3.3-§. Using negative politeness expressions and sentence frames in e-mails Email communication is placed within the computer-mediated discourse (CMD) field, which is in turn the branch of a broader field called computer-mediated communication (CMC)99. The function of emails can be both transactional and interactional. It means that they are sent with the purpose of not only receiving and sending information but also establishing and maintaining a social relationship100. S. Graham and C. Hardaker defined emails as a highly asynchronous medium of communication as there is usually a time-lapse between the time something is sent and the time that message is read. Then, they emphasized that “the more asynchronous an environment is, the more likely it is that any perception of impoliteness will expand and multiply within a community”101.
Writing an email based on the right politeness etiquette is not an easy task and requires both pragmalinguistic (the knowledge of what the appropriate forms are) and sociopragmatic (the knowledge of when these forms are contextually appropriate) knowledge102. Adhering to appropriate language functions in academic contexts where the relationships are mainly hierarchical is significant and students are expected to use language and email markers which comply with and acknowledge the higher status of their professors103. Therefore, they need to make appropriate pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic choices to meet e-politeness etiquettes. This seems to be more challenging for non-native speaker students who are sending emails in a foreign/second language104.
To quote P. Brown and S. Levinson: “Negative politeness is redressive action addressed to the addressee’s negative Face: his want to have his freedom of action unhindered and his attention unimpeded.”105 The strategies are always aimed at minimizing the particular imposition of the FTA. Brown and Levinson claim that negative politeness is what we most often associate with politeness in western cultures106. Negative politeness operates across five broad mechanisms such as Be direct, Don’t presume, Don’t coerce, which are further divided into ten output strategies. In the following section we are going to predominantly focus on outline of the particular strategies and their examples.
