Discourse Completion Test Research Articles

A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of American Native Speakers of English and Moroccan EFL University Students’ Production of the Speech Act of Request

The purpose of this study was to investigate the production of request strategies, request sub-strategies, and request orientations by Moroccan EFL learners (MEFLLs) and American native speakers of English (ANSE). To achieve this objective, the researcher adopted a mixed approach by collecting data through a semi-structured interview and a discourse completion test. The DCT is composed of ten situations adopted from Blum-Kulka et al.’s (1989) Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Patterns project and modified by Khamam (2012). Thirty MEFLLs and thirty ANSE responded to the discourse completion test, while four MEFLLs and three ANSE were interviewed. Furthermore, to analyse said and unsaid requests, this study relied on Blum-Kulka et al.’s (1989) coding scheme and Marti’s (2006) model. The results showed that MEFLLs differed from ANSE in several ways. MEFLLs were more direct than ANSE, as they used direct request strategies and hearer-oriented requests more than ANSE. However, the two groups preferred the conventionally indirect request strategy to the other request strategies. Regarding request sub-strategies, the two groups frequently selected the query preparatory strategy. Nevertheless, it was chosen by ANSE more than MEFLLs.

Male and Female Students of English Department of State University of Medan in Compliment Responses and Their Meanings

Giving and responding to compliments can be a challenge for non-native speakers whose social attributes are different from those in the target language culture. Complimenting is one of the most important speeches used to negotiate interpersonal meaning and to build and sustain rapport and solidarity among speakers. This study is to investigate the types of compliment responses (CR) and the meaning of the compliment responses realized by male and female students. The respondent of the study is the English Department students for six semesters. The total respondents of the study is 70 students consisting of 30 males and 40 females taken by random sampling technique. The Discourse Completion Test (DCT) is used to collect the data. The data are analysed descriptive qualitative technique. The results of the research show that a) almost all types of compliment responses are used by males and females except the comment history type but they are different in types and frequencies, b) like types of compliment, males and females also use a significantly different way to realize the meaning of compliment response, especially in terms of frequency, for example, more female use comment acceptance than male.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Criticism Strategies: Iraqi and Malay ESL Learners

Criticism, as an evaluative criterion, is a significant speech act for English language learners to improve their speech and actions in their academic life. Yet, it is realized differently across diverse cultures. Few studies have shown that the linguistics forms of one language are different from those available in another language. Hence, this study aims to investigate the cross-cultural similarities and differences between 60 Iraqi and Malay university learners in the use of criticism strategies. The data are collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and a Focus Group Interview (FGI). The data are coded based on Nguyen’s (2005) coding scheme of criticism in terms of the realization strategies. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used in the analysis of data. The findings evidently uncover that both groups use similar categories of criticism strategies, but Iraqis use more direct criticisms than Malays who opt for indirectness in their criticisms. Finally, some pedagogical implications for teachers of English as a second or foreign language are provided in this study.

Saudi Politeness: Request and Apology in the Context of Study and Work at King Abdulaziz University:A Pragmatic Study

The present study investigates the frequently used speech acts related to positive and negative politeness techniques employed in requests and apologies by faculty members at King Abdulaziz University. Social interaction on University Campus reflects Hejazi culture located in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. The significance of the study arises from its focus on university-life interaction between faculty members as it provides an investigation of positive and negative politeness strategies. The paper tries to answer two questions: 1) Is there a relationship between the faculty’s years of experience and the request strategies employed? 2) Is there a relationship between the faculty years of experience and the apology strategies used? To answer these questions, a Discourse Completion Test was developed and given to 30 faculty members. The findings of the study show that social power, which is derived from having more years of experience, affects the request and apology strategies used among Saudi female faculty members. Faculty members of an older generation tend to use syntactically more extended sentences in requests compared to their younger colleagues, to alleviate the sense of their social power and save others’ sense of face. In contrast, the more youthful faculty members tended to use syntactically longer sentences in apologies compared to their older colleagues to show more respect. The study was conducted in Women Campus, and it is recommended to implement it on a larger scale with more participants to get more complete results.

