A Pragmatic Study of Apology Strategies in Akan (Twi)

Abstract

As human interact with each other there is propensity of stepping on the toes of one another, when this happens it is incumbent on the parties involved to try as much as possible to sort out their differences. One of the most effective ways of breaking this barrier is apologizing. The person apologizing creates the impression that he is remorseful for the harm caused. The purpose of the study is to examine the realization of apology speech act, which inclines to be more situation-dependent and less frequently occurring than other speech acts. It also examines how the patterns of apology strategies are varied in relation to contextual factors (social status, social distance, and severity of offence) as used by the Akan (Twi) speakers. Discourse completion Task (DCT) in a form of interview and role play was chosen for the current study. The researcher created scenes for the DCT that required apologies based on situations occurring in real life. The researcher explained the DCT thoroughly to the participants and told them to put themselves in the situation and render an apology. The findings revealed that some Akan (Twi) speakers acknowledge responsibility, some tried to justify their actions whilst others shift the blame on others. It was revealed that some people also combine different strategies when apologizing.