Interlanguage Features of Chinese EFL Learners in the Communicative Act of Refusal

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine how the refusal strategies and linguistic forms used by Chinese EFL learners vary from those of American English speakers. Data was obtained by the elicitation method of open role plays and subsequently, the responses based on the interlocutors’ social status were analyzed. Participants were composed of four groups: 12 native speakers of Chinese (NC), 12 Chinese EFL learners with intermediate proficiency level (CE-I), 12 Chinese EFL learners with higher proficiency level (CE-H), and 12 native speakers of American English (NE). In general, the results indicated that EFL learners differed from native speakers of English in terms of L2 language use. Regarding the content of the semantic formulas, the native Chinese and Chinese EFL learners both chose more specific, family-oriented reasons to mitigate the face-threatening power of refusals, while native English speakers preferred vaguer reasons in the speech act of refusals. Regarding the linguistic forms employed by the participants, native English speakers tended to use hesitators, the modal verb ‘could’, and down toners more frequently than Chinese EFL learners. The Chinese EFL learners, on the other hand, employed the cajoler ‘you know’ and minus committers more frequently than native English speakers.