A Study of Apology Strategies in English: A Case Study on Jordanian and Asian Undergraduate Students at Zarqa University

Abstract

This study investigates the similarities and differences of the speech act of apology in English between Jordanian EFL learners (English as a Foreign Learners) and Asian undergraduate students at Zarqa University (ZU). It aims to understand the culture difference between Jordanian and the Asian speech communities that both learners utilize when confronting apology situations. The researcher used an interview technique to gather the data. Data collected using a modified version of the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) developed by Sugimoto (1997). Subjects of the study included six Jordanian undergraduate students and six Asian undergraduate students. There were 10 situations used in the study developed by Sugimoto's (1997). The findings in this study introduced the similarities and differences of the apologizing strategies used by Jordanian undergraduate students and Asian undergraduate students. It found that the most frequently apology strategies used among the Jordanian and the Asian participants were account, and compensation. It shows also gratitude is less used among Asian participants when apologize by equal and lower status person. In regarding to that, the findings of this study are expected to be used in intercultural comparisons studies. This research hopes that tutors should be aware of their own culture and the cultures of their students to make this cultural training more successful. Learners should learn apologizing strategies in such a way to capture their semantics meaning as well as pragmatic use in order to employ them appropriately.