Utilizing Formulaic Request Strategies in an ESL Classroom

This study embarks on the effect of explicit instruction of formulaic politeness strategies among Malaysian undergraduates in making request. Fifty undergraduate Malaysian students took part in this study. The data were cumulated through open ended completion test, listening test and an acceptability test. The data were analyzed based on the model proposed by Blum-Kulka et al., (1989) analytical framework. The bulk of studies done on the effectiveness of the instruction in the literature suggests that students outperformed in the post-test compared to the pre-test and this confirms the positive effect of teaching formulaic politeness strategies in this study.