SUPPORTIVE MOVES IN THE SPEECH ACT OF DIRECT COMPLAINT IN ENGLISH AND SERBIAN: A CROSS-CULTURAL AND INTERLANGUAGE PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

This paper examines the use of supportive moves in the speech act of direct, face-to-face complaints produced by English and Serbian native speakers in their respective mother tongues, highlighting similarities and differences in their performance. The study also explores how advanced Serbian L1 learners of English use supportive moves in complaints performed in English and especially, whether and to what extent they apply the pragmatic rules of their native language (pragmatic transfer) in doing so. Data were collected through discourse completion tasks (DCTs). The performance of all three groups of participants is compared, with special focus on the contextual variables of social power and severity of complaint. The results of the research indicate that the two cultures are similar with respect to the production of direct complaints, as well as that a low level of pragmatic transfer is observable in the complaint production of the English learners’ group. In order to avoid pragmatic failure in communication in the target language in general, L2 learners need to be exposed to explicit instruction regarding both the linguistic and the cultural conventions in the foreign language, supported by authentic and suitable teaching materials.