Compliment Responses among Non-native English Speakers: Evidence of Pragmatic Transfer from Persian into English

Abstract

Pragmatic failure contributes to misunderstanding in intercultural communication. Hence, language learners must not only acquire the correct forms of the target language, but also the knowledge of how to use the language pragmatically appropriate in the target culture. This study probes the evidence of pragmatic failure in the English Complement Responses (CRs) of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The participants were EFL students in a national university in Iran who were asked to take part in a Discourse Completion Test (DTC). This test included some hypothetical situations where the participants were requested provide responses to the compliments. Herbert’s (1986) taxonomy was used to classify the types of the CRs. Findings indicated that the participants transferred some of the Iranian cultural schemas to their CRs expressed in English. It is implied from this study that the teachers should make the EFL learners sensitive to the form and the sound use of CRs in intercultural communication with native English speakers. The results have useful implications for stakeholders in the field of TEFL in general and in Iran in particular.