Discourse Completion Test Research Articles

Production of Advice Speech Act by Non-Native Speakers of English: The Case of Kurdish EFL Learners

Speech act studies are commonly used in Second Language Acquisition research to assess second language learners’ pragmatic skills. Contrary to other speech acts, the speech act of offering advice has not been sufficiently studied and has not been a topic of cross-cultural or cross-linguistic research either, particularly among Kurdish EFL learners. The study aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of the advice speech act as expressed by Kurdish EFL learners and native English speakers. Thus, the study looked at the proficiency of Kurdish EFL users in selecting appropriate pragmatic expressions during the act of providing advice and discernible differences between male and female learners regarding the degree of (in)directness while advice is offered. Hence, the study included 82 undergraduate students from various universities in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, particularly in Erbil. This group consisted of 42 females and 40 males, all majoring in English Language Teaching. Additionally, 30 native English speakers also took part in the research. Data collection was conducted through a 12-item discourse completion test, and the collected data were subsequently subjected to analysis using SPSS. The results unveiled a significant difference between Kurdish EFL learners and native speakers. It figured out that Kurdish EFL learners are not quite aware of the social power and social distance of interlocutors while giving advice. Additionally, it was indicated that female learners are more indirect in offering advice than their male counterparts. Moreover, the findings also unearthed a visible indication of first language pragmatic transfer, though it was not a variable of the study.

Realization of the Complaint Speech Act in Spoken Arabic and English among Saudi Female English Majors at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University

The core goal of this study is to investigate complaint speech act conducted in English and Arabic by Saudi female English majors at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The sample of this study involves 30 undergraduate students of English at level eight. In order to collect data for this study, the subjects are given a controlled elicitation technique named “a Discourse Completion Test (DCT)”. The test comprises two versions; Arabic and English. Each version consists of nine situations denoting the speech act of complaint to which the subjects are required to respond as naturally as they can without spending much time thinking of what to say. After that, the data are analyzed based on the classification system of complaint strategies developed by Olshtain and Weinbach (1987) and DeCapua (1998). Two more new strategies have been added by the present researcher. Moreover, the study compared and contrasted complaint patterns in English and Arabic as expressed by these subjects. These patterns are analyzed using frequencies and percentages of their occurrence as well as the Chi-square test. The results of this study indicate that the social statuses like power, which affect the realization patterns of complaint, seem to be universal. Saudi female English majors tend to change their complaint behavior according to the social variables of the situation. Those subjects tend to be more direct when composing complaints in higher to lower relations and in equal relations and more polite and indirect when a complainee has dominance over a complainer. The results of the presents study revealed that Saudi female English majors should have enhanced awareness of cultural and linguistic discrepancies in order to express the speech act of complaint in English appropriately, making use of complaint strategies that are based on English speaking norms.

Production of Politeness by Myanmar (Burmese) Native Speakers in Requests

This research aims to examine the production of politeness in Myanmar (Burmese) native speakers via the request speech act. The politeness theory of Brown and Levison (1987) was deployed to investigate the responses elicited from the informants. The data consists of quantitative approach (Discourse completion test). Forty-nine male and female Myanmar (Burmese) native speakers with different ages and educational backgrounds responded to the questionnaire. The findings of this research argued for the adequacy of the theories of Brown and Levison (1987) for the Myanmar (Burmese) context. In addition, a new politeness strategy, "using politeness markers," was suggested. Employments of politeness strategies in making the requests varied depending on the different social variables. Three characteristics of using politeness strategies by Myanmar (Burmese) native speakers are also laid out. The framework of politeness production in the request by Myanmar (Burmese) native speakers was proposed to fulfill the goal of third-wave politeness research.

A Case Study of the Speech Act Apology in Romanian

This case study focuses on the linguistic strategies used by native Romanian speakers to express apologies. The study evaluates the responses of 100 undergraduate students between 2018 and 2020 using a Discourse Completion Test. The analysis reveals that Romanian speakers employ direct apologies with different politeness levels, whereas indirect apologies have multifaceted intentions and effects. In cases of serious transgressions, Romanian speakers use a variety of techniques to restore social balance, emphasizing accountability and ownership. The study also emphasizes the interaction between direct and indirect apology forms, context-dependent language use, and the importance of accountability in Romanian apologies.

