The use of politeness strategies in Headway and Interchange series

The present study aimed at exploring the politeness strategy types within Headway and Interchange series of EFL textbooks at the intermediate level. It attempted to explore whether there are any significant differences between politeness strategies employed in Interchange and Headway series of EFL textbooks. It also tried to ascertain if there are any significant differences between the old and new versions of the text books and also if there are any differences in the Interchange Series textbooks at the three proficiency levels (Interchange 1, 2 and 3). The frequency and form of politeness strategies within these two series of textbooks were examined and categorized based on the politeness strategies of list developed by Safari (2014) based on wellknown politeness models. The politeness strategies within Headway and Interchange series of EFL textbooks were compared using the analysis of Chi-square and descriptive analysis. The results revealed that there were significant differences between two selected series of textbooks in terms of frequency and form, there was a significant difference between the old and new versions of the textbooks, but there was no significant differences in the Interchange Series textbooks at the three proficiency levels in the use of politeness strategies.