A Sociopragmatic Analysis in Arabic and English Contexts
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Al-Ani, Salman
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Indiana University
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2020
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
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163
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
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Ph.D.
Body granting the degree
Indiana University
Text preceding or following the note
2020
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
Communication is an important and universal process. Based on sociopragmatic, cross-cultural, and cross-linguistic perspectives, the aim of this study was to analyze issues of the speech act of request in American English and the Saudi variety of Arabic. For this purpose, the DCT (Discourse Completion Test) of nine Situations was developed and used to elicit data from a total of 30 participants, 15 American English native speakers (AENSs) and 15 Saudi Arabic native speakers (SANSs). The data were analyzed and results reported based on Blum-Kulka et al.'s (1989) universal three-level scale of directness of request strategies :1) Direct strategies, 2) Conventionally indirect strategies, and 3) Non-conventionally indirect strategies (hints). Furthermore, Brown and Levinson (1987) three social variables and their influence on choosing request strategies were assessed: power difference between the speaker and hearer, social distance between them, and level of imposition of the request act. The results revealed that SANSs were more direct than their counterpart AENSs in the request strategies they demonstrated, adding further confirmation to the postulations of the collectivism/individualism dimensions of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory. The findings of this study also draw attention to some pedagogical implications for the teaching and learning of speech acts and add further insight into the sociolinguistic implications of using the speech act of request in the two languages investigated.