Acting the Intangible: Hints of Politeness in Non-Verbal Form

Acting the Intangible: Hints of Politeness in Non-Verbal Form
Jumanto Jumanto, Sarif Rizal, Raden Nugroho

Abstract

This review paper has explored politeness in non-verbal form to come to hints for indicating the ideology. Politeness in non-verbal form is researched by reviewing verbal politeness theories through interpretive techniques, and then the data in form of interpreted hints based on the reviews are analyzed by employing a coding technique. The six non-verbal hints of politeness found out based on the theoretical reviews are silence for politeness, gestures for politeness, gifts for politeness, observance of norms, rules, and regulations for politeness, adjusted behavior for politeness, and performance for politeness. The hints expectedly provide a sufficient account for non-verbal politeness in interactions or communication between a speaker and a hearer. The findings also encourage promoting harmony among speakers of languages in non-verbal interactions or communication, especially in formal situations or in the general public. The hints are hopefully also worth considering in the context of English language teaching and learning across languages and cultures in the world.

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DOI:10.5539/elt.v10n11p111