Analysis of politeness strategies in the Editorials of

Abstract

The study seeks to explore the use of politeness strategies in editorials of Daily Guide and Daily Graphic newspapers. The study explores the communicative functions and similarities and differences that exist in the use of politeness strategies in the Daily Guide and Daily Graphic. Grounded in the qualitative approach of research, the study employed a constructed month sampling to select weekly editorials of the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide within a specific time frame. A qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data sampled. The findings of the study revealed that all the strands of Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategies were used in the editorials of the selected newspapers. Positive politeness is the most used strategy in the two editorials while negative, bald-on-record and off-record politeness strategies were sparingly used. Again, the findings revealed that whereas positive politeness aims to enhance closeness and camaraderie through friendliness, jokes and adhering to the readers’ interest, negative politeness sought to mitigate threats through deference and respect. The study recommends newspaper editors to employ courteous language in their presentation so that their readers may employ fewer impolite words in their interactions. Again, the study recommends writers of the editorials to aim at inculcating politeness strategies through instruction.