A socio-pragmatic comparative study of

2. 14. The Notion of Face 
In communication between two or more persons, the positive image or impression of 
oneself that one shows or intends to show to the other participant is called face. In any 
social meeting between people, the participants attempt to communicate a positive 
image of themselves which reflects the values and beliefs of the participants. For 
example, Alice's face during a particular meeting might be that of a sophisticated, 
intelligent, witty, and educated person. If this image is not accepted by the other 
participants, feelings may be hurt, and there will be consequent loss of face. Social 
contacts between people thus involve what has been called face-work by Goffman 
(1959). According to Goffman, the term face-work refers to the efforts by participants 
to communicate a positive face and to prevent loss of face. 
According to Brown and Levinson (1978), two aspects of people's feelings are involved 
with face. The first is the desire of the individual not to be imposed on. They have used 
the term negative face to refer to this aspect of people's feelings. The second, however, 
is the desire of the individual to be liked or approved of. This was referred to as positive 
face. In deciding how much to take another person's feelings into account, three factors 
must be considered: 
1. People are usually more polite to others who are distant; 
2. People are generally more polite to others when they are of higher status or are 
perceived as being powerful;
3. People are usually more polite in relation to the gravity of the threat they are about 
to make to the other's face. 

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CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE 
33
Politeness, therefore, is the manifestation of respect for another's face. Positive 
politeness involves strategies that let the addressee know s/he is liked and approved of. 
Positive politeness signals to the addressee that s/he is considered a friend or a member 
of the speaker's in-group. Negative politeness, on the other hand, involves a show of 
deference and an assurance that the speaker does not wish to disturb or to interfere with 
the other's freedom. 
Many communicative acts inherently threaten the face needs of one or both participants. 
These are usually referred to as face-threatening acts (or FTA's). When contemplating 
performance of an FTA, speakers may select from among the following five general 
strategies: 
1. A speaker may perform the FTA "baldly," without making any attempt to 
acknowledge the hearer's face wants; 
2. A speaker may perform the FTA while attending to the hearer's positive face 
wants, using what Brown and Levinson (1987) label a positive politeness 
strategy; 
3. A speaker may go off-record in performing the FTA. The speaker performs the act 
in such a vague manner that could be interpreted by the hearer as some other act; 
4. A speaker may perform the FTA with negative politeness, acknowledging the 
hearer's negative face wants, the desire to be unimpeded and not imposed on;
5. A speaker may avoid doing the FTA altogether. The speaker does not perform the 
FTA at all. 
(cf. Brown and Levinson, 1987: 103-210)