More than words: Linguistic and nonlinguistic politeness in two cultures

This article extends the validity of politeness theory ( P. Brown & S. Levinson, 1987) by investigating the nonlinguistic aspects of politeness in 2 cultures. Politeness strategies expressed through different channels of communication (silent video, speech. full-channel video and audio, and transcripts of speech) were examined, and it was found that politeness strategies were communicated nonlinguistically as well as linguistically and that nonlinguistic strategy usage was related to social and contextual factors. Two studies revealed that Koreans' politeness strategies were influenced more by relational cues. whereas Americans' strategies were influenced more by the content of the message. This research represents a Ist attempt to explore the nonlinguistic communication of politeness across cultures.