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Introduction
Terms of address are universally seen as a tool used to build social relations between speakers and hearers. Terms of address 'help establish or maintain social bonds, strengthen solidarity and control social distance' (Gu, 1990: 249), although ways of addressing vary from culture to culture. Therefore, the proper choice of address terms is a prerequisite for a successful interaction. Inappropriate use of address terms may lead to misunderstandings and hinder communication.
China, where there is a 'large power distance situation' (Hofstede, 2007: 101), is widely known as a nation of social hierarchy and rituals, meaning that a speaker in an interaction consciously chooses different and complicated address terms based on certain communication rules that may significantly differ from more solidarity-oriented Western situations. Gu (1990: 249-50) notes three differences between Chinese and English address systems which are likely to cause problems in intercultural communications: (1) a Chinese proper name is arranged in the order of surname + given name whereas the reverse is the case with an English proper name; (2) some Chinese kinship terms have extended and generalized usage, which is usually unacceptable in English (for example, shushu 'uncle' can be used to address a man who is the age of the addresser's father but who is not a relative); (3) most occupational titles can be used as address terms in Chinese but not necessarily in the same manner as in English, the most typical example being laoshi 'teacher'. How to address teachers in English has aroused great interest among researchers, many of whom think it unacceptable to use teacher as an address term. However, the authors of this paper supported by a survey, argue that teacher is a more culturally and contextually appropriate address term than the Western way of title + surname/Sir or Miss/given name, as it better represents the Chinese sense of respect and politeness.
Teacher as an address term in China
In China, a student meeting a teacher will employ the greeting laoshi haoï¼ If English is used, this will be 'Hello, teacher!' Other greetings are 'How are you, teacher?' and 'Good morning/afternoon/evening, teacher!' ('Good morning, teacher' is used hereafter to refer to all of these terms).