Analysis of external modification devices and framing moves in request emails

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the pragmatic competence of writing request emails by Chinese learners of Japanese (CLJs). The study focused on the features of the external modification devices and framing moves of request emails by CLJs when compared to emails by native speakers of Japanese (NSJs). Data were collected from 104 CLJs and 53 NSJs, using an Electronic Writing Discourse Completion Test questionnaire. One-way ANOVA results showed that as the CLJs’ levels of proficiency in Japanese increased, their use of external modification devices and framing moves tended to increase. In addition, a Fisher’s exact test showed that as the CLJs’ proficiency increased, a distinct statistical difference only existed in the use of individual framing moves, but not in that of individual external modification devices. This study provides conceptual categories and utterances used in both external modification devices and framing moves for teaching email communication to CLJs.

The evasive responses of learners of Chinese as a foreign language in daily interaction: A speech act point of view

AbstractIn this paper, I explore the interactional phenomenon of evasion by using Edmondson and House's (1981) typology, which divides speech act categories into ‘Substantive’ and ‘Ritual’ speech acts. First, I examined which speech acts are used by native Chinese speakers and learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) to realise evasive interactional responses in the Chinese linguaculture. Second, I compared the ways in which native speakers of Chinese and CFL learners realise evasions. Data were collected from 20 CFL learners and 20 native Chinese speakers, who completed a Discourse Completion Test featuring conflict scenarios such as a choice between lying and hurting someone's feelings. The results showed that the most frequented speech in evasive responses are Opine and Tell. Native Chinese speakers tend to use internal modification in the form of downgraders and honorifics, while CFL learners tend to use external mitigators.

The usage of singular and plural forms of address in Lithuanian

This paper investigates the usage of singular and plural forms of address in contemporary Lithuanian. The object of the research is the pronouns tu and jūs, and second-person verbs. The aim of the present study is to analyze how and why singular and plural forms of address are used and which social and psychological factors determine this usage. The research data consists of 111 discourse completion tests filled by university students. For a deeper insight, 6 semi-structured in-depth interviews with students and young people who have just finished their studies were also conducted. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were combined for both data collection and analysis.Based on the results, it can be concluded that the distribution of forms of address in situations where the sociolinguistic and pragmatic choice was not obvious was approximately equal. Statistically significant variables were found to be sex and age. However, as the qualitative aspect of the study reveals, the usage of these forms depends on diverse and subtle variables, including social distance, relative power, and age, as well as their interaction within specific communicational situations. The study confirms that plural forms of address generally convey respect, formality, and polite distance, while singular forms indicate friendliness, intimacy, and familiarity. Nevertheless, both formal and informal forms of address can also be employed as impoliteness strategies. In some cases, the switch between the forms of address is caused by mutual agreement, while in others, it occurs on its own and indicates changes in social or psychological circumstances. The choice between singular and plural forms of address is often complex and not always fluent; therefore, interlocutors may seek to avoid them altogether and navigate a delicate balance between formal and informal ways of addressing people.

Scrutinizing the relationship between language proficiency and the use of mitigated devices by Saudi learners

This study explored the intricate relationship between language proficiency and the utilization of mitigated devices among Saudi learners. Mitigated devices refer to linguistic strategies employed to soften or moderate speech acts, such as hedging, mitigation, and indirectness, which play a crucial role in effective communication. Understanding the connection between language proficiency and mitigated devices usage among Saudi learners not only contributes to the field of linguistics but also holds significance for cross-cultural communication and education. It provided insights into the challenges faced by learners and offers guidance for fostering more culturally sensitive and effective communication strategies. To achieve this aim, 98 Saudi learners took part in this study from PSAU by replying on the Discourse Completion Test. Findings showed a significant influence of language proficiency on using internal modifications devices. Regarding the influence of social variables, advanced learners were more conscious of the effect of social power and distance in altering their strategy depending on the contextual variables. The study concluded with practical recommendations for learners, educators, and policymakers to improve language proficiency and intercultural communication competence among Saudi learners. These recommendations aimed to facilitate more effective and contextually appropriate communication in academic, professional, and social settings.

