Abstract

Juliaans E.R. Marantika, Jolanda Tomasouw, Jhoni Lagun Siang

Politeness is an important aspect of human interaction. In daily communication, misunderstandings often occur due to inappropriate use of language. This aspect must be taught in teaching and learning so that students are trained to apply it in daily communication. In fact, the teaching and learning process is often more focused on mastering vocabulary and grammar to support language skills rather than politeness. This study aims to obtain a picture of the level of politeness of students communicating in the context of German language and culture. How do they use the strategy to keep the face of their speech partner? When commenting, for example, do they deliver using direct speech acts or are they more likely to choose indirect forms. The results of the study illustrate that the knowledge of students' politeness in speaking needs to be improved. Although they have learned German, including its communication culture, students still use Indonesian patterns in communication. In asking their friends to do an action or by giving some comment, for example they are more likely to use indirect forms, lthough according to the context of communication actually considered polite if delivered with a direct pattern. That happened because they lacked in training how to use language in the context of German culture. For this reason, it is necessary to adjust the curriculum of the German department to accommodate politeness training process in speaking skills. Linguistics skills that are taught for certain communication contests such as asking for help, borrowing something, inviting, answering questions, making comments, rejecting, conveying information, giving opinions etc.must be complemented with an exercise in how that context authentically used in German culture.