DIREKT ODER HÖFLICH? KULTURBEDINGTE UNTERSCHIEDE IM KOMMUNIKATIONSVERHALTEN DER GERMANISTIKSTUDIERENDEN IN NORDMAZEDONIEN / DIRECT OR POLITE? CULTURALLY CONDITIONED DIFFERENCES IN THE COMMUNICATIVE BEHAVIOR OF GERMAN STUDIES STUDENTS IN NORTH MACEDONIA

This study explores how students of German studies in the Republic of North Macedonia from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds define, perceive, and evaluate the phenomenon of politeness — particularly in the context of intercultural communication. The theoretical foundation is Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness Theory, which conceptualizes politeness as a strategic management of the interlocutor’s face. On the base of this framework, the study investigates whether and to what extent culturally conditioned differences can be observed in the evaluation of communicative strategies. The study follows a mixed-methods design, combining quantitative methods (Likert-scale questionnaires) with qualitative approaches (open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews). A total of 60 students of German studies from two universities in North Macedonia (Tetovo and Štip) participated, divided into two groups based on their ethnic affiliation (Macedonian and Albanian). The central research question is whether different communicative expectations and normative orientations can be identified with regard to directness, apology, consideration, and indirect speech acts. The results indicate that students of Albanian background tend to be more sensitive to negatively polite strategies and are more likely to perceive direct expressions as impolite. In contrast, many Macedonian students evaluate direct formulations as neutral or even positively polite. These findings point to the cultural relativity of politeness and challenge the universality claims of classical politeness theories. The study contributes to the field of intercultural pragmatics and highlights the importance of explicitly addressing culture-specific politeness norms in foreign language teaching in order to prevent misunderstandings in intercultural communication and to foster students’ communicative competence.