Use Of Apology Strategies Research Articles

An investigation of cross-cultural gender-wise stereotypes in apologizing through film series

The present study examined gender-wise differences in the use of apology strategies employed by Persian and American English interlocutors in two popular Persian and American TV film-series. To this aim, 347 apology utterances across 600 min of both Persian and American TV film-series were selected for analysis. The apology utterances produced by males and females in the two film series were observed, classified, and coded based on the apology strategies taxonomy propounded by Eslami-Rasekh (2004) [59]. The acquired data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and Binomial tests to depict the frequency and type of apologies concerning female-female, female-male, male-female, and male-male interactions. The frequency of the males' apologies to the females and males suggested no statistically significant differences between the two communities. In addition, the findings manifested both similarities and differences in the realization and distribution of the apology speech act between males and females in the targeted cultures. For example, the apology strategies were more commonly used by the males than the females. Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices were the most frequent apology strategies employed by the Persian and American males in both languages. In the Persian film series, ‘Acceptance of responsibility’ and ‘Offer of repair’ were the other frequent apology strategies which differed significantly between the males and females. In the American film series, ‘Explanation’, ‘Acceptance of responsibility’, and ‘Refusing responsibility’ were the strategies found to be significantly different between the males and females. Generally, it was realized that males were more inclined to apologize in the examined film series despite the prevalent stereotype that women apologize more frequently than men.

Gender and Age Differences in Using Apology Strategies in Saudi Arabia

Apology has been an important topic in personal relationship studies over the past three decades. This study is based on Sugimoto’s empirically derived characterization of apology strategies and explores how Saudis of both genders and of different ages use apology strategies to demonstrate their politeness. The study’s three main objectives were to identify the most commonly employed apology strategies and to determine the significance of gender and of age on how people used apology strategies. Data collection relied on the Multiple Discourse Completion Task Questionnaire, which contains questions about different real-life scenarios and multiple answers that measure the use of apology strategies. It was distributed to 102 female and 93 male participants of different ages (between 18 and 50). The study established that the most used apology strategies are self-blame and then compensation, while the least used are blaming the victim and asking the victim not to be angry. The rest of the apology strategies occur at different frequencies. The study also found that women use apology strategies significantly more than men do. Women tend to use thanking, lack of intent, asking for forgiveness, and asking the victim not to be angry, whereas men use compensation, avoiding the victim, blaming the victim, promising not to repeat, and offending the victim more than women do. In addition, the study found significant differences in which apology strategies people of different ages used.

APOLOGY STRATEGY IN DISNEY AND PIXAR’S LUCA MOVIE: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH

This paper aims to analyse the various apology strategies used by the characters in the Luca movie script and describe their use through a pragmatic approach by referring to the theory of Klimczak and Pawlak (2014) and Fraser's theory (1981) to explain the factors that influenced the use of apology strategies by characters in Luca's film script. This study uses a descriptive qualitative research method with data obtained from the film script Luca. The results of this study indicate that there are 23 utterances featuring apologies made by 6 characters in Luca's story. The findings are grouped into a taxonomy of apology strategies, there are 9 types of apology strategies used by the characters in Luca's story. The 9 types of strategy include Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (an expression of regret) of 5 utterances, Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (a request for the forgiveness) of 1 utterance, Phatic Communication of 2 utterances, Acknowledgement of Responsibility (explicit self-blame) of 2 utterances, Internal Intensifiers (intensifying adverbials) with 2 utterances, Acknowledgement of Responsibility with 4 utterances of lack of intent, Acknowledgement of Responsibility (expression of embarrassment) with 4 utterances, Explanation or account of the situation with 2 utterances, and Acknowledgement of Responsibility (refusal to acknowledge guilt) with 1 utterance, which every utterance and strategy were influenced by 1-2 factors.

On Gender and Apology: Case of Algerian Arabic

The present study explores the impact of gender on the use of apology strategies by Algerian speakers. Specifically, the research aims to identify the apology strategies utilized by male and female Algerian participants and to examine the potential influence of gender on such usage. The study employed a discourse completion task (DCT) as its methodological tool for data collection. The DCT included nine scenarios in which participants were required to provide an apology. Sixty participants, consisting of 30 males and 30 females, were recruited for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were employed to examine the data collected. To facilitate the analysis, a modified version of Blum-Kulka and Olshtain’s (1984) framework was applied, given its widespread usage and convenience in similar studies. The findings of the study indicate that male and female Algerian participants employed seven primary apology strategies, and gender influenced the frequency of their usage. These findings provide new insights into the role of gender in the choice of apology strategies in Algerian Arabic.

