Variation in refusal strategies produced by English and Serbian speakers

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim is to investigate refusal strategies used by English and Serbian native speakers in terms of two sociological variables: social distance and power. To this end, the participants of the conducted experiment completed a written Discourse Completion Test which introduced 12 everyday situations to which they were expected to respond by making refusals to requests. The obtained data were categorised and analysed statistically. Overall, the results indicated both similarities and differences between the two groups. Both groups reported significantly more indirect refusal strategies than direct ones – the most common ones being excuse and statement of regret. There were, however, some differences between the groups in the frequency of particular refusal strategies such as adjuncts, which were employed more frequently by the English participants. Furthermore, unlike their counterparts, the Serbian participants were shown to be sensitive to the power variable, reflected in the significantly higher percentage of direct refusals used when addressing a subordinate interlocutor than when addressing an interlocutor of equal or higher power. The obtained results not only describe the similarities and differences between refusal strategies in English and Serbian, but also highlight different properties of the two cultures reflected in the use of these strategies.