Saudi Female’s Arabic Requests: A Comparative Study of Face-to-Face and Text-Based Communications

Abstract

This mix-method study aimed to investigate the influence of communication media on the realization of the speech act of request in Arabic. Thus, it examined the number of words and the type of modification devices in the request of 40 Saudi female postgraduate students in equal power situations across two communication channels: face-to-face and WhatsApp text-based interactions. The data is collected using a discourse completion task with four situations that varied in the degree of imposition and social distance. The collected data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Two samples t-test was used to analyze the collected data along with a modified version of Blum-Kulka and Olshtain’s (1984) coding scheme for categorizing the modification devices. The study found that participants produced more words in WhatsApp text-based communication than face-to-face communication, but no significant difference was found except in the context of (+I, +D). External modifiers were produced more than internal ones, especially grounders. Social distance influenced modifier frequency, while imposition only affected disarmers. The study implies modification devices are obligatory rather than optional in Saudi culture.