SPEECH ACT: THE USE OF DCT INVENTORY ON RESEARCHING REFUSAL AND COMPLAINTS

The specific speech act instruction could lead to greater pragmatic competence for speakers. It suggests that teachers could use DCTs in the classroom to focus on social distance between speakers, and then use role play activities to mimic an authentic situation, beginning with the more semantically formula apologies and requests. These speech acts may be easier for students to acquire than refusals and complaints, which demand more social interaction as well as many face-saving moves. The instrument is The Discourse Completion Test, or DCT, was composed of six prompts. Four prompts were created to elicit the specific speech acts comprising the focus of the study, complaints and refusals; two distractors were also included. (These distractors elicited an apology and a request, and are not included in the results of the study). Moreover, the subjects are Indonesian colleagues, who study at university across Malaysia. Ninety percent of them are female respondents, which researcher accidentally met at various places (campus, meeting, restaurant, and house). The overall males and females consist of 15 persons; 9 persons female and 6 persons male.

Compliment Responses among Non-native English Speakers: Evidence of Pragmatic Transfer from Persian into English

Pragmatic failure contributes to misunderstanding in intercultural communication. Hence, language learners must not only acquire the correct forms of the target language, but also the knowledge of how to use the language pragmatically appropriate in the target culture. This study probes the evidence of pragmatic failure in the English Complement Responses (CRs) of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The participants were EFL students in a national university in Iran who were asked to take part in a Discourse Completion Test (DTC). This test included some hypothetical situations where the participants were requested provide responses to the compliments. Herbert’s (1986) taxonomy was used to classify the types of the CRs. Findings indicated that the participants transferred some of the Iranian cultural schemas to their CRs expressed in English. It is implied from this study that the teachers should make the EFL learners sensitive to the form and the sound use of CRs in intercultural communication with native English speakers. The results have useful implications for stakeholders in the field of TEFL in general and in Iran in particular.

Request Strategies in Kuwaiti Arabic and British English: A Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Study

The study at hands is a cross-cultural exploration of request strategies in Kuwaiti Arabic and British English dialects. A mixed method approach of a qualitative and quantitative analysis was used (i.e., a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and semi-structured interviews). Data was collected from a total of five hundred participants, two hundred and fifty from each group. Sixty participants were chosen for the semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the collected data was based upon Brown and Levinson's (1987) social variables (e.g., power, distance, and ranking). Also, the data was analyzed following Blum-Kulka and Olshtain's (1984) Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP). The results of the study revealed that Kuwaiti Arabic and British English participants used the conventional indirect level in the form of query preparatory in most situations. Furthermore, power as a social variable affected Kuwaiti Arabic and British English participants’ flow of a request in conversations. Participants used direct request strategies when the power of the speaker was high. As for the semi-structured interviews, the results indicated that there is a sociocultural norm between the Kuwaiti society and the British society, which affected their use of requests.

‘You could win Masterchef with this soup. Can I get some more?’ Request production and the impact of instruction on young EFL learners

This paper presents a study exploring the impact of concept-based instruction of requests with two intact classes of young learners of English (aged 12–13) in a Norwegian primary school. Based on sociocultural theory, the instruction aimed to promote agentive language use by focusing on two main dimensions: firstly, introducing scientific concepts and language resources related to the pragmalinguistic dimension, i.e. internal and external modification strategies to increase the learners' pragmalinguistic repertoire; secondly, presenting the sociopragmatic dimension, such as the situation, familiarity, and interlocutor age. In this study, learners’ internalisation of pragmalinguistic resources, displayed through increased variation in language use, is viewed as a prerequisite for agency. The learners’ request production was tested through a video-prompted oral discourse completion test (VODCT) in a pre-, post- and delayed post-test. The results reveal an increased variation and use of modal verbs and supportive moves following the instruction. In addition, their distribution varied depending on the interlocutor's age and familiarity. The learners also started using downgraders introduced during instruction. However, except for please, downgraders were not commonly used, which suggests that these require further scholarly attention. Overall, the young learners’ pragmalinguistic development displayed in the present study reveals a potential for teaching pragmatics through concept-based approaches.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Pragmatic competence: an imperative competency for a safe and healthy communication

