There is a tight connection between the mode of thinking and people’s lives。 It ranges over various fields such as language, art, history, philosophy, aesthetic and so on。 Different people might interpret events differently according to their own ways of thinking。 But what is the way of thinking? Liu Changlin claims that, “In the development process of a nation, those habits and ways of thinking, aesthetic perspectives of treating surroundings and recognized views which have an enduring, stable, universal effect are called the mode of thinking of a nation。 ” (Liu 1) Besides, Wang Ying considers that, “The way of thinking is a compelx bilayer structure。 Its deep structure shows people’s views of things, which consist of their emotion, volition, subconsciousness and so on。 But the expression of its surface structure is our well-known language。” (Wang 132-133) Through their shandpoints, it is obvious that the mode of thinking is not only reflect the culture, it also influence various lingustic phenomenon。 Therefore, understanding the Chinese and Western differences in the way of thinking is beneficial to the polite expression of cross-communication。

By contrasting the ways of thinking between Chinese and Western polite expression, the author aims at having a better understanding and giving some implications for the foreign language teaching and learning。 In the first part, this paper introduces the current situation in West and China and the significance of the study in the politeness。 Secondly, this paper focuses on differences between Chinese and Western polite expression in practical application and the relationship with the way of thinking。 Then, it analyzes their causes and finds out some pedagogical implications of English teaching。文献综述

2。 Literature Review

Theoretically, the earliest politeness principle has formed system in West。 It has been remarked upon by many Western scholars, and they have propounded various instructive theories。 

“Cooperative principle” was first raised by a famous American linguistic philosopher, Paul Grice, in 1975。 He claimed that, in the process of communication, the participants always abide by some deliberate or unintentional rules, for acting effectively and fininshing communicative tasks。 Therefore, he advanced the “Cooperative principle” of communication, which consisted of four norms: (1)quantity; (2)quality; (3)relation; (4)manner。 Although this principle was convincing, it could not prove that why people sometime would deviate from the principle and express themselves indirectly。 Based on Grice’s theory, Leech advanced the “Politeness principle” in 1983, including six norms: (1)the tact maxim: a。 Minimize cost to other。 b。 Maximize benefit to other。 (2)the generosity maxim: a。 Minimiaze benefit to self。 b。 Maximize cost to self; (3)the approbation maxim: a。 Minimize disprise of other。 b。 Maximize prise of other; (4)the modesty maxim: a。 Minimize prise of self。 b。 Maximiaze disprise to self; (5)the agreement maxim: a。 Minimize disagreement between self and other。 b。 Maximize agreement between self and other; (6)the sympathy maxim: a。 Minimize antipathy between self and other。 b。 Maximize sympathy between self and other。 Besides, Brown and Levison raised the face-saving theory。 They regarded politeness as the means employed to show awareness of other person’s face。 They first assumed that the participants of communication are model people, that was, the rational people who need for face。 This face was a intention of the public self-image, which pided into two parts: negative face and positive face。来,自,优.尔:论;文*网www.chuibin.com +QQ752018766-

So many studies of politeness principle have been explored by the Western scholars。 However, they mainly focused on English, which was unrepresentative, and could not be used in other languages simplify。 Therefore, on the basis of Chinese characteristics and values, Gu Yueguo, the scholar of our country, used abroad experience for reference and put forward the basic idea of politeness principle。 He reduced it to four norms: (1)respectfulness; (2)modesty; (3)attitudinal warmth; (4)refinement。 Afterwards, he advanced the following politeness norms of Chinese culture: (1)self-denigration maxim; (2)address maxim; (3)refinement maxim; (4)agreement maxim。