scholarly journals A Pragmatic Study of Congratulation Strategies of Pakistani ESL Learners and British English Speakers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazir Ahmed Malik ◽  
Tahir Saleem ◽  
Asif Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
British English ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Distance Variable

Abstract People usually express their feelings and emotions positively to others when they have happy occasions. However, the ways of expressing congratulation may vary because the expressive speech act “congratulations” is not the only way to express happiness and share others their happy news. The present study investigates the congratulation strategies of Pakistani ESL learners and British English speakers under the influence of social distance variable. For this purpose, 120 participants were recruited, and who were further divided into four different groups: 30 British English speakers, 30 Pakistani ESL learners in the elite class, 30 Pakistani ESL learners of the middle class, and 30 Pakistani ESL learners in the lower class. For data collection, a Discourse completion test (DCT) was used as a tool. The findings reveal that the most frequently used types of congratulation strategy are IFID followed by overlapped strategies (a combination of two), an offer of a good wish, expression of happiness, request for information, encouragement, expression of surprise, and suggestion of celebration, while other types of strategies are not used by the participants. The study reveals the existence of positive and negative pragmatic transfer in the use of congratulations by Pakistani ESL learners. The findings further show how the middle and lower class of Pakistani ESL learners use a more elaborated form of CRs as compared to Pakistani ESL learners of elite and British English speakers. The findings may help in understanding the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic aspects of Pakistani ESL learners as compared to British English speakers.

scholarly journals Caught between Two Cultures: Pragmatic Transfer in English-using Pakistanis Apology Responses

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (35) ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
Tahir Saleem ◽  
Rabia Batool ◽  
Aisha Saleem ◽  
Summiya Azam
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
British English ◽  
Two Cultures ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Completion Test

In Pragmatics, scholars have given special attention to study the influence of leaners culture and social rules in understanding and using target language pragmatics. For this purpose, speech acts have been studied quite widely. This study investigates the speech act of responding to apology in Pakistani English, British English and Pakistani Urdu, and tries to highlight whether respondents transfer their cultural and social rules in the target language or not. The present study followed quantitative approach for data collection and analysis. A discourse completion test (DCT), consists of 12 apology response scenarios is used for data collection. The findings illustrate that English-using Pakistanis pragmatic choices are clearly influenced by their perceptions of various sociocultural and contextual variables. The English-using Pakistanis and Pakistani Urdu speakers are found using two main strategies (Acceptance, and Acknowledgment). In contrast, British English speakers tend to use Acceptance and Evasion strategies more often. Further, the findings have indicated that English-using Pakistanis and Pakistani Urdu speakers have used more Rejection strategies than their British English counterparts, though such communicative features are not salient in their ARs, and Pakistanis are surprisingly found quite clear and direct. The findings of the study may be helpful to English teachers who should be made aware that L2 learners’ pragmatic transfer is influenced by learners’ culture and social rules, and, as a result, should not be treated simply as a pragmatic ‘error’ or ‘failure’ to be corrected and criticized.

scholarly journals Disagreeing in Tunisian Arabic: a Politeness and Pragmatic Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-64
Author(s):  
Hassen Khammari
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Tunisian Arabic ◽  
New Strategies ◽  
Identification And Quantification ◽  
Pragmatic Study

This research is a pragmatic and politeness study that deals with the speech act of disagreement in Tunisian Arabic, a variety of Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It accounts for disagreement in relation to the contextual factors of Social Distance, Social Power, and Rank of Imposition. Discourse Completion Test (DCT) is used to study the production of disagreement. Data was collected from a group of native speakers of Tunisian Arabic at “Institut Supérieur des Langues de Tunis, Tunisia”. Native speakers of TA used a variety of strategies, which were identified in other languages (e.g., Direct Refusal, Suggestion, Giving Account, and Request…) along with new strategies (e.g., Teasing, Unsympathetic advice, Challenge, and Criticism).The identification and quantification of the strategies of disagreement also helped develop insights into the Tunisian culture.  

scholarly journals Speech Acts across Cultures: A Comparative Study of Chinese and Pakistani Students’ Request and Politeness Strategies

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Amina Shahzadi ◽  
Abdul Ghaffar Bhatti ◽  
Munir Khan
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Politeness Strategies ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Esl Learners

The examines are the different request strategies in English used by Pakistani and Chinese students according to social distance and power of interlocutors. Data comprises students from Pakistan and China enrolled in an undergraduate program at International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper's (1989) taxonomy of request strategies is taken as a theoretical framework to compare the request speech act patterns of Pakistani and Chinese students. This study analyzed the request speech act in terms of head act strategies used by participants. Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) categorized the request speech act into three request strategies i.e. direct, conventionally indirect, and non-conventional indirect strategies. The study identifies similarities between Pakistani ESL learners and Chinese EFL learners in making use of mood derivable as the preferred strategies for making requests in situations of different social distance, power, and familiarity between the interlocutors.

