Apology variations among Persian EFL learners in Iran, Iranian-Americans and American English speakers
محورهای موضوعی : language teaching
Golshan Isvandi
1
,
Hossein Shokouhi
2
1 - Shahid Chamran university
2 - School of Languages and Linguistics & Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne
کلید واژه: speech act, apology, transcultural studies,
چکیده مقاله :
This study aimed to compare the use of the apology speech act and other semantic formulas among Iranian EFL learners, American native speakers of English, and Iranians living in America for four years. We conducted a transcultural investigation on the use of apology strategies in the two cultures, and then assessed the effects of living in the target language context. The data were collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT), and then coded based on the Cohen and Olshtain’s (1981), and Istifçi (2009) classification of apology speech act. The results showed significant differences between the use of apology strategies by Iranian EFL learners and American speakers in apology verbs. Also, we found that the Iranians who had lived in America were successful in reaching the target language’s cultural norms. This improvement was mainly because of living in the target language context and learning through interaction. We also found that the act of flattery among Persian users which is a subcategory of a cultural habit called ta’arof is a strategy to amend their mistakes. The results of this study might be useful for sociolinguists, transcultural researchers, and foreign language teachers.
This study aimed to compare the use of the apology speech act and other semantic formulas among Iranian EFL learners, American native speakers of English, and Iranians living in America for four years. We conducted a transcultural investigation on the use of apology strategies in the two cultures, and then assessed the effects of living in the target language context. The data were collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT), and then coded based on the Cohen and Olshtain’s (1981), and Istifçi (2009) classification of apology speech act. The results showed significant differences between the use of apology strategies by Iranian EFL learners and American speakers in apology verbs. Also, we found that the Iranians who had lived in America were successful in reaching the target language’s cultural norms. This improvement was mainly because of living in the target language context and learning through interaction. We also found that the act of flattery among Persian users which is a subcategory of a cultural habit called ta’arof is a strategy to amend their mistakes. The results of this study might be useful for sociolinguists, transcultural researchers, and foreign language teachers.
Abedi, E. (2016). A cross-cultural comparative study of apology strategies employed by Iranian EFL learners and English native speakers. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 7(5), 35-45. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.5p.35
Aboud, F. (2019). Apology strategies among EFL postgraduate learners. Folklor/edebiyat Journal, 97(1), 359-372. https://doi.org/10.22559/folklor.947
Aboud, F., & Shibliyev, J. (2021). Using apology strategies by postgraduate students: A proficiency level perspective. De Clínica Psicológica, XXX(1), 66-75. https://doi.org/10.24205/03276716.2020.2005
Afghari, A. (2007). A sociopragmatic study of apology speech act realization patterns in Persian. Journal of Speech Communication, 49(3), 177-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2007.01.003
Al-Yasin, N., & Rabab’ah, G. (2018). Impoliteness strategies in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’: A genderbased Study. International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES), 18, 145-168.
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Clarendon.
Banikalef, A. A., Maros, M., Aladdi, A., & Al-natour, M. (2015). Apology strategies in Jordanian Arabic. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 15(2), 83-99. https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2015-1502-06
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Hartford, B. S. (2005). Institutional discourse and interlanguage pragmatic. In K. Bardovi-Harlig, & B. S. Hartford (Eds.), Interlanguage Pragmatics: Exploring institutional talk (pp. 7-36). Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.
Barron, A. (2016). Developing pragmatic competence using EFL textbooks: Focus on requests. Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal (LICEJ), 7(1), 2172-2179. https://doi.org/10.20533/licej.2040.2589.2016.0288
Bataineh, R. F., & Bataineh, R. F. (2008). A cross-cultural comparison of apologies by native speakers of American English and Jordanian Arabic. Journal of Pragmatics, 40(4), 792-821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2008.01.003
Beeman, W. O. (1986). Language, Status, and Power in Iran. Indiana University Press.
Beeman, W. O. (2001). Emotion and sincerity in Persian discourse. International Journal of the Sociology of Language Publications, 148(1), 31-57. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2001.013
Blum-kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (1989). Cross-Cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Ablex Publishing Corporation. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4168212
Brown, P. & S. Levinson. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. In A. Jaworski & N. Coupland (Eds.). (1999). The Discourse Reader. London: Routledge.
Cenoz, J. (2007). The acquisition of pragmatic competence and multilingualism in foreign language contexts. In J. Cenoz, E. A. Soler, & M. P. Sofiant Jorda (Eds.), Intercultural Language Use and Language Learning (pp. 123-140). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5639-0_7
Cohen, A. D., & Olshtain, E. (1981). Developing a measure of sociocultural competence: The case of apology. Language Learning, 31(1), 113–134. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1981.tb01375.x
Dadkhah-Tehrani, M., Rezaei, O., Dezhara, S., & Soltani-Kafrani, R. (2012). Apology strategies of Iranian undergraduate students. English Language Teaching, 5(2), 93-100. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n2p93
Demeter, G. (2006). A pragmatic study of apology strategies in Romanian. Oklahoma State University.
