POLITENESS IN MAKING REQUESTS USING MODAL AUXILIARIES IN EFL SPEAKING CLASS

People communicate each other mostly by using spoken language. During the communication, they cannot avoid using modal auxiliaries especially in asking their interlocutors which then it influences the politeness of the utterances. This research, therefore, discusses the students’ usage of modal auxiliaries in speaking class. Here, the modal auxiliaries are found during their performances in the classroom. It is integrated into the English Language and Literature classes in Sunan Gunung Djati Islamic State University in the year 2012. While carrying out the research, qualitative research method is employed. Data are mainly gathered through the observation by recording of students’ performances and interview. The research reveals that ‘can’ is the highest occurrence of modal auxiliaries used by the students (43%). Moreover, 90% students in speaking class tend to produce positive politeness. ‘Can’ is in the highest occurrence since the students think it as the simplest modal and most heard in daily communication, while the positive politeness tends to appear since they consider that they need to create refined communication with the interlocutors. At the end, it is hoped that this research might inspire the English lecturers to be more aware of students’ politeness during speaking English.