Correlation between Linguistic Competence and the Application Level of Linguistic Politeness Strategies

刘静

Abstract：Politeness principles has received more and more attention from domestic scholars in the world of linguistics and pragmatics since 1970s，but it is still vague to most researchers because of the complexity and controversy.This paper，based on current literature，examines and analyzes the following issues：the different aspects of linguistic competence，different levels of linguistic competence，the correlation between linguistic competence and application level of linguistic politeness strategies.

Keywords：linguistic competence；linguistic politeness strategies；application level；correlation

1.Literature Review

1.1 Face Theory

Grice，in the 1975 years，put forward "cooperative principle" to explain how people cooperate with each other in speech communication，namely according to keep quality，quantity，four principles and ways，to facilitate the communication smoothly.But in actual social life，people in very many cases do not adhere to the principle of partnership.What is the motive of such violation of the cooperative principle？ Brown and Levinson（1987）attributed such deviation to a consideration of politeness.Based on the sociology Goffmans face behavior theory，Brown and Levinson set up their own "face theory" to explain language manners like in hand in the international.

Brown and Levinsons Face Theory is based on Goffmans face behavior theory.They believe that all the social member has a rational face.An face have two aspects of mutual contact：Negative Face，namely the individual right to freedom，without interference；Positive Face，that is，positive self shape，which included at this kind of self-image by credit to desire.Brown and Levinson further define face as people's basic desire or demand，and negative face refers that people want their action not to be interferenced，and active face refers approval of ideas or needs from others.

1.2 Leech：Politeness Principle

Following after Brown and Levinsons face theory，there comes into being Leechs politeness principle.Leech describes this theory as：

do fewer reduction（other factors under the condition of equal）impolite beliefs of table；Try to increase（other factor to phase）polite beliefs table.And the ritual and impolite beliefs are advantageous or disadvantageous beliefs to the listener or the third person.Advantageous or not，it can be measured in some phase value scale.These feet degrees with a generation of price benefits，consistent with the praise，praise，with affection，etc.

There is an overarching framework for studying linguistic politeness phenomena in communication：a common principle of politeness（Leech，1983，2002）and a Grand Strategy of Politeness（GSP），which is evident in common linguistic behavior pattern s in the performance of polite speech acts such as requests，offers，compliments，apologies，thanks，and responses to these.The G S P says simply：In order to be polite，a speaker communicates meanings which（a）place a high value on w hat relates to t he other person（typically the addressee）and（b）place a low value on what relates to the speaker.

2.Correlation between Linguistic Competence and the Application Level of Linguistic Politeness Strategies

About language and manners of cognitive development related research shows that language may be the important factor that influences the understanding and application of the individual politeness.Those studies subjected at children with reading difficulty，language impairment and learning difficulties found that the politeness strategy has different degree of backward development.

Also，Language ability is a very broad concept，covering different levels，such as vocabulary，syntax，reading，and working memory.Besides，it also involves different forms such as written and oral.In the past research，used wechsler intelligence tests，Peabody picture vocabulary test can only give data that reflect a particular aspect of children's language ability.Because the previous formulation of language skills and the conclusion is too general，there are always misunderstanding and confusion.In a strict sense，the language knowledge and language politeness are different aspects of language competence development.The former focuses on the simple symbols function such as vocabulary，syntax，namely the expressing effect of instrumental intention in communication，while the latter is on the premise of instrumental intention expression，emphasizing on interpersonal communication effect，and belongs to a higher level of social pragmatic competence.

At present，the research on polite language acquisition are mainly based on developmental psychology methodology and acquisition theory，and through the transection and track design，under a specific cultural context.Existing researches are mainly carried out along the two ideas：one is from the angle of internal psychological process understanding politeness strategies and its law of development，and another Is from the external language behavior level of politeness strategies using level.

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