activities like role- play, presentation, etc.
rather than its structures so that students are able to use language appropriately and effectively
in their communication.
Finally, when teaching politeness strategies in making requests, teachers should put
them in specific context and point out the considerable influence of social factors in the
choices of using politeness strategies. For example, instead of teaching the rules or patterns of
requesting languages, teachers should employ specific contexts such as between friends,
student- professor, customer- seller, etc. in their lectures.
3. Limitations of the study
Despite the writer’s great effort, the study has shown many inevitable shortcomings
and weaknesses due to the writer’s limited knowledge of the field as well as ability of
carrying out research.
Moreover, owing to the limited size of a minor M.A. thesis, it is impossible for me to
investigate the politeness strategies in requests in the movie series more deeply and
thoroughly. The author just would like to focus on verbal communication, but other important
factors such as non-linguistic factors (facial expression, gestures, eye contact, etc.),
paralinguistic factors such as intonation, pause, speed of speech, etc. are not taken into

consideration in my study.
In addition, the author just focuses on the politeness strategies in requests by the
characters in three episodes of the movie series Harry Potter instead of the all eight episodes
of the movie. Thus, it is advisable for others to study politeness strategies in requests of the all
movie series as well as study other speech acts like complaining, promising, criticizing, etc.
Finally, in the process of collecting and analyzing data, modern supportive tools were
not employed so it was quite hard for the author to conduct the data and statistics. Thus, it is
highly recommended to use supportive tools in collecting and analyzing data.
4. Suggestions for further research
Although limitations are not avoidable in my study, the study can serve as the
background for further studies such as:
- Investigating politeness strategies in requests in the whole movie Harry Potter.
- Comparing and Contrasting the use of politeness strategies in requests by English
speakers and Vietnamese speakers.
- Comparing and Contrasting the use of politeness strategies in requests in literary
works in English and Vietnamese.

21
- Studying on the social factors affecting the use of politeness strategies in requests.
- Studying politeness strategies in another kind of FTA, for example: complaining,
criticizing, etc. in the movie series Harry Potter.

References
In English:
1. Austin, J. L. (1962), How to Do Things with Words, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge.
2. Blum-Kulka, S. (1987), “Indirectness and Politeness in Requests: Same or
Different?”, Journal of Pragmatics 11, pp. 131-146.
3. Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (1989), Cross-Cultural Pragmatics:
Requests and Apologies, Vol. 31, New Directions in Discourse Processing, Norwood,

NJ: Ablex.
4. Brown G., Yule G. (1983), Discourse Analysis, CUP, Cambridge.
5. Brown P., Levinson S.C. (1987), Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage,
CUP, Cambridge.
6. Dung, T.T.V (2008), A comparative study on politeness strategies in complaining in
American and Vietnamese cultures, M.A thesis, ULIS- VNU Hanoi.
7. Lakoff, R. (1975). Language and Woman's Place. New York: Harper and Row
8. Leech, G. (1983), Principles of Pragmatics, Longman, London.
9. Levinson, S. C. (1983), Pragmatics, CUP, Cambridge.
10. Locastro, V. (2003), An Introduction to Pragmatics: Social Action for Language
Teachers, University of Michigan press.
11. Gino, E. (2001), A critique of Politeness Theories, St. Jerome Pub.
12. Hoa N. T (2010), A study on Politeness Strategies in the conversations of the
course book “Inside out” pre-intermediate, minor MA thesis, ULIS, VNU Hanoi.
13. Quang N. (2006), Lecture-notes on Cross-cultural Communication. ULIS, VNU,
Hanoi.
14. Searle, J. R. (1969), Speech Acts – An Essay in the Philosophy of Language, CUP,
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15. Searle, J. R. (1975), “Indirect Speech Acts”, In Cole P., Morgan J. L. (ed.), Syntax
and Semantics 3: Speech Acts, pp. 41-58, Academic Press, New York.
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5, pp. 1-23.

22
17. Searle, J. R. (1979), Expression and Meaning: Studies in the theory of speech acts,
CUP, Cambridge.
18. Tam, H.C, (1998), Requests by Australian Native Speakers of English and
Vietnamese Learners of English, MA thesis, Latrobe University, Australia.
19. Thanh, D. T. M (2000), Some English- Vietnamese Cross Cultural Differences in
Requesting, M.A. Thesis, ULIS, VNU Hanoi.

20. Thao, N. T. P (2010), Politeness strategies in Requests in “The Thorn Bird”,
Minor MA thesis, ULIS, VNU Hanoi.
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thesis, ULIS, VNU Hanoi.
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In Vietnamese:
1. Nguyen Van Do (2004), Tìm hiểu mối quan hệ giữa ngôn ngữ và văn hóa, NXB
ĐH Quốc gia Hà Nội.
2. Nguyen Quang (2002), Giao tiếp và giao văn hóa, NXB ĐH Quốc gia Hà Nội.
3. Nguyen Quang (2004), Một số vấn đề về giao tiếp nội văn hóa và giao thoa văn
hóa, NXB ĐH Quốc gia Hà Nội.
4. Nguyen Quang (2005), Các chiến lược lịch sự dương tính trong giao tiếp ngôn từ
Việt- Anh, NXB ĐH Quốc gia Hà Nội.