COMPLIMENT RESPONSE PATTERNS BETWEEN PERSIAN MALE AND FEMALE ENGLISH AND NON-ENGLISH TEACHERS

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate both the compliment response (CR) patterns between male and female English and non-English teachers and the eff ect of exposure to English on produced CRs. The study was conducted on 50 male and female English and 50 male and female non-English teachers. The teachers were chosen through nonrandomized sampling. Participants were asked to respond to a discourse completion test (DCT) which comprised eight complimenting situations. In order to investigate the eff ect of exposure to English on CR strategies, CRs produced by males and females in both groups were compared. The results revealed that at macro level, there were diff erences between females and males in the applied strategies in both groups. Regarding the eff ect of exposure on CRs and CR behavior, it was found that exposure to English infl uenced CR patterns and strategies. It was concluded that diff erent CR patterns implied cognitive diff erence between genders and their perception of appropriateness. CR behavior shift implied the occurrence of acculturation in CR patterns and strategies.