Apology Strategies Used by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on National Apology “Stolen Generation” Speech

This research examines the use of apology strategies applied by Kevin Rudd in his speech of stolen generation. Kevin Rudd is an Australian former politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australian, serving from December 2007 to June 2010. This study is conducted to find out (1) the types of apology strategies Kevin Rudd used in his speech, and (2)the way on how apology strategies used by Kevin Rudd in his speech. This study applies descriptive qualitative method. The data were taken from the transcript of Kevin Rudd’s speech. This study uses Trosborg’s theory on apology strategies. The result of apology strategy analysis in Kevin Ruud’s speech shows that he has used the apology strategy in delivering his speech. This study reveals that there are seven categories and nine sub-categories of apology strategies on Kevin Rudd’s speech. The strategies are acknowledgement of responsibility, promise and forbearance, expressing concern for the hearer, minimizing the degree of offense, explanation or account, as well as offer of repair as the type of apology strategy which are employed. Based on Trosborg’s theory, the most dominant apology strategy used by Kevin Rudd in his speech was “expression of apology”.

A Gender Based Pragmatic Analysis of English Apology Strategies used by EFL Learners at University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

The present study is an attempt to explicate the influence of gender and social status in the selection of English apology strategies in different communicative situations. The sample for the study consists of forty-two EFL learners. Data were collected and analyzed through Discourse Completion Tasks and Interviews. Statistically, no significant difference is observed in the use of English apology strategies among gender; but the result exhibits that both male and female use apology strategies while keeping in mind the interlocutor’s social status. The findings indicate that the most frequently used apology strategies by male and female respondents are 'Explicit expression of apology' especially 'Explicit expression of apology + Explanation or account', 'Expressing regret + Explanation or account' and 'Intensifier'. Interestingly, non of the respondents used 'Recognizing interlocutor as deserving apology' and 'Expressing lack of intent'. This study is helpful to reconnoiter social and cultural differences in the use of apology strategies.

Use of Apology Strategies in Emails by Chinese Learners of English: Evidence Based on Naturally Occurring Data.

Using a data set of 30 authentic institutional emails written by Chinese college students to their native English teacher, this article investigates the frequency and combinations of apology strategies used by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in natural contexts. Drawing on the coding framework adapted from previous studies, this article carries out a fine-grained analysis of apology behaviors of Chinese EFL learners when they offended their teacher for various reasons. Results revealed that the most frequently used strategy was illustrative force indicating devices (IFIDs), and “IFIDs + taking on responsibility” ranked the most frequent combination. Among IFID sub-strategies, an expression of regret had the highest frequency. In addition, a new strategy—request for a chance to repair—was identified, which was used by Chinese learners to show their respectful and pious attitude when a more serious offense was made to their teacher. Findings from the study indicate that Chinese EFL learners tend to use culture-specific apology strategies in academic contexts. This study has pedagogical implications for EFL pragmatics instruction in Chinese contexts and also second language pragmatics instruction tailored for native Chinese learners in English-speaking countries.

Gender Differences in Using Apology Strategies in Jordanian Spoken Arabic

This study investigated apology strategies used in Jordanian spoken Arabic. The main purpose was to find whether gender plays a role in selecting apology strategies related to different situations. A modified version of Harb’s discourse questionnaire was employed for collecting the data. The participants included 20 males and 20 females. The data were codified and classified using Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP), by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984). Both qualitative and quantitative approach was used in analysing the collected data. The findings of the study demonstrate that there are more similarities than differences between females and males in the use of apology strategies. In addition, it was found that both groups tend to use multiple apology strategies in the same utterance; however, their strategies vary in frequency. The results demonstrated that there is no substantial quantitative difference in the use of apology strategies between Jordanian males and females. Further research employing a multi-factor framework (age, gender, education) of addressees is needed.