The Pragmatics of Refusal: A Study of Parent-Daughter Communication Dynamics in Saudi Arabia

This study examines the realization of refusal speech acts by female Saudi Arabic speakers in response to parental requests, focusing on the potential impact of parental gender and request imposition on refusal strategies. Sixty participants from (anonymous) University completed a written discourse completion test (DCT) containing six scenarios with varying degrees of imposition (low, medium, high) featuring either a mother or a father. Findings revealed significant variations in refusal strategies directed toward mothers and fathers, influenced by gender expectations and imposition levels. Saudi females predominantly employed the "Excuse, reason, explanation" strategy with both parents but demonstrated distinct strategies in high-imposition request situations when interacting with fathers versus mothers. Females tended to use the "Attempt to dissuade interlocutor" strategy with fathers and the "Statement of alternative" approach with mothers. Furthermore, Saudi daughters were less inclined to use direct refusals when responding to fathers compared to mothers. These findings highlight communication, power, and relationship dynamics within Saudi families, potentially leading to distinct communication patterns and expectations among interlocutors.

The act of thanking: A pragmatic study of speech act to speech action transition

The force behind illocutionary speech acts is a complex concept that plays a crucial role in communication. By studying this concept, learners can gain a deeper appreciation for the power of language and the importance of effective communication in their daily lives. This study investigated the common thanking strategies used by Jordanian EFL learners in different situations. Using an 8-item Discourse Completion Test (DCT), 35 EFL learners (male and female), who studied at the Department of English Language and Literature at Ajloun National University, participated in this study. The learners were asked to write down what they identified as thanking expressions, similar to what they would say in their real-life situations. When the DCTs were finished, the kind of thanking expressions were categorized based on Cheng's taxonomy of gratitude expressions which included eight strategies: thanking, appreciation, expressing positive feelings, repayment, recognition of imposition, apology, alerting and other expressions that did not belong to the mentioned strategies. The frequency and percentage for each strategy were quantified. The results confirmed that most EFL learners used simple thanking expressions either in formal or informal situations. It was also found that aside from Chen's taxonomy-based thanking schemes, the participants also used combined strategies such as Thanking + complimenting/ Thanking +giving appreciation+ expressing delight/ Thanking by stating the reason/ Expressing surprise+ thanking / Thanking+ offering promise, and Thanking + Repayment. Future studies need to be conducted to investigate the difficulties faced by EFL Learners in using speech act of thanking.

The Interplay of Contextual Variables and Language Proficiency in Request Realization

The significance of producing socially appropriate utterances, not just linguistically correct ones, has given rise to a plethora of studies on speech acts. In this regard, the performance of second and foreign language learners against the norms of the target language and the factors affecting them have yet to be thoroughly investigated. To contribute to this ongoing research, this study aimed to elicit pragmatic requestive features of Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners with respect to (a) request directness, (b) request perspective, (c) internal modification, and (d) external modification in eight social situations. This study also examined whether language proficiency and two contextual factors of social power and social distance affect Iranian EFL learners’ requests in English. Participants were a total of 60 university students or graduates who had taken TOEFL in the past 2 years and were thus categorized into low and high proficiency levels. A Written Discourse Completion Test (WDCT) was employed to elicit requests. To achieve the objectives of this study, both descriptive statistics and two-way ANOVA were employed. The results showed a significant main effect for contextual factors; participants’ choice of requestive features was affected by the two social factors of power and distance. Proficiency, however, did not have a significant effect on the pragmatic performance of participants. The findings of this study showed pragmatic development of participants on the one hand and some evidence of their underdeveloped pragmatic performance on the other hand, which makes explicit instruction a necessity.

Chinese terms of address in apology and request

The aim of the present study is to explore how Chinese terms of address are conventionally used in the speech acts of apology and request from a contrastive pragmatic angle. The study fills an important knowledge gap, considering that little attention has been paid to the use of address terms in the performance of speech acts. The research presented has the following bipartite structure. First, a multiple-choice Discourse Completion Tests (DCT) was administered to a group of young learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFLLs) and a comparable group of Chinese native speakers (NSs). The DCT results reveal that Chinese NSs use address terms significantly more frequently in realising apologies and requests compared to the Hungarian CFLLs. Following the DCT, an online survey was conducted with Chinese linguacultural insiders on the use of address terms in apologies and requests. The findings from the online survey affirm that Chinese address terms serve pragmatic functions beyond mere attention-getters in the performance of speech acts. These findings not only identify the use of address terms as a prominent pragmatic feature in the speech acts performance in Chinese, but also hold strong implications for CFL education in fostering learners’ pragmatic competence.

