The Use of Apology Strategies by Iraqi EFL Learners

Abstract

Apology is an expressive illocutionary act. It is a social act, the goal of which is to maintain harmony between the speaker and hearer. To perform the act of 'apologizing', the offender who perceives the need to apologize should employ certain strategies of apology: opting out, evasive strategies, direct strategies and indirect ones. This study aims at categorizing the types and percentages of the strategies used in performing the speech act of 'apologizing' by Iraqi EFL learners of English as a foreign language. It also attempts at pointing out the breakdowns committed in using these strategies. To this end, the discourse completion test was practiced to twenty-five participants of Iraqi EFL learners of English as a foreign language. The findings after analyzing their responses reveal that Iraqi EFL learners of English as a foreign language lack knowledge for most of the strategies of apology .