Apology Strategies Among Libyan Learners of English at Omar Al-Mukhtar University

A good body of research has been conducted to investigate the realization of apology speech act. Much of the literature investigated focused on western languages. The increase of research on apology has lead other non-western scholars to explore apology in their languages. However, fewer have addressed this issue in Arabic language varieties in general, and Libyan Arabic in particular. This has presented us with a challenge worthy of a deeper investigation. The rationale behind investigating apology as a speech act is to indicate how findings can be used to facilitate the way people of diverse socio-cultural backgrounds interact with each other. The aim of this study is to discuss selected points relating to the type and use of apology strategies in Libyan Arabic. The investigation is based on a corpus of Libyan apologies collected from fifty students at Omar Al-Mukhtar University (OMU). This article uses a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) that comprised 10 situations to elicit apology strategies from the participants. The findings indicated that the informants used the expression of remorse in situations in which the offended person was a friend, an elderly and a teacher/supervisor/boss who has some authority. A reasonable number of informants refused to admit responsibility for the harm and used explanations to put the blame on other sources. Strategies, such as self-blame, reparation, intensification, and use of Allah’s name were also used in this study.The results of this paper, it is hoped, could have profound implications for researchers seeking to address this issue or any other area pertinent to inter-cultural communication further.

What’s Beyond the Language of Apology? A Case Study

This study investigates the realization of the speech act of apology. It seeks to analyze the linguistic patterns used to represent apology from a pragmalinguistic point of view. It aims at presenting an actual insight on the impact of gender and social practices on performing different apology strategies through providing empirical evidence on the impact of the mother tongue on acquiring apology competence by EFL learners. The study made use of the written Discourse Completion Test (DCT) including 20 scenarios administrated to three groups of respondents of both genders: 100 native speakers of Jordanian Arabic, 100 Jordanian EFL learners, and 50 native speakers of American English. The findings revealed that gender has influenced the use of different apology strategies between the males and females of each group. It was also indicated that the sociocultural practices have played a big role in the socio-linguistic realization of apology. This impact was more pronounced throughout the different preference to the use of apology strategies among the three groups. In addition, it was found that there are interlingual hypotheses concerning the foreign language pragmatics prompting the EFL learners to deviate from the native language and English norms of apology. Thus, it was concluded that the mother tongue influence is not the sole source of pragmatic deviations from the second language norms; this influence cannot be described as negative transfer but a creative process done by EFL Learners to master English.

A Study of EFL Students‘ Awareness on Apology through Cross Cultural Learning Activities

This study was aimed at exploring what types of cross cultural learning activities used that contribute to EFL students’ awareness on apology function, and how the process occurred at an EFL tertiary level. The data analyzed in this study were collected in Satya Wacana Christian University and Sebelas Maret University. The study was a mixed method in nature using a questionnaire and interview adapted from previous studies. The quantitative data was obtained from six Indonesian EFL students using Discourse Completion Tasks Questionnaires (DCTQ), while the qualitative data obtained from individual interviews carried out with six EFL students. The results showed that there were group discussion and role playing used as cross cultural learning activities which contributed to EFL students’ awareness on apology functions. Another finding also indicated the use of apology strategies performing those two learning activities. It was unveiled that that EFL students employed numerous apology strategies that they were well aware of how to use adequate apology forms to meet the requirement of certain situations and relationships, and that they felt the need for explaining and avoiding interpretation of their responses as an apology.

Interlanguage Development in Speech Act Strategy Choices: Apologies by Norwegian Pre- and In-service Teachers of English

Previous research on interlanguage pragmatics suggests that performance of apologies in a second language can pose challenges for adult language learners. The goal of this paper is to contribute to the growing body of research on L2 pragmatic development. The cross-sectional study presented here focuses on the variation in the use of apology strategies in response to discourse completion tasks produced by 110 Norwegian pre- and in- service English teachers at three different proficiency levels. The apologies were classified using coding procedures adopted from Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984), Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) and Rose (2000). The findings are reported using descriptive statistics and selected examples from the data. One-way ANOVAs and Chi-square tests were run to determine if the differences between the groups were statistically significant. Developmental patterns were revealed in the use of apology modifications (adjunct strategies), particularly in the amount of and variation of modifications, with participants with higher proficiency level employing significantly more varied and extensive modifications. However, no significant differences in the production of the main apology and the employment of lexical intensifiers were found.

