When two cultures meet
On request behaviour in Chinese and English
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.22675Keywords:
Request, strategy, Chinese, EnglishAbstract
The present study investigated the use of strategies by Chinese learners of English and English learners of Chinese in making requests in both Chinese and English. Three factors affecting request strategies were also examined, including social power, social distance and degree of imposition. A total of 12 Chinese-speaking and 12 English-speaking students were recruited to complete Chinese and English versions of an oral discourse completion task (ODCT). Request behaviour was examined in both the subjects’ native and non-native languages. The results show that the learner and native speaker groups performed differently in making Chinese requests but employed comparable strategies in making English requests. Moreover, social distance was found to be more influential than social power and degree of imposition in making Chinese requests. However, the influence of these factors was similar in making English requests. The findings suggest that it was easier for the learners of Chinese to master English requests than for the learners of English to acquire Chinese requests.
References
Ahn, R. C. (2005). Five measures of interlanguage pragmatics in KFL (Korean as a foreign language) learners. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI.
Al-Gahtani, S., & Roever, C. (2012). Proficiency and sequential organization of L2 requests. Applied Linguistics, 33, 42–65. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amr031
Bella, S. (2012). Pragmatic development in a foreign language: A study of Greek FL requests. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 1917–1947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.08.014
Blum-Kulka, S., & Olshtain, E. (1984). Requests and apologies: A cross-cultural study of speech act realization patterns. Applied Linguistics, 5(3), 196–213. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/5.3.196
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (1989). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 1 Sept., 185–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910457000100301
Brown, L., & Ahn, R. C. (2011). Variables that affect the dependability of L2 pragmatics tests. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 198–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.026
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chan, L.-W. (2003). The cultural dilemmas in dispute resolution: The Chinese experience. Pokfulam: University of Hong Kong Press.
Chen, S.-C., & Chen, S.-H. (2007). Interlanguage requests: A cross-cultural study of English and Chinese. Linguistics Journal, 2(2), 33–52.
Chen, Y. (2014). An investigation of Chinese students’ pragmatic competence in the realization of politeness strategies in English requests. Ph.D. thesis, Leiden University.
Chen, Y.-S., Chen, C.-Y., & Chang, M.-H. (2011). American and Chinese complaints: Strategy use from a cross-cultural perspective. Intercultural Pragmatics, 8(2), 253–275. https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2011.012
Dong, X. (2009). Requests in academic settings in English, Russian and Chinese. Ph.D. thesis, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
Gao, G. (1996). Self and other: A Chinese perspective on interpersonal relationships. In W. Gudyskunst, S. Ting-Toomey & T. Nishida (Eds.), Communication in personal relationships across cultures (pp. 81–101). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on face-to-face behavior. New York: Anchor Books.
Gu, Y.-G. (1990). Politeness phenomena in modern Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics, 14, 237–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90082-O
Gudykunst, W. B., & Ting-Toomey, S. (1988). Culture and affective communication. The American Behavioral Scientist, 31(3), 384–400. https://doi.org/10.1177/000276488031003009
Han, X.-P. (2012). A contrastive study of Chinese and British English request modifications. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(9), 1905–1910; https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.9.1905-1910
Hendriks, H. (2005). The structure of learner varieties: Studies on language acquisition. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Huang, L.-M. (2000). The Chinese way of requesting information in intercultural negotiation. Intercultural Communication Studies, 9(2), 107–127.
Iwasaki, N. (2008). L2 Japanese acquisition of the pragmatics of requests during a short-term study abroad. Japanese Language Education in Europe, 12, 51–58.
Kasper, G. (1992). Pragmatic transfer. Second Language Research, 8(3), 203–231.
Li, S. (2014). The effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of L2 Chinese request production during study abroad. System, 45, 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.05.001
Liu, Y. H., Pan, W. Y., & Gu, W. (2001). Practical modern Chinese grammar. [Shiyong xiandai hanyu yufa] (update)(zengdìng ben). Beijing: Commercial Press.
Mao, L.-M. R. (1994). Beyond politeness theory: “Face” revisited and renewed. Journal of Pragmatics, 21, 451–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)90025-6
Nguyen, M. T., & Basturkmen, H. (2013). Requesting in Vietnamese as a second language. In C. Roever & H. T. Nguyen (Eds.), Pragmatics of Vietnamese as a native and target language (pp. 13–75). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Ren, W. (2018). Variational pragmatics in Chinese requests. Wai Guo Yu (Journal of Foreign Languages), 41(4), 66–75.
Ren, W. (2019). Pragmatic development of Chinese during study abroad: A cross-sectional study of learner requests. Journal of Pragmatics, 146, 137–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2019.01.017
Rintell, E. M., & Mitchell, C. J. (1989). Studying requests and apologies: An inquiry into method. In S. Blum-Kulka, J. House & G. Kasper (Eds.), Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies (pp. 248–272). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Takimoto, M. (2012). Metapragmatic discussion in interlanguage pragmatics. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 1240–1253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.05.007
Trosborg, A. (1995). Interlanguage pragmatics: Requests, complaints, and apologies. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Wang, C.-H. (2013). Approaching the culture-inclusion counseling research: Discovering the helping profession ethics of Chinese culture-inclusion. Taiwan Counseling Quarterly, 5(2), 6–10.
Wei, H.-F. (2012). Cross-cultural comparisons of English request speech acts in native speakers of English and Chinese. Cross-Cultural Communication, 8(4), 24–29.
Wen, X.-H. (2014). Studies in second language acquisition of Chinese. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Wolfson, N. (1989). Perspectives. Cambridge, MA: Newbury House.
Yoshitake, S., & Enochs, K. (1996). Self assessment and role play for evaluating appropriateness in speech act realizations. ICU Language Research Bulletin, 11, 57–76.
Yu, M. C. (2003). On the universality of face: Evidence from Chinese compliment response behavior. Journal of Pragmatics, 35, 1679–1710. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-2166(03)00074-2
Yum, J. O. (1988). The impact of Confucianism on interpersonal relationships and communication patterns in East Asia. Communication Monographs, 55, 374–388. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637758809376178.
Zhan, K. (1992). The strategies of politeness in the Chinese language. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Zhang, S.-J., & Wang, X.-T. (1997). Qingqiu yanyu hangwei de duibi yanjiu [A contrastive study of request speech act]. Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, 3: 63–72.
