Comparing politeness in Australian and Indonesian students: A cross-cultural perspective in academic interaction

Degaf, Agwin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8551-0867, Anggrisia, Nur Fitria ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6862-7181 and Ilmi, Assayyidah Bil Ichromatil ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7826-1509 (2026) Comparing politeness in Australian and Indonesian students: A cross-cultural perspective in academic interaction. Jordan Journal of Modern Languages and Literatures (JJMLL), 18 (3). pp. 1109-1136. ISSN 1994- 6953

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Abstract

Language politeness reflects communicative intentions as well as cultural norms embedded in everyday interaction. Although politeness has been widely examined in intercultural pragmatics, differences in its use across cultural contexts remain important to explore. This study compares politeness strategies used by Indonesian and Australian university students in academic interactions. Data were collected through a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) involving sixteen participants, consisting of eight Indonesian and eight Australian students, who responded to simulated interactions with peers, lecturers, and university staff. The findings show that Australian students predominantly employed negative politeness strategies, particularly to respect individual autonomy and minimize imposition. Indonesian students, in contrast, used a broader range of positive and negative politeness strategies associated with collectivist values and diglossic language practices. Religious greetings and deferential forms of address were frequently found in the Indonesian data, whereas Australian participants more commonly relied on hedging and indirect expressions. These findings demonstrate that politeness is culturally shaped and sensitive to interactional context. The study highlights the importance of cultural awareness in academic communication and recommends further research using spoken data and larger samples to examine multilingual and digital communication contexts.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Keywords:	politeness; culture; students; university; pragmatics
Subjects:	20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2004 Linguistics > 200403 Discourse and Pragmatics
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities > Department of English Language and Letters
Depositing User:	Dr. Agwin Degaf
Date Deposited:	26 Oct 2026 08:40

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