What Do Iranian EFL Learners and Teachers Think of Teaching Impoliteness?

Abstract

Every language involves friendly and polite as well as hostile and impolite situations<br />in which language users have to use the context-appropriate language. However,<br />unlike politeness which has generated a great number of studies, few studies have<br />been conducted on impoliteness especially in EFL contexts. The present study aimed<br />to see whether language learners and teachers hold the same idea concerning<br />teaching impoliteness in an Iranian EFL context. One hundred EFL learners and 70<br />EFL teachers were surveyed through a questionnaire. The results indicated that the<br />language learners and teachers differed significantly in their attitudes towards most<br />of the issues related to impoliteness. However, gender was not a determining factor<br />in this regard, as the only aspect of impoliteness in which gender made a significant<br />difference was the level of proficiency deemed appropriate for teaching<br />impoliteness.