scholarly journals Speech Act of Greeting for American Native Speakers of English and Saudi Native Speakers of Arabic: A Comparative Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 243
Author(s):  
Rehan Almegren
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Saudi Arabic

This study focuses on comparing the speech acts of native Arabic speakers of Saudi region and English speakers of America, which help depict the impact of the variables involved, namely status, setting, social distance and situation formality. This paper makes a significant contribution for future researchers, as it is of help to researchers in the speech act area specifically in terms of Saudi Arabic and American English. It will be also of help to those learning Arabic or English and those who teach it in these two countries. Thus, the outcome of this research will contribute to depict the differences and the similarities in the use of greeting strategies between two different groups of respondents from diverse linguistic and cultural domains. Data was collected using the discourse completion test (DCT), developed by Cohen, Olshtain & Rosenstien (1985). Fifty female respondents within the age group of 20-25 years were selected from each group to participate in research procedures. Although the inclusion of male respondents would have made the process complex, it would have provided with comparatively more accurate outcomes if managed properly. The findings showed that linguistic and cultural differences, variables of social distance, social status, settings and situation formality greatly influenced the decision-making of Saudi Native Speakers of Arabic and American Native Speakers of English, pertaining to their usage of greeting strategies as part of their speech acts. For example, differences can be observed between these two speakers in terms of their greeting strategies; American English speakers attach less significance to social and physical distance and hierarchy compared to Saudi Arabic speakers. Similarly, both the groups attach almost equal importance to their initiation words when greeting others. These differences and similarities help determine social status and the relationship between speakers. 

scholarly journals Analisis Kontrastif Tindak Tutur Meminta Maaf Dalam Bahasa Jepang Dan Bahasa Sunda

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Nuria Haristiani ◽  
Asti Sopiyanti
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Likert Scale ◽  
Striking Difference ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Address Terms

In everyday life when someone did a wrong doing, that someone usually performs apologyspeech act to show his/her responsibilityor remorse. However,apology speech act may be conducted using different strategies influenced by several factors, such as cultural background, social values, social statutes, gender, or even the depth of the remorse felt by the wrong doer. This study aims to determine the level of awareness of apology by Japanese Native Speakers (JNS) and Sundanese Native Speakers (SNS) in an apology situation. Apology speech act strategies used in the same situation to five interlocutors namely 1) Distant lecturer (DT), 2) Closelecturer (DA), 3) Distant senior (KT), 4) Close senior (KA), and 5) Friend (T) were also examined. A Likert scale questionnaire was used to find out about the level of awareness of apology, while Discourse Completion Test (DCT) was conducted to examine about apology speech act strategies used by seventy four (74) JNS and seventy eight (78) SNS participated in the data collection of this study. From the results, the awareness of apology between JNS and SNS both different according to the interlocutors. While in apology strategies used, both JNS and SNS mainly used the expression of apology, acknowledgment of responsibility and offer of compensation. However, there is one striking difference strategy in apologizing between JNS and SNS. SNS frequently used address terms while JNS barely used address terms to their interlocutors.

scholarly journals The Investigation of Pragmatic Transfer in the Speech Act of Congratulations by Punjabi EFL Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 240
Author(s):  
Asif Aziz ◽  
Binish Maqsood ◽  
Tahir Saleem ◽  
Summiya Azam
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Cultural Influence ◽  
Contextual Variables ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer

This paper investigates pragmatic transfer in Punjabi EFL learners’ realization of the speech act of congratulations. For this purpose, 120 participants were asked to take part in the study, who were divided into four groups having 30 participants in each group: 30 native English (NE) speakers, 30 Punjabi EFL learners of the elite class, 30 Punjabi EFL learners of the middle class and 30 Punjabi EFL learners of the lower class. To elicit the data, a DCT having 12 situations based on social power and distance was used and for perception data, these situations were analyzed on the basis of four contextual variables (degree of familiarity, power, difficulty, and obligation in expressing congratulations) in the form of SRQ. The criteria for the analysis of negative pragmatic was set on the differences found in the responses of the participants and the positive pragmatic transfer was based on the similarities between the responses of the participants. The data was coded and analyzed under the taxonomy of congratulations proposed by Elwood (2004). The results of the study indicated the presence of negative pragmatic transfer in three different strategies of congratulation (IFID, OOGW and Overlapped) and the remaining of the strategies indicated the existence of positive pragmatic transfer. The findings of the study show the cultural influence on the use of congratulation strategies by Punjabi EFL learners. The results of the study might be pedagogical significance and could prove helpful for policymaker and syllabus designer as well within Pakistani context.