Erton, I. (2017). Types of competence in Linguistics: A review of processes and their implications in human perception and action. https://doi.org/10.1501/Dtcfder_0000001508
Eslami-rasekh, A., & Mardani, M. (2010). Investigating the effects of teaching apology speech act, with a focus on intensifying strategies, on pragmatic development of EFL learners: The Iranian context. The International Journal of Language and Culture, 30(1), 96-103.
Fahey, M. P. (2005). Speech acts as intercultural danger zone: A cross-cultural comparison of the speech act of apologizing in Irish and Chilean soap operas. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 8(1), 1-22. http://immi.se/intercultural/nr8/palma.htm
Farashaiyan, A., & Yazdi-Amirkhiz, Y. (2011). A descriptive-comparative analysis of apology strategies: The case of Iranian EFL and Malaysian ESL university students. English Language Teaching, 4(1), 224-229. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v4n1p224
Goffman, E. (1964). The neglected situation. American Anthropologist, 66, 133– 136.
Hall, S. (1997). Cultural identity and diaspora. In Woodward, K. (ed.), Identity and difference, (pp. 51-59). SAGE Publication.
Hussain, M., & Aziz, A. (2020). Cross-cultural pragmatic study of apology strategies in Balochi with reference to Chinese language. Journal of Nusantara Studies (JUNUS), 5(2), 152-169. https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp152-169
Istifci, I. (2009). The use of apologies by EFL learners. CCSE: English Language Teaching, 3(2), 15-25. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v2n3p15
Izadi, A. (2022). Intercultural politeness and impoliteness: A case of Iranian students with Malaysian professors. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 13(2), 33-43. https://doi.org/10.22055/RALS.2022.17801
Jianda, L. (2007). Developing a pragmatic test for Chinese EFL learners. Language Testing, 24(3), 391-416. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532207077206
Kasper, G., & Blum-kulka, S. (1993). Interlanguage Pragmatics: An Introduction. (G. Kasper, & S. Blum-kulka, Eds.) Oxford University Press.
Khalib, F. M., & Tayeh, A. (2014). Indirectness in English requests among Malay university students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Science, 134(1), 44-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.223
Koutlaki, S. (2002). Offers and expressions of thanks as face enhancing acts: ta'arof in Persian. Journal of Pragmatics, 34(12), 1733-1756.
Lakoff, R. T., & Idle, S. (2005). Introduction. In R. T. Lakoff, & S. Idle (Eds.), Broadening the horizon of linguistic politeness (pp. 1-20). John Benjamins.
Leech, G. N. (1983). Principles of pragmatics. Longman.
Lichtman, M. (2013). Qualitative research for the social sciences (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781544307756
Nurani, L. M. (2009). Methodological issues in pragmatic research. Jurnal Sosioteknologi Edisi, 17(8), 667-678.
Olshtain, E. (1983). Sociocultural competence and language transfer: The case of apology. In S. Gass, & L. Selinker (Eds.), Language Transfer in Language Learning (pp. 232-49). Newbury House Publishers.
Park, J. (2007). Co-construction of non-native speaker identity in cross-cultural interaction. Applied Linguistics, 28(3), 339-360.
Rabab’ah, G., & Al-Hawamdeh, R. F. (2020). Apologies in Arabic and English: A Cross-Cultural Study. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 49(6), 993-1009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-020-09723-6
Rastegar, S., & Yasami, F. (2014). Iranian EFL learners' proficiency levels and their use of apology strategies. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98(1), 1535 – 1540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.575
Rezaei, H. (2021). Apology or non- apology: An interfacial approach to the discourse analysis of official apologies in the Iranian media. Journal of Language Research, 11(2), 73-95. https://doi.org/10.22059/JOLR.2020.306113.666621
Rose, K. R. (2000). An exploratory cross-sectional study of interlanguage pragmatic development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 22(1), 27-67.
Sachie, I. (1998). Apology across culture and gender: Apology strategies/ cultural differences/ gender differences. SURCLE, I(1), 26-35.
Salehi, R. (2014). A comparative analysis of apology strategy: Iranian EFL learners and native English speakers. Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences, 98(1), 1658-1665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.590
Sari, M. K. (2016). Apology strategy in English by native speaker. Lingua Cultura, 10(1), 13-17. https ://doi.org/10.21512 /lc.v10i1 .815
Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech acts. Cambridge University Press.
Shariati, M., & Chamani, F. (2010, June). Apology strategies in Persian. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(6), 1689-1699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.10.007
Shishavan, H. B., & Sharifian, F. (2013). Refusal strategies in L1 and L2: A study of Persian-speaking learners of English. Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 32(6), 801-836. https://doi.org/10.1515/mult-2013-0038
Shokouhi, H. (2020). Cultural challenges for L2 communication among Persian migrants in Australia. In A. Jamshidnejad (ed.), Speaking English as a second language: Learners' problems and coping strategies (pp. 103-127). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Simin, S., Rasekh-Eslami, Z., Eslami-Rasekh, A., & Ketabi, S. (2014). The effect of explicit teaching of apologies on Persian EFL learners’ performance: When e-communication helps. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 3(4), 71-84. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsll.2014.661
Tannen, D. (2001). Talking from 9 to 5: Women and men at work. HarperCollins Publishers.
Tannen, D. (2011). That's not what I meant!: How conversational style makes or breaks relationships. Perennial.