Apology Strategies Used by EFL Undergraduate Students in Indonesia

Interlanguage speakers, regardless of proficiency level, often experience problems in communication due to their limited knowledge of how speech acts are commonly performed in the target language. The current study attempted to investigate the effects of English proficiency level on the apology strategy use by Indonesian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners from two English proficiency levels. The study employed a DCT (Discourse Completion Task) questionnaire and involved 21 A2 students and 21 B1 students majoring in English in their first-year period from an Indonesian university. Utilizing the apology strategy framework from Olshtain & Cohen (1983) and Blum-Kulka, House & Kasper (1989), the findings demonstrated no significant difference between the two subject groups in the overall use of apology strategies, whereas differences were noted at an individual strategy level. Nonetheless, the B1 group made more frequent use and a wider range of apology strategies than the A2 group. In addition, the study found two forms of pragmatic transfer made by the subjects and a new apology strategy.

A Contrastive Study of the Use of Apology Strategies by Saudi EFL Teachers and British Native Speakers of English: A Pragmatic Approach

This study examines the apology strategies used by 30 British native speakers of English and compares them with those employed by 30 Saudi EFL teachers, using a Discourse Completion Task (DCT). The study considers expressions of regret based on gender, cultural differences and severity of the offence. It is a quantitative, descriptive research study; it relies in its data collection process on a DCT whose reliability and internal and external validity are verified. It investigates three categories of variables types: binary, nominal and ordinal. The binary variables refer to gender, i.e., male and female, the nominal category is concerned with Arabic and English languages, and ordinal variables refer to the most frequent apology strategies employed by the respondents. The present study uses a quantitative method of data analysis which employs descriptive statistics (i.e., frequency analysis and percentages) in order to address the research questions and indicate the types of apology strategies that are frequently used by the speakers of the two investigated groups. The findings show different ways of using apology strategies by the two investigated groups based on the variables considered. Finally, the study concludes with some pedagogical implications for EFL teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Comparing apologies in Australian English and Bahasa Indonesia: Cultural and gender perspectives

AbstractThis study examines sociocultural, pragmatic, and gender differences between native speakers of Australian English (AE) and Bahasa Indonesia (BI) in expressing the speech act of apology. Based on an oral discourse completion task (DCT) using data from 24 native speakers of both languages, the study focuses on the variations in the use of apology strategies in three situations of moderate severity. The findings show that the two groups use a variety of strategies in expressing apologies. The majority of BI speakers tend to use requests for forgiveness with relatively strong hearer-oriented strategies. AE apologies, on the other hand, seem to be dominated by the frequent use of expressions of regret, with speaker-oriented strategies. Another noticeable speech phenomenon lies in the differences in showing directness and politeness: BI speakers are likely to be more elaborate and less straightforward in their expressions than AE speakers. It is also evident that Indonesian apologetic acts tend to be somewhat formulaic and less varied compared with those in Australian expressions. Finally, the findings show quite pronounced gender differences both within and between the two languages in terms of the strategy use and expressions.

Apology Strategies Employed by Saudi EFL Teachers

This study examines the apology strategies used by 30 Saudi EFL teachers in Najran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), paying special attention to variables such as social distance and power and offence severity. The study also delineates gender differences in the respondents’ speech as opposed to studies that only examined speech act output by native and non-native speakers of English. To this end, the study employs a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) that consists of 10 situations designed to test how the respondents would react if they imagine that they belong to different types of social status whether higher, lower or equal. In addition, social distance and power have been taken into consideration in designing the ten situations included in the test used in this study. The results reveal that Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (IFID) is the most used apology strategy by the Saudi respondents followed by downgrading responsibility (DR), upgrader, offer of repair, taking on responsibility and then verbal redress. The results also reveal that gender has a great impact on the use of apology strategies in various ways. For instance, the IFID strategy and the upgrader strategy are used by males more than their female counterparts, whereas females use the DR strategy more than their male counterparts. It has been argued that some of the respondents’ answers to the test were influenced by their mother tongue, as reported in previous studies conducted on apology strategies. The study discusses the results elicited via the DCT and compares them with those of previous studies on apology strategies and other speech acts. Finally, the study concludes with recommendations for further research. Keywords: pragmatics, apology strategies, Saudi EFL teachers, interlanguage pragmatics, target culture

A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of Apology Strategies Employed by Iranian EFL Learners and English Native Speakers

