A cross-cultural comparison of apologies by native speakers of American English and Jordanian Arabic

2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rula Fahmi Bataineh ◽  
Ruba Fahmi Bataineh
2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zohreh R. Eslami

This paper discusses a number of differences between English and Persian in the area of speech acts and links them with different cultural values and norms. The Persian speakers’ use of face-keeping strategies in reaction to complaints was compared with American English speakers’ performance. The most frequent face- saving strategy used by both groups in reaction to complaints was the apology speech act. Therefore, a cross-cultural comparison in the realization patterns of the apology speech acts between the two languages was performed. A detailed analysis of the use of the illocutionary force indicating device (IFID) strategies and supportive strategies revealed important differences in communicative styles of the two groups which can give us insights into understanding different cultural values, norms, and assumptions concerning interpersonal use of language in a Western and a non-Western language. It is shown that Persian speakers are more sensitive to contextual factors and vary their face-keeping strategies accordingly whereas English speakers mostly use one apology strategy and intensify it based on contextual factors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Béatrice Priego-Valverde ◽  
Brigitte Bigi ◽  
Salvatore Attardo ◽  
Lucy Pickering ◽  
Elisa Gironzetti

AbstractThe present article is part of a larger cross-cultural research project on speaker-hearer smiling behavior in humorous and non-humorous conversations in American English and French. The American corpus consists of eight computer-mediated interactions between English native speakers, and the French one consists of four face-to-face interactions between French native speakers. The goal of the study is twofold: first, we analyze the link between smiling and humor, focusing on the degree of synchronicity of smiling and the intensity of smiling during humorous and non-humorous segments; second, we investigate the various targets mobilized in conversational humor. The results obtained comparing the two data-sets show a correlation between the presence of humor, an increased smiling intensity, and an increase in the synchronized smiling behaviors displayed by participants. However, the two corpora also differ in terms of the displayed smiling behaviors: French participants display more non-synchronic smiling when humor is absent and more synchronic smiling when humor is present. Regarding the various targets of humor (Speaker, Recipient, Other person, Situation, Speaker+Recipient), while their distribution is different – it is more evenly distributed in the French data – the way in which these are mobilized in order to become humorous is quite similar.


Author(s):  
Jia Shuyue ◽  

The study of the content of the ordinary linguistic consciousness of a native speaker / culture bearer involves considering the meaning of a word as a socio-cultural phenomenon as knowledge whose content is determined by the characteristics of culture in its current state. The most interesting data can be obtained by cross-cultural comparison based on experimental material. The article examines the knowledge associated with the word-stimulus DOCTOR in the linguistic consciousness of native speakers of Chinese and Russian. The comparison is carried out on the basis of the materials of free associative experiment with 823 native Chinese speakers, students from more than 160 universities in China. Russian material for comparison is taken from the Russian Regional Associative Dictionary [Ufimceva, Cherkasova 2018]. The method of semantic gestalt by Yu. N. Karaulov is used as a tool to analyze the associative field. The obtained data have undergone statistical analysis, the content and structure of the associative gestalt stimulus word DOCTOR have been described, as well as ethnocultural features of the ideas about the profession of doctor among the Chinese and Russians have been revealed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 160-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Senokozlieva ◽  
Oliver Fischer ◽  
Gary Bente ◽  
Nicole Krämer

Abstract. TV news are essentially cultural phenomena. Previous research suggests that the often-overlooked formal and implicit characteristics of newscasts may be systematically related to culture-specific characteristics. Investigating these characteristics by means of a frame-by-frame content analysis is identified as a particularly promising methodological approach. To examine the relationship between culture and selected formal characteristics of newscasts, we present an explorative study that compares material from the USA, the Arab world, and Germany. Results indicate that there are many significant differences, some of which are in line with expectations derived from cultural specifics. Specifically, we argue that the number of persons presented as well as the context in which they are presented can be interpreted as indicators of Individualism/Collectivism. The conclusions underline the validity of the chosen methodological approach, but also demonstrate the need for more comprehensive and theory-driven category schemes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 568-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haram J. Kim ◽  
Shin Ye Kim ◽  
Ryan D. Duffy ◽  
Nguyen P. Nguyen ◽  
Danni Wang

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