Remedying the Problematic Situation Using Apologies: The Case Study of American and Japanese Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Remedying the Problematic Situation Using Apologies: The Case Study of American and Japanese Undergraduate Students Oluwatomilayo Adunbarin Abstract This study investigates how Japanese non-native English-speaking students and American native English-speaking students in an American University remedy problematic situation that require apologies. In order to achieve this aim, data was collected from seven participants using the Discourse Completion Task (DCT), emails and follow up interview. Participants gave their responses to different situations presented to them. Data was analyzed qualitatively in order to find the different linguistic patterns in both NS and NNS responses and interpret them accordingly. This study revealed that the usage of apologetic expression itself by both groups didn‟t significantly different in all the situations provided in the DCT. However, it was confirmed there were some differences regarding the use of interjections, politeness strategies that could have the potential to cause them to misjudge each other. This study suggests language teachers encourage their students to reflect on their own beliefs and values that could be different from that of other language speakers, and to learn appropriate ways to communicate with people depending on hearer‟s values and assumptions on speech act. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijll.v7n1a19