scholarly journals Strategies and mitigation devices in the speech act of disagreement in American English

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-39
Author(s):  
Hassen Khammari
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Strategy Selection ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
Politeness Strategies ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

The present study aimed at exploring the strategies of disagreement and hedging devices used by native speakers of English. The study elicited the informants’ reactions when disagreeing with higher, equal, and lower status. The responses were analyzed using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness model and Hyland’s (1998) hedging taxonomy. Discourse completion test data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed that native speakers of American English used positive politeness strategies considerably with higher and equal status interlocutors (father, teacher, and friends). The respondents were concerned with saving their interlocutors’ positive face regardless of their social distance and power. The only significant difference, in terms of strategy selection, was identified in highly face-threatening contexts (accusation), where the informants opted for bald on record politeness strategies because of the seriousness of the interlocutor’s (supervisor) claims (plagiarism). The data showed also that native speakers relied on hedges considerably to mitigate their disagreements.

scholarly journals REQUEST REALIZATIONS OF INDONESIAN ESP LECTURERS

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Arif Nugroho
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
First Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Situational Variables ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
Request Strategies

Drawing on the Speech Act theory, the present study endeavored to delineate the most frequently used request strategies by Indonesian English for Specific Purposes lecturers. In addition, it examined the involvement of situational variables of social distance, power, and imposition on the choice of their strategies. Another objective has been to reveal the reasons why the lecturers choose such strategies. To this end, a descriptive approach was adopted by employing Discourse Completion Test questionnaire and semi-structured interview to gather the data fromtwenty-eightESP lectures teaching at some different departments who werepurposively selected as the participants in this study. The results of the questionnaire illustrated that the participants made use of conventionally indirect expressions (81.2%) for requests more frequently than other strategies. The semi-structured interview figured out that the participants’ reason of utilizing conventionally indirect strategy was due to the cultural factors. Moreover, the situational variables of social distance, power, and imposition slightly affected the participants’ choice of requests, but they had some influences on determining the degree of politeness. Furthermore, the analyzed data revealed the fact that first language culture, urgency of the requests, and physical attractiveness also influenced the participants’ choice of request strategies.

scholarly journals REQUEST REALIZATIONS OF INDONESIAN ESP LECTURERS

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Arif Nugroho
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
First Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Situational Variables ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
Request Strategies

Drawing on the Speech Act theory, the present study endeavored to delineate the most frequently used request strategies by Indonesian English for Specific Purposes lecturers. In addition, it examined the involvement of situational variables of social distance, power, and imposition on the choice of their strategies. Another objective has been to reveal the reasons why the lecturers choose such strategies. To this end, a descriptive approach was adopted by employing Discourse Completion Test questionnaire and semi-structured interview to gather the data fromtwenty-eightESP lectures teaching at some different departments who werepurposively selected as the participants in this study. The results of the questionnaire illustrated that the participants made use of conventionally indirect expressions (81.2%) for requests more frequently than other strategies. The semi-structured interview figured out that the participants’ reason of utilizing conventionally indirect strategy was due to the cultural factors. Moreover, the situational variables of social distance, power, and imposition slightly affected the participants’ choice of requests, but they had some influences on determining the degree of politeness. Furthermore, the analyzed data revealed the fact that first language culture, urgency of the requests, and physical attractiveness also influenced the participants’ choice of request strategies.

scholarly journals Positive and Negative Politeness: A Cross-Cultural Study of Responding to Apologies by British and Pakistani Speakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Tahir Saleem ◽  
Uzma Anjum
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
English Department ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
British English ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
The Relationship

Speech etiquette is an essential part of culture, behavior and human communication. Based upon a theoretical framework of politeness and face-threatening acts (FTAs), this study investigates cultural differences in apology responses (ARs) moderated by the threatened face type and the relationship between participants. A discourse completion test, consists of twelve situations is used for data collection. The data was collected from 150 Pakistani Urdu speakers (teachers, doctors, army personals, lawyers, journalists and academicians) working in different institutions and 30 British English speakers (faculty members of English Department, Coventry University, UK, Leeds University, UK and British Association of Applied Linguistics members). The findings reveal that Pakistanis are found using more positive face threatening apology responses (Acceptance and Acknowledgment) including Absolution, Dismissal, Intensifiers, and Acknowledgement with Thanking, Advice, and Suggestion, than British speakers who tend to use both positive FTAs (Acceptance) based on Absolution “That’s Okay”, and Dismissal “no worries at all but be careful next time” and negative FTAs based on Evasion with Deflection and Evasion with Thanking. The findings further illustrate that the understanding and demonstration of politeness and face in conversation functions are susceptible to cultural and sociolinguistic variations.

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