Positive Politeness in Writing-Centre Consultations with an Emphasis on Praise

Abstract In a writing centre, learning takes place during conversations between the writing-centre tutor and the student. This interaction is an integral part of writing-centre research and is the focus of this largely qualitative study which employs a politeness lens. There is very little research that specifically addresses praise as a positive politeness strategy. This study attempts to fill this gap by analysing video-recorded consultations to determine how tutors in a writing centre utilise the positive politeness strategy of praise. Findings indicate that while tutors exploit a range of politeness strategies, praise is used more often than any other strategy and is utilised significantly more when commenting on higher-order concerns, which is in line with the writing-centre literature. The benefits of this study include insights into how such analyses can be used to better prepare and equip writing-centre tutors for the work they do.