Knowledge of politeness and polite expressions in English language use is vital for every school going child to thrive and succeed in society as well as contribute to its well-being. The English language teacher, on top of teaching grammar, comprehension and composition writing, ought to focus on how effortlessly language can be used to establish lasting health interpersonal relations. This study was conducted in Makerere University, school of education and external studies, department of humanities and language education, in the English language and literature in English section. The study focused on the English language teacher trainers (ELTT) and Preservice English language teachers (PELT) as the unit of analysis. The main objective was to establish the aspects of politeness and polite expressions ELTT nurtured in the PELT. The study was qualitatively conducted and in-depth interviews guide, focus group discussions guide and document analysis guide were the instruments used to collect data. The results revealed that politeness and polite expressions are not catered for in the English language Teaching (ELT) curriculum, but the teacher trainers nurtured politeness spontaneously as situations arose during lecturer-learner interactions. The study recommends that politeness and polite expressions be included in the ELT curriculum, moderate the number of PELT admitted and a policy on mark allocation be tabled so that lecture attendance, participation and research work take the greatest percentage of the marks in order to neutralise the grade-centric mindset of the learners and encourage lecture attendance.

Authors:
Nicholas Isaac Mukwana, Makerere University, Uganda
Connie Masembe Ssebbunga, Makerere University, Uganda

About the Presenter(s)
Mr. Nicholas Isaac Mukwana is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Humanities and Language Education in the College of Education and External Studies at Makerere University. His Research study focuses on the Interpersonal Communication Skills.

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Connect on ResearchGate
https://openresearchafrica.org/my/Mukwananicholasisaac

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