A Contrastive Analysis of Disagreement Speech act Used by Native Speakers of English and Iraqi EFL Learners in light of Politeness Strategies

Introduction: Effective communication often involves expressing disagreement while maintaining social harmony, which is influenced by cultural and linguistic norms. Native speakers of English typically employ various politeness strategies in their disagreement speech acts. However, Iraqi EFL learners may navigate these strategies differently due to variations in cultural norms and language proficiency. Therefore, the current study aimed to contrastively analyze the way Iraqi EFL learners and native English speakers perform the speech act of disagreement in light of politeness. Methodology: In this regard, a discourse completion test (DCT) was administered to 66 participants, comprising 33 Iraqi EFL students studying English as a foreign language (TEFL) and 33 native English speakers. The DCT was made up of scenarios that mirrored real-life circumstances in order to provoke responses from people who disagreed with them. Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory of politeness was employed to analyze participants’ utterances. Results: The findings indicated that while expressing disagreement with people of higher, participants in both groups were more concerned with keeping their interlocutors’ positive faces. Furthermore, the study findings indicated that despite differences in the two groups of participants, Iraqi EFL learners utilized positive indirect politeness strategies more frequently than English native speakers. On the other hand, English native speakers applied direct and negative politeness strategies. Conclusion: Generally, the findings indicated that both groups tended to use the most direct type of disagreement as the social distance and power relation decreased.

The manifestation of interlanguage pragmatics in direct and indirect request strategies used by international students

This study focused on how interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) is manifested in a multicultural environment. Learners’ ability to make requests has received considerable attention in ILP research because requests are intrinsic face-threatening acts. The question this study aimed to address was to what extent a culture has an impact on the direct and indirect level of request strategies. The data were collected from thirty participants (fifteen males and fifteen females) representing five nationalities (Russian, Indonesian, Pakistani, Jordanian, and Hungarian) and studying at the University of Pannonia. The Discourse Completion Test (DCT) developed by Hendriks (2002) was used as an instrument, containing different situations to which the participants had to respond. The linguistic and cultural background of the participants was identified using an online tool, namely the Language History Questionnaire. The participants’ responses were then recorded and transcribed. The direct and indirect levels of the requests were analyzed by categorizing the head act and the internal (syntactic and lexical) and external modifiers. The data showed that the participants generally used more indirect strategies in making requests (86.2% indirect, 13.8% direct), especially those from Indonesia. Participants from Pakistan were the most direct in making requests. Moreover, they used more external modifiers than other participants to compensate for their directness.

GENDER AND POWER RELATION IN ENGLISH REFUSAL STRATEGIES OF ESL UNDERGRADUATES

Refusal refers to a face-threatening act (FTA) for it can risk one’s face in communication. It encompasses turning down someone’s request, offer or suggestion. The speech act of refusal has been one of the most prominent areas of interest for many scholars. However, there is a dearth of such study in Malaysia, particularly within the Malay community. Aimed to fill the gap, this study examined the refusal strategies used in English by Malay ESL undergraduates, observe the differences and similarities in the refusal strategies of male and female undergraduates, and analyse whether relative power has an influence on the choice of their refusal strategies. This study employed the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) which was distributed among sixty Malay ESL undergraduates, consisting of 30 males and 30 females where they were required to refuse requests from three addressees (lecturer, friend, junior) in five different situations. The collected data were then analysed quantitatively. The findings showed that 32 out of 41 types of refusal strategies were used by the participants. Both male and female students employed more indirect refusal strategies regardless of the person’s relative power. Furthermore, relative power did influence the participants' choices in refusal strategies.

