Japanese politeness discourse varies in complexity according to social distance, relative power between speakers, and social situations. Yet Swedish learners of Japanese often do not see the necessity of learning polite discourse and often view such forms negatively. Intentionally or otherwise, Swedish learners often fail to use appropriate politeness strategies in large part because Sweden is one of the most egalitarian societies in the world. However, it is important to point out to foreign language learners that cultural and social norms are not cross-culturally interchangeable and that speakers must often adapt to the language they are learning and to the culture they find themselves in.
In this presentation, I will first offer various definitions and views of politeness in Japan, Sweden, and the US as well as other English-speaking countries as suggested by previous studies, and I will discuss the reasons why these came to be viewed as they are today. Second, Swedish learners’ attitudes toward the use of Japanese polite forms will be examined using data from surveys and error analyses. Finally, various methods for overcoming cross-cultural miscommunication caused by differences in politeness strategies will be proposed, which may be applied to learners of other languages.