“What a beautiful world. But is it the world we live in?”

Abstract

The present two-phased study set out to identify simplified and non-simplified sources of input popular among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) and to compare and contrast the manifestations of impoliteness strategies and responses to them in such resources. First, a rather comprehensive survey conducted among 250 adult EFL learners revealed that English TV series and movies of comedy and crime genres were the most popular non-simplified sources of input, while the popular simplified sources were American English File and Interchange ELT textbooks. Then, the results of our in-depth qualitative-quantitative, comparative, macro- and micro-analysis (adopting a variety of stringent incivility frameworks) indicated there were noticeable quantitative and/or qualitative differences in (re-)presenting face-threatening acts between the two sources. Generally, while EFL learners are not judiciously familiarized with various impoliteness strategies and their responses in the textbooks, they are almost bombarded with them through their favourite media. Underlining the inherent instructional and motivational impact of both language input sources and the possible detrimental bearing of underrepresentation and/or overrepresentation of impoliteness for the learners’ pragmatic competence, the study concludes with a discussion of our findings’ implications for stake-holders including language learners and education specialists.