Having pragmatic competence, one can communicate appropriately in social contexts. Pragmatic competence is defined as “the ability to use the language to express a wide range of functions as well as interpret their illocutionary force in discourse according to the socio-cultural context in which they are used”. The present study aimed at investigating the pragmatic competence of Iraqi Kurdish EFL learners through their comprehension of speech acts, implicatures, and situational routines as three aspects of pragmatic competence. The study further focused on the effects of communicative language teaching methods in enhancing pragmatic competence, which is the originality of the study. Moreover, the study attempted to see any variance between males and females regarding this issue. For this reason, the study comprised 90 participants. A multiple-choice discourse completion test including 32 items was used for the collection of data. The results unveiled Iraqi Kurdish EFL learners recorded a low level of pragmatic competence. Moreover, the findings revealed that communicative teaching methods interestingly enhance this competency.

How do Saudis ask for a favor? A Pragmatic Analysis

This study focused on the speech act of asking for a favor in Saudi Arabic due to the lack of studies done on Saudi Arabic in general and favor asking in specific. The core strategy and modification strategies used in each response were investigated. It also examined whether degree of imposition has an influence on the shape of the act. Data were collected using a written discourse completion test (DCT) in which 90 female native speakers of Saudi Arabic were asked to request a favor in 8 situations that varied in the degree of imposition. It was found that both core strategy and modification use in favor asking in Saudi Arabic were significantly influenced by degree of imposition. It is hoped that this study would help to understand some aspects of the spoken language in Saudi society.

REQUEST STRATEGIES USED BY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA CONTEXT

This study explored the permeating strategies used by the international student in request acts and the common features appearing during the language use as international students in Indonesia, where English is used as a Lingua Franca. The study employed a set of Oral Discourse Completion Test (ODCT) to collect the data from eight international students. Ten ODCTs were composed based on the relative power, social distance, and imposition and were analysed based on the Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP). The result was presented in descriptive qualitative where the most frequently used strategies were conventionally indirect – suggestory formulae. Meanwhile, the content analysis indicated that address terms and lengthy reasonings were the most common features appearing in the request acts made. The results offer that interlanguage pragmatic in lingua franca context occurs smoothly as the international students can combine the local culture in their language use.

UTICAJ MATERNjEG JEZIKA NA REALIZACIJU GOVORNOG ČINA KOMPLIMENTIRANjA KOD NEIZVORNIH GOVORNIKA ENGLESKOG JEZIKA

The paper deals with the impact of L1 on non-native English speakers in the realization of the speech act of complimenting. The Discourse Completion Test (DCT) which was used for this research included eight everyday situations and the participants were asked to respond in the most natural manner. The DCT was completed in Serbian and English by students of the English Department of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo and University of East Sarajevo. The focus of the paper is on both giving and receiving compliments. Due to the fact that there is scarce research of this pragmatic phenomenon in the Serbian language, this paper is based on the main theoretical postulates of English and comparative studies. A detailed pragmalinguistic and comparative analysis showed that the participants used almost the same strategies when giving compliments with explicit compliments as the most frequent ones. The participants most frequently used the accept strategy when responding to compli- ments. Furthermore, the participants are quite reserved when it comes to complimenting older speakers of a higher social rank, as presented in the DCT situations.

Persuasive Strategies of Saudi EFL Learners

The aim of this study is to investigate the speech act of persuasion used by Saudis learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Moreover, I seek to explore the differences between genders in the use of these strategies. The participants are 50 males and 50 females at level 7 of their bachelor’s degree in English. Data are collected using the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) method, which contains six scenarios similar to real-life situations. Data are analysed quantitatively using the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project nine-point rating scale, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, and Chi-square. The results of the DCT reveal that Saudi EFL learners use more direct strategies in English, namely hedge performatives and performatives. In addition, males are shown to be more inclined to use direct persuasive strategies compared to females. This research will benefit language learners, teachers, and researchers, as it highlights linguistic aspects of the speech act of persuasion that should be considered when learning and teaching a foreign language. The implications of this study inspire future research into different aspects of speech acts..

