Performance of Indonesian EFL Learners and Thai EFL Learners on Compliment Responses in English

Payung Cedar ,Asep Setiadi

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.7p.63

Payung Cedar , Asep Setiadi

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.7p.63

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Abstract

Cultures carry norms and expectations on how speech acts are performed. On the other hand, responding to compliments is challenging in nature for not only it involves an internal conflict, but also is subject to cultures and other factors. This study investigated how Indonesian and Thai English major students respond to English compliments and the effect of compliment topics in their CRs (Compliment Responses). The study made use of a set of DCT questionnaire distributed to 35 Indonesian and 35 Thai university students majoring in English in their first year. Employing Tran’s (2007) Continua of CRs, the findings demonstrated significant differences in the CRs between Indonesians and Thais triggered by cultural differences of the two groups of subjects and different preferences of compliment topics. In general, Indonesians were found to be more prone to deny compliments while Thais tended to accept compliments. In relation to compliment topics, Indonesians were observed to be most positive towards compliments on ability and most negative towards compliments on possession. On the other hand, Thais tended to be most positive towards possession and most negative towards appearance. In addition, the results of the study also offered methodological and pedagogical implications.

Highlights

Intercultural communication, carried out by members of different communities or linguistic backgrounds, is a complex event
The results are presented in two parts according to the research questions: 1) the overall distribution of compliment responses (CRs), and 2) distributions of CRs by compliment topics
The overall distribution of CR strategies performed by the Indonesian and Thai subject groups is presented in Table 1 below

Summary

Introduction

Intercultural communication, carried out by members of different communities or linguistic backgrounds, is a complex event. 2), nowadays English belongs to everyone who learns and speaks it and so everyone ‘has the right to use it in the way they want’ (ibid). As a consequence, this comes as an encouragement to non-native speakers of English to carry certain features of their native languages and cultures in their intercultural communication with other non-native speakers of the language. It suggests that today being competent at the English native speakers’ pragmatic norms is no longer mandatory and it raises the importance of having knowledge of other cultures involved in such communication, especially regarding how speech acts are carried out

Methods

Results

Conclusion