Cultural Codes in Writing Politeness Formulas. A Study in French as a Foreign Language

Abstract

Taking into consideration the problematic of politeness codes in French commercial letters, this article analyzes the way Romanian students write politeness formulas in French as a Foreign Language in several written contexts. We deal with the specificity of writing commercial letters, as they appear in Business French manuals published in France and we discuss a brief theoretical approach to politeness, stressing the specificity of politeness formulas. Our analysis' object is represented by Romanian students writing productions during the evaluation exams of a Business French seminar. This analysis endeavours to verify to which extent students can fit into the schema of different contexts. Our hypothesis is that there is a high degree of difficulty in the writing of politeness formulas in French Business communication, and in accordance with the French politeness norms. The results show that Romanians student have a tendency to make up politeness formulas (influenced by their native language-Romanian- and their first foreign language-English) or to mix several communication styles.