Frequency and types of indirect requests in Hungarian

The paper presents the frequency and types of illocutionary metonymy in Hungarian directives in various social contexts, taking into account the evoked elements of the request scenarios. The recognized and construed social relations have an impact not only on addressive forms but also on the appearance of other elements such as indirectness and its scalarity, which clearly shows that human language activity reflects the physical and social worlds of the intersubjective context (cf. Verschueren 1999).
 Indirect directives are based on illocutionary metonymic scenarios (Panther–Thornburg 1998) and by evoking a part of the scenario referring to the core action, they give access to the illocutionary scenario domain. The scalar nature of indirectness (Panther–Thornburg 1997, 1999, 2007) depends on the number of evoked elements and their conceptual distance from the core of the request. As the gathered material shows, social context has an impact not only on indirectness of the request but also its structure and type.
 The paper, based on a discourse completion test conducted among Hungarian data providers, presents not only the frequency of particular types of illocutionary indirectness in specific social contexts but also analyses the most frequent strategies attested by Hungarian data, taking into consideration their type and place in the illocutionary request scenario and compares the social contexts of indirectness with the social context of direct directives. The analysis of material gathered by a discourse completion test shows a correlation between social context and directness in requests in Hungarian, also highlighting the practices of being indirect by using hints, referring to common background knowledge, and employing conventional indirect requests.

CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF REFUSAL STRATEGIES OF AMERICAN AND ARMENIAN ENGLISH SPEAKERS

Several studies have been carried out on refusal strategies that native and non-native English speakers employ to mitigate potential threat to listener’s face when forming refusals to various speech acts, such as requests, offers, invitations, etc. This study adds the perspective of Armenian English speakers in using such mitigation strategies. The objective of the study is to identify similarities and differences in the use of various politeness strategies used in refusal acts by native English speakers (NES) and Armenian non-native English speakers (ANNES) with the aim of establishing the extent of cultural impact on pragmatic competence of ANNES. Language data was collected among 24 Armenian English speakers of high level of English proficiency and 15 American English speakers. A modified version of the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) developed by Beebe, Takahashi, and Uliss-Weltz (Beebe et al., 1990) was used to collect data. Along with considerable similarities in the use of politeness strategies in refusals between the two groups which indicate the high degree of pragmatic competence of ANNES, the analysis of the data also revealed some differences which attest to certain impact of the Armenian culture on this competence. The differences are mainly observed in frequency of use and in the content of the same strategies used by the two groups.

An Analysis of Mitigating Devices of Request Used by Saudi EFL Learners

This study aimed at exploring the linguistic mitigating devices of requests used by Saudi EFL learners. The participants of this study were 97 students enrolled in the English program at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. The data of this study were collected by Discourse Completion Test (DCT) questionnaire designed for the purpose of this study. The questionnaire contained five different situations of request and the factor of Social Distance (SD) was incorporated to investigate any differences of the learners’ request strategies attributed to this factor. The data were classified according to the Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984). The findings of this study revealed that the participants preferred to use internal mitigating devices more frequently than external ones. They also were more direct when making requests and it seems that social distance does not play a significant role in the students’ modification strategies of requests.

COMPLIMENT STRATEGIES PRODUCED BY EFL LEARNERS OF ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM IN RIAU, INDONESIA

This research was aimed at analysing students’ strategies in giving compliments. This was descriptive qualitative research using a qualitative approach accompanied by descriptive statistics. This research involved 39 EFL students as the participants in the academic year 2019/2020 selected using cluster random sampling technique. The instrument used to collect the data was a DCT (Discourse Completion Test) containing a number of situations where the students were expected to give their compliment. The result showed that the students used many kinds of strategy in giving compliments. Explicit strategy was the most used by the students. Furthermore, the single explicit strategy appeared the most within overall strategies that appeared in the DCT. This implied that the students prefer to give a direct and simple compliment. One strategy in giving compliment appeared out of the classification which is congratulation attached to unbound semantic formula.