Effects of gender and degree of formality on the use of euphemistic strategies in Iraqi Arabic

Although euphemism has been studied in many Arabic dialects, it has not yet received due attention in Iraqi Arabic (IA). This study investigates the use of euphemistic strategies by IA speakers and the effect of gender and degree of formality on the use of these strategies. In order to achieve these objectives, a discourse completion test (DCT) was developed and distributed to 160 (80 males and 80 females) Iraqi university students. The data were analysed quantitively and qualitatively using strategies adopted from a number of previous frameworks. The findings show that the participants used a variety of euphemistic strategies, with the deletion strategy being the most frequently used when talking about the topic of death, the fuzzy words strategy for the topic of mental illness, and the implication strategy for the topic of obesity. The analysis also revealed that the degree of formality plays a key role in the use of euphemistic strategies in the topic of mental illness and that gender plays an effective role in the use of euphemistic strategies in all three topics.

A contrastive analysis of congratulate by native speakers of Chinese and advanced learners of Chinese

AbstractThe present study aims to contrast the performance of Congratulate by advanced learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) and Chinese native speakers. Adopting a bottom‐up procedure, it discovers three types of Congratulate structures and seven categories of strategies used by both native speakers and advanced CFL learners. It also reveals that while social distance and power exert influence on the performance of Congratulate in both groups, significant differences exist in the overall distribution of these structures and categories of strategies. In addition, it discusses salient problems concerning the appropriateness of advanced CFL learners’ production with the aid of corpus‐based analysis and written interview. By supplementing a discourse completion test–based contrastive analysis with the two ancillary analyses, the study has a methodological implication for future empirical research in second language pragmatics.

How to Start a Request? A Contrastive Study of Alerters in Spanish by Speakers of L1 Spanish and L1 French

Abstract The formulation of requests has been widely studied in pragmatics, both within a (variety of) language and from a contrastive perspective. In this study, we will show the specific role of alerters (elements that precede the request head act and that serve to get the attention of the hearer on the request) in request formulation, comparing L1 speakers of Spanish and L2 speakers of Spanish with L1 French in Discourse Completion Tests and Naturalised Interactions. In doing so, we contribute to the contrastive pragmatic study of both languages. Our data reveal that there are statistically significant differences in the use of alerters from Spanish L1 and L2 speakers in the DCTs but not in the Naturalised Interactions. Alerters occur with rather similar frequencies in both groups, but there are qualitative differences as to which forms are adopted. At the methodological level, we highlight that data obtained from both groups’ DCTs vs. Naturalised Interactions show different results, thus underlining the importance of combined methods for contrastive pragmatics research.

A Study on the Use of Suggestion Strategies among Yemeni Learners of English

The current study attempts to investigate the use of suggestion strategies among Yemeni learners of English at private universities. The participants of the study were 41 undergraduate students from English Department in the three private universities. The data were collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT). They were analyzed according to the models proposed by Martinez Flor. (2005), whose analytical framework classified suggestion strategies into three types: direct, conventionalized forms, and indirect. The results of the current study revealed that Yemeni learners of English at private universities almost tend to use the same types of suggestion strategies in the six situations with slight differences in their percentages. The results showed that there are three types of suggesting strategies used by the students namely; direct suggestion56.5%, conventionalized form 24.4%, and indirect suggestion 19.1%. Moreover, the results indicated that there are no significant statistical differences in the use of suggestion strategies according to the participants of the three universities. However, the results of the study showed that there is a slight difference in favor of Al-Nasser University in situation one and for the National University in situation four.

Apology Strategies in Hindko: An Explanatory Intercultural Research

Intercultural and cross-cultural studies play a significant role in understanding the influence of culture on communication, especially pragmatic communication in any language. The current study aims to explore the phenomenon of apology strategies used by Hindko speakers enrolled at the University of Kotli and the University of AJK Muzaffarabad. The data were collected through a Discourse Completion Test from 10 speakers of Hindko enrolled in various departments at the University of Kotli and UAJK Muzaffarabad. The Turkish language data were adopted as a reference from a research study conducted by Cetinavei (2012). The Hindko data were analyzed using the theoretical framework presented by Blum-Kulka et.al (1984). The findings of the research show that Hindko speakers show variation in using apology strategies. Hindko speakers use more direct explanation and denial strategies, whereas Turkish speakers use indirect responsibility and explanation strategies. Moreover, the analysis also shows that Hindko speakers use forgiveness strategies more frequently than other strategies like intensifying or taking responsibility. The research opens doors for future researchers to dig into the comparative aspects of the languages with other European languages.