Linguistic Politeness of Czech university students in the
English language (L2): Requests and apologies

k 2022

Linguistic Politeness of Czech university students in the English language (L2): Requests and apologies

LAHODOVÁ VALIŠOVÁ, Marie

Basic information

Original name

Linguistic Politeness of Czech university students in the English language (L2): Requests and apologies

Name in Czech

Lingvistická zdvořilost českých univerzitních studentů v anglickém jazyce (L2): Žádosti a omluvy

Authors

LAHODOVÁ VALIŠOVÁ, Marie

Edition

ESSE Conference, Mainz, Germany, 29 August - 2 September 2022, 2022

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

50301 Education, general; including training, pedagogy, didactics [and education systems]

Country of publisher

Germany

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Organization unit

Faculty of Education

Keywords (in Czech)

mezijazyková pragmatika, pragmatická kompetence, řečové akty žádosti a omluvy

Keywords in English

interlanguage pragmatics, pragmatic competence, speech acts of requests and apologies

Abstract

V originále

Interlanguage pragmatics is the study of pragmatic competence of foreign language students, focusing in particular on interaction and speech acts: it examines students’ ability to use various linguistic means in the target language when interacting in various contexts, and looks at how they are able to devise and appropriately use speech acts, such as requests, apologies and refusal. Requests and apologies are among the most commonly studies speech acts, for two main reasons. First, they are considered to be face-threatening facts and tend to be examined in terms not just of pragmatic competence but also politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987). Secondly, despite the fact that some pragmatic norms are considered universals, requests and apologies are difficult for foreign language students to grasp, as they are cultural and language-specific expressions. No comparative study of the speech acts of request and apology has yet been done. The aim of my dissertation project is to shed light on the intercultural differences, positive or negative transfer that influence Czech native speakers when using English. Regarding research design, a written discourse completion task was employed containing 10 requests and 10 apologies (social variable: equal-status and unequal-status) in Czech and in English and data was collected from 81 Czech university students. The data from native speakers of English has not yet been collected. Preliminary results: The quantitative analysis of data obtained indicates that Czech students of English in expressing their requests in English opted for a conventionally indirect strategy, namely a reference to preparatory conditions. This is in line with the outcomes of previous studies. The social variable did not seem to play a role in the selection of the strategy. The analysis of apologies indicates that the three most frequently used categories of apology strategy, namely Statement of remorse, Account and Offer of repair, remained the same across formal and informal settings.

Links

MUNI/A/1305/2021, interní kód MU

Name: Výzkum v didaktice cizích jazyků (Acronym: AKTEV XI)

Investor: Masaryk University

Citovat

LAHODOVÁ VALIŠOVÁ, Marie. Linguistic Politeness of Czech university students in the English language (L2): Requests and apologies. In ESSE Conference, Mainz, Germany, 29 August - 2 September 2022. 2022.

@proceedings{2237781,
   author = {Lahodová Vališová, Marie},
   booktitle = {ESSE Conference, Mainz, Germany, 29 August - 2 September 2022},
   keywords = {interlanguage pragmatics, pragmatic competence, speech acts of requests and apologies},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Linguistic Politeness of Czech university students in the English language (L2): Requests and apologies},
   year = {2022}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 2237781
AU  - Lahodová Vališová, Marie
PY  - 2022
TI  - Linguistic Politeness of Czech university students in the English language (L2): Requests and apologies
KW  - interlanguage pragmatics, pragmatic competence, speech acts of requests and apologies
N2  - Interlanguage pragmatics is the study of pragmatic competence of foreign language students, focusing in particular on interaction and speech acts: it examines students’ ability to use various linguistic means in the target language when interacting in various contexts, and looks at how they are able to devise and appropriately use speech acts, such as requests, apologies and refusal. Requests and apologies are among the most commonly studies speech acts, for two main reasons. First, they are considered to be face-threatening facts and tend to be examined in terms not just of pragmatic competence but also politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987). Secondly, despite the fact that some pragmatic norms are considered universals, requests and apologies are difficult for foreign language students to grasp, as they are cultural and language-specific expressions. No comparative study of the speech acts of request and apology has yet been done. The aim of my dissertation project is to shed light on the intercultural differences, positive or negative transfer that influence Czech native speakers when using English. Regarding research design, a written discourse completion task was employed containing 10 requests and 10 apologies (social variable: equal-status and unequal-status) in Czech and in English and data was collected from 81 Czech university students. The data from native speakers of English has not yet been collected. Preliminary results: The quantitative analysis of data obtained indicates that Czech students of English in expressing their requests in English opted for a conventionally indirect strategy, namely a reference to preparatory conditions. This is in line with the outcomes of previous studies. The social variable did not seem to play a role in the selection of the strategy. The analysis of apologies indicates that the three most frequently used categories of apology strategy, namely Statement of remorse, Account and Offer of repair, remained the same across formal and informal settings.
ER  -

LAHODOVÁ VALIŠOVÁ, Marie. Linguistic Politeness of Czech university students in the English language (L2): Requests and apologies. In \textit{ESSE Conference, Mainz, Germany, 29 August - 2 September 2022}. 2022.

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