The development of speech-act theory has provided the hearers with a better understanding of what speakers intend to perform in the act of communication. One type of speech act is apologizing. When an action or utterance has resulted in an offense, the offender needs to apologize. In the present study, an attempt was made to compare the apology strategies employed by Iranian EFL learners and those of English native speakers in order to find out the possible differences and similarities. To this end, a discourse completion test (DCT) was given to 100 male and female Iranian EFL learners and English native speakers. The respondents were supposed to complete the DCTs based on nine situations, which varied in terms of power between the interlocutors and level of imposition. This study employed Cohen and Olshtain's (1981) model to classify various types of apology strategies. The obtained results revealed some similarities along with some (statistically insignificant) differences between EFL learners and American English speakers in terms of their use of apology strategies. Furthermore, it was found that the illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs), such as request for forgiveness and an offer of apology were the strategies mostly employed by the Iranian EFL learners while taking on responsibility such as explicit self-blame, and expression of self-deficiency were found to be the strategies mostly used by English native speakers. In terms of gender, the male and female respondents more or less used the same apology strategies in response to the situations. The findings of the present research can be used by language teachers as well as sociolinguists. Keywords: Speech act theory, Speech act of apology, Apology strategies, Iranian EFL learners, English Native speakers, Gender

An investigation of apology strategies employed by Iranian EFL learners

A number of studies on apology strategies have investigated apologies cross-culturally. Rarely have apology strategies been scrutinized in Iranian context of EFL learning; nor have the respondents' gender that trigger such apologies been taken into account. This study was aimed to compare Iranian male and female EFL learners in terms of apology strategies. The participants were 50 Iranian EFL learners: (25 male, 25 female) both graduate and undergraduate students studying at Islamic Azad University, Najafabad branch. Discourse completion tests (DCT) were used in this study. In addition, Cohen and Olshtain's (1981) model was used for the classification of the different types of apology strategies used by EFL learners. It was found that the apology strategies of the first class, namely illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs), were the most commonly used strategies by Iranian EFL learners. Indeed, 67.48% of the entire number of the strategies used by EFL learners belonged to this category. Around 15.14% of the strategies are offer for repair by Iranian EFL learners, while the remaining strategies were scarcely used by Iranian EFL learners. In terms of gender, the results of a chi-square test showed that there was no statistically significant difference between male and female EFL learners with regard to their use of apology strategies: χ (10) = 2.69, p = .98.

On the Use of Apology Strategies by Iranian EFL Learners: Do Gender and Proficiency Level Matter?

The current body of knowledge presents a great emphasize on teaching EFL learners to become pragmatically competent. Despite such an emphasis on pragmatics competence, apology strategies in English and Persian have been ignored. Moreover, it is known that EFL learners’ gender and level of proficiency affect the use of these strategies while second language communication. To this purpose, 120 EFL students from State and Azad universities of Zahedan and Zabol were selected (60 males and 60 females). Two instruments were used for collecting data including Oxford Placement Test and Discourse Completion Test (DCT). The participants were divided into three levels (pre-intermediate, intermediate, and upper-intermediate) based on their scores on the placement test, then they received DCT; they were required to provide the L2 equivalents of apology strategies depending on the communication situations. Data were tabulated and analyzed based on Olshtain and Cohen (1983) model. The results of the study showed that the most frequent used apology was IFIDs; (59%), Offer of Repair (15%), taking on Responsibility (8.3%), and Explanation or Account (7.17%).The findings further revealed that male and female respondents differed in the order of the secondary strategies they used. Females were intended to use intensifications twice more than males. Also it has been cleared that level of proficiency is a significant factor in determining the kind of the strategy an individual is intended to use. However the percentage of intensified IFIDs for males were increased by raising the level of proficiency, while decreasing happened for females by raising their level of proficiency.

A Socio-pragmatic Study of Apology in Iraqi Non-standard Arabic

Apology has been the focus of many studies in west and east. Some of these studies have focused on Arabic, but none of which have dealt with the use of apology in Iraqi non-standard Arabic. Besides, none has concentrated on the social value or gender differences in the use of such a speech act in Arabic. This study is an attempt to outline the most commonly existent differences between Iraqi males and females in the use of apology strategies. The corpus consists of responses to Discourse Completion Test, which includes three different situations. The informants have been 30 subjects: 15 males and 15 females. The sample is randomly selected from different places in Najaf to be more representative. The survey is written in Arabic to elicit responses that approximate verbal apologies for each different situation.