Subtopics or

Concepts
Politeness
Theory (Brown
& Levinson)
Positive face

Negative face
threatening acts

Definition
The attempt to not violate
another's face needs when
conversing.

Tutoring Implications
Keep in mind that a tutee may have
low self esteem or defensiveness
towards their work.

Protecting another individual's self Use this tactic when tutoring writers
esteem.
with low self esteem to avoid giving
i.e. Not insulting or belittling
feedback that may be negatively
worded.
Allowing an individual to have
full autonomy.
i.e. Not ordering or requesting.

Consider this method when tutoring

self directed tutees to allow the student
to feel freedom to lead the session.

Positive
politeness

Messages that adhere to an

individual's desire to be approved
of socially.
i.e. Im an English major too!

Use this method for building rapport

and commonalities.

Negative
politeness

Messages that adhere to an

individual's desire for autonomy.

Negative politeness is effective for

suggesting changes to a paper. Such
as, Maybe you should phrase it this
way...

An attitude that an individual hold

about him or herself.

Encouragement will build self esteem,

and in turn can be utilized to engage a
tutee with his or her work.

Self esteem

Cooperative
The theory that all participants in
principle (Grice) a conversation will abide by four
maxims (quantity, quality,
relevance, and manner).
Cognitive
scaffolding

Self-efficacy

Be mindful of this principle when

conversing with ESL students who
may unintentionally violate a maxim.

A strategy for providing structured Consider this strategy when working

support to students in regards to
with returning students to build upon
idea generation and revision
past sessions.
tactics.
i.e. Whats the next step?
An individual's belief in their
ability to achieve success.

Building self-efficacy assists positive

reinforcement which is useful when
working with students who are
insecure or unsure of how to begin a

paper.
Socially
distancing
behavior

Removing oneself socially from a

group, can be due to cultural
differences.

Be mindful that too many politeness

strategies may make a student feel
indifferent to suggestions.

Hedging

A negative politeness strategy that

delays a response.
i.e. I think, maybe...

Consider this method for situations

where a student's self esteem may be
negatively affected and use hedging to
avoid uncomfortable situations.