Abstract

The satisfaction of needs for face is a common pursuit for all people. English majors, because of the characteristics of the subject, are often required to practice with high frequency their language skills in the classroom, which is a public place holding the rest of their classmates. Consequently, English majors’ request for the satisfaction of face is much stronger. This paper, based on Brown & Levinson’s face theory, introduces how teachers of English majors, have been consciously and unconsciously adopting face-saving strategies in their classroom instructions so as to save students’ positive and negative face. This can help to inspire students’ enthusiasm in learning English and achieve the best teaching effects.

Key words: face-saving theories, positive face, negative face, teachers of English majors, classroom teaching

摘 要

面子需求的满足是所有人的共同追求。英语专业的学生由于其专业特点，经常被要求在课堂这样一个公开场合中高频率地训练自身的英语语言各项技能，因而对面子的需求更加强烈。本文依据布朗和列文森的面子理论，阐述了在课堂教学中，大学英语专业教师如何通过有意或者无意地使用面子保全策略，极大地保护学生的积极面子和消极面子，激发学生学习英语的热情，从而达到最好的教学效果。

关键词： 面子保全策略；积极面子；消极面子；英语专业教师；课堂教学

1.    Introduction
Politeness, an important symbol of civilization and development in human history, is also a criterion for all human activities. Being polite is a window through which an individual’s cultivation can be seen. Face is an important aspect of politeness. Face, as a socio-psychological concept, is constantly pursued and cherished by people with different cultural backgrounds. There are several places where face is especially stressed, and class is one of them, especially English classes. It is quite obvious that both the polite expressions and strategies can play crucial roles in building a harmonious relationship between teachers and students, and helping students communicate smoothly with their teachers.
Unlike other courses, the study of English requires a combination of the practice of skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. English majors usually communicate more with their teachers due to the frequent chances of expressing their own opinions in class. The fact that English majors may sometimes feel nervous in class makes it necessary for their teachers to apply face-saving strategies in classroom teaching. In addition, English majors in China usually stress more on the abilities of writing and reading, and are sometimes nervous and fearful to speak English in public for most of them do not have the adequate confidence about their performance in front of lots of people for fear that they might lose face if they fail to do a good job. This phenomenon causes side effects to their progress during the process of English acquisition. Therefore, with the hope of ensuring the face of their students, establishing a more harmonious atmosphere in the classroom and helping students to overcome the psychological barriers in their studies of the English language, teachers of English majors should bear the responsibility to apply face-saving strategies in their classroom teaching whenever necessary.