Pragmatic Transfer in Advanced Saudi EFL Learners’ Refusals

The present study investigated pragmatic transfer in the refusals of advanced Saudi learners of English as a foreign language (SEFL) in terms of the frequency and content of the emantic formulas, and whether their refusals correspond more to those of Saudi native speakers of Arabic (NSA) or native speakers of English (NSE). A total of 45 female subjects participated in the study and were divided into three groups: advanced SEFL as the target group (n = 15), NSA as a baseline data group (n = 15), and NSE as a baseline data group (n = 15). The study employed a mixed-method data collection approach consisting of a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using the chi-square test and descriptive statistics. The results of the study revealed that pragmatic transfer was evident in the refusals of the SEFL group in both the frequency and content of semantic formulas. Moreover, the SEFL group’s realization of the speech act of refusal corresponded more to the NSA group than the NSE group. The analysis revealed that the SEFL group’s use of the direct refusal strategies, indirect refusal strategies, and adjuncts to refusals either resembled or approximated the NSA group’s use of the strategies to refuse all of the four stimulus types: requests, invitations, offers, and suggestions. Both the SEFL and NSA groups used the direct refusal strategies in a similar pattern; they used the direct strategies significantly less with interlocutors of a lower and higher social status, and significantly more with interlocutors of an equal social status. Furthermore, the content of the semantic formulas used by the SEFL group corresponded more to the content of the semantic formulas used by the NSA group in terms of the degree of specificity and the choice of the type of specific excuses. The SEFL group significantly approximated the NSA group’s use of both specific and unspecific excuses; they used three categories of specific excuses in a similar frequency: family, health, and personal preferences or needs.

Realisation of the Speech Act of Request, Suggestion and Apology by Libyan EFL Learners

This study investigates the three speech act strategies of request, suggestion and apology in Libyan Arab EFL undergraduate students (AREFLUS) and Amazigh EFL undergraduate students (AMEFLUS). It also examines their linguistic and pragmatic competence in these strategies. Two Libyan universities (Sebha and Zwara) are selected for the study, which includes 50 AREFLUS and 37 AMEFLUS participants. To investigate the students’ socio-pragmatic and pragma linguistic competence, two instruments are used: a questionnaire in the form of a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and a rating scale. The results reveal numerous similarities between the Libyan Arab and Amazigh participants in performing all the speech act strategies of request, suggest and apology. However, some significant differences regarding gender are found among Libyan EFL students. Overall, both groups appear to be more competent in functioning than in structuring the three mentioned speech act strategies.

Evaluating EFL University Learners’ Pragmatic Competence: Brown and Levinson’s Negative Politeness Strategies as a Model

ABSRACT
 Pragmatic competence forms a basic pillar in learning and teaching the communicative use of a foreign language (FL). Evaluating the FL pragmatic knowledge is a challenging and complex area of language testing. Far from the grammatical content of language, the current study aims to evaluate EFL learners' pragmatic competence in terms of communicating the linguistic expressions of negative politeness. Accordingly, it investigates EFL university learners’ ability to show social distance and realize power relations towards addressees. The study also presents the negative politeness strategies on the basis of Brown and Levinson's (1987) theory. 
 It is hypothesized that learners are pragmatically unaware of showing negative face towards addressees. It is further assumed that learners show tendency to go on record without redressive action, which often threatens addressees’ negative face. Added to that, learners are not aware of the appropriate use of politeness strategies followed according to the English culture. To investigate this, a Discourse Completion Test consisting of hypothetical situations that are familiar to learners' university life has been formulated.
 The study concludes that learners experience pragmatic failures while engaging in situations where there is a need to show negative face, and utter direct speech acts frequently. In addition, learners do not distinguish between the appropriate politeness strategies (positive, negative and off record) as far as the cultural orientation of the English language is concerned. They further disregard the appropriate use of address forms that constitute a paramount aspect of negative politeness.