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The Linguistics Journal

April 2007

Volume 2, Issue 1

Editors: Paul Robertson and John Adamson


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Linguistics Journal Volume 2 Issue 1 2

Published by the Linguistics Journal Press

Linguistics Journal PressA Division of Time Taylor International LtdTrustnet ChambersP.O. Box 3444Road Town, TortolaBritish Virgin Islands

http://www.linguistics-journal.com Linguistics Journal Press 2007

This E-book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exceptionno reproduction of any part may take place withoutthe written permission of the Linguistics Journal Press.

No unauthorized photocopying

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the priorwritten permission of the Asian EFL [email protected]

Editor: Dr. Paul RobertsonSenior Associate Editor: Dr. John AdamsonAssociate Editor: Darren Lingley

ISSN 1738-1460


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Table of Contents:

Foreword by John Adamson. 4-6

1. Larisa Nikitina and Fumitaka Furuoka. 7-27- Beliefs about Language Learning: A Comparison between

Novice and Intermediate Level Students Learning Russian at

a Malaysian University2. Hessa Al Falasi. 28-42

- Just Say Thank You: A Study of Compliment Responses3. Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan 43-68

- Politeness Markers in Persian Requestives4. Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad and Giti Mousapour Negari. 69-90

- The Effect of Explicit Teaching of Concept Mapping inExpository Writing on EFL Students Self-regulation

5. Farzaneh Khodabandeh 91-127- A Contrastive Analysis of English and Persian Newspaper Headlines

6. Daniel Nkemleke 128-142-You will come when?The pragmatics of certain

questions in Cameroon English7. Raphiq Ibrahim. 143-161

- Does Exposure to Second Spoken LanguageFacilitate Word Reading Ability?

8. Yan Wang. 162-183- A Functional Study of the Final Particle mono

in Japanese Conversational Discourse


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Foreword

For this first edition of the Linguistics Journal for 2007 we are pleased to present eight

articles. Congratulations to all the authors whose papers have been accepted. Interest in

the journal has increased significantly from the end of 2006 and so the structure of the

editorial board has been changed accordingly. Three new Associate Editors, Helmut

Daller, Julian Good and Biljana Cubrovic have been appointed to supervise submissions

and there are now more than thirty-five editors reviewing papers. Let us hope this healthy

situation for the journal continues.

The first paper by Larisa Nikitina and Fumitaka Furuoka looks at beliefs about Russian

language learning among novice and intermediate level students at Universiti Malaysia

Sabah (UMS) in Malaysia. Using an adapted self-reported questionnaire based on

Horwitz (1988), Nikitina and Furuoka explore the similarities and differences between

the two sets of learners. Their quantitative analysis concludes that the tenacity of

learners beliefs depends on whether those beliefs were shaped by the micro-context (the

learning situation) or macro-context, the former of which is less stable. The mostmalleable beliefs concern language aptitude, perceptions of how difficult learning is,

and how communication and learning strategies should be used.

The second paper comes from Hessa Al Falasi at the American University of Sharjah,

in the United Arab Emirates. Al Falasis study investigates compliment responses among

mostly female Arabic learners of English, asking whether pragmatic transfer can occur.

Using discourse completion tests (DCTs) and interviews to study the compliment

response strategies by native speakers (NSs) and Arabic non-native speakers (NNSs) of

English, findings suggest that some L1 pragmatic norms were in fact transferred over to

English usage. It is revealed that these norms are sometimes perceived by Arabic

speakers as being universal in nature. Al Falasis study stands in interesting contrast to a

Thai-based study published in the Linguistics JournalJune 2006 edition by Payung Cedar.


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The next paper is by Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan from the University of

Zanjan in Iran who investigates politeness markers in Persian requestives. This study very

much complements an article published in the January 2006 edition by Hamid Allami on

griping. In Nodoushans study, the effects of 465 complainers' sex, age, perceived

situational seriousness, and social class on the use of conversational strategies in their

complaining behavior are observed. Two nonparametric tests were conducted, a Mann -

Whitney U Test and Kruskal Wallis H Test, the results of which Nodoushan represents in

a cline of significance for each of the independent variables in question.

Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad and Giti Mousapour Negari, both from Isfahan

University in Iran, look at the effect of explicit teaching of concept mapping in expository

writing on Iranian EFL students self-regulation. This highly practical study employs

Printrich et als (1991) questionnaire on motivation strategies for learning among sixtyuniversity students, divided into experimental and control groups. Findings reveal that

concept mapping had a positive effect on the subjects under investigation.

Farzaneh Khodabandeh, from Mobarakeh Payameh Noor University in Iran, contrasts

English and Persian newspaper headlines. Khodabandehs study employs Conversation

Analysis to analyze the syntactic and lexical features in the headlines and reveals that

there were similarities in the use of dynamic verbs, active voice, short words, declarative

sentences, finite clauses, and simple sentences. Differences were seen in the use of tense

forms, headline types, modification, and omission of words.

Daniel Nkemleke from the Technische Universitt Chemnitz in Germany looks at the

pragmatic use of questions in Cameroon English, particularly the speech act of asking

in informal contexts. 160 questions not conforming to native English categories of

questions in Quirk et al (1985) were identified from recorded data of Cameroonian Bantu

home languages. The paper concludes that the interplay of syntax between English

and home languages may result in the type of question forms found in the data.

Raphiq Ibrahim from the University of Haifa and Rambam Medical Center in Israel

asks whether exposure to second spoken language facilitates word reading ability, the

purpose of which is to provide direct evidence of a causal role for bilingualism in reading

acquisition. Three groups of first graders of monolingual Hebrew speakers, bilingual

Russian-Hebrew speakers and monolingual Arab speakers are observed in various


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reading skills, the data of which is analyzed with one-way ANOVA and correlations to

compare the reading speed, errors of text and measures of vocabulary between Hebrew

and Arabic groups. Among the conclusions drawn is that early exposure to L2 has a

positive effect on reading ability showing that bilingualism is a powerful predictor of the

speed and effieciency of reading acquisition.

The final article based on the MA dissertation by Yan Wang from the University of

Wisconsin-Madison looks at a functional study of the final particle mono in Japanese

conversational discourse. Using a discourse analytic approach, the employment ofmono

in sequence organization and how it shows attitudes towards propositions and addresses

are both examined. This study illustrates how this particle reveals a speakers subjectivity

and operates as a modality marker in conversational discourse.

We hope you enjoy reading these articles in the Spring edition of the Linguistics

Journaland look forward to your own contributions in 2007.

John Adamson, Ed.D.Senior Associate EditorThe Linguistics Journal


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Beliefs about Language Learning:A Comparison between Novice and Intermediate Level Students

Learning Russian at a Malaysian University

Larisa Nikitina and Fumitaka FuruokaUniversiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

Bio Data:Larisa Nikitina (B.A., M.A.) is a lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah where she teachesthe Russian language. Her current research interest focuses on the affective aspects oflanguage learning and the study of language learning motivation.

Fumitaka Furuoka (Ph.D.) teaches Economics at Universiti Malaysia Sabah. He is theauthor of numerous publications that employ quantitative analysis in various socialsciences fields. His most recent major publication is the book entitled New Challenges for

Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) Policy: Human Rights, Democracy and Aid Sanctions (Universiti Malaysia Sabah Press, 2006). Fumitaka Furuoka's researchinterests include the quantitative analysis and measurement of psychometric qualities oftools employed in the field of second language acquisition to assess learners'characteristics.

Abstract

Elaine Horwitzs influential research on the nature of students and teachers beliefsabout language learning in the 1980s initiated a multitude of inquiries into the subject.Malaysia as a multi-cultural and multi-lingual country provides an interesting socio-linguistic setting to explore the nature of beliefs about language learning. However,research on this topic in the Malaysian context is lacking. This study aimed to addressthis gap and examined beliefs about learning a foreign language held by 107 Russianlanguage students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). The present inquiry juxtaposed

beliefs held by the beginners and intermediate learners in order to assess which areas ofbeliefs were commonly shared by the two groups of learners and which areas containedconsiderable differences in beliefs. This study employed a self-reported questionnaire

based on Horwitzs (1988) Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) as a

research instrument, with some modifications done to suit the Malaysian context.Statistical analysis detected five items where opinions of two groups of students weresignificantly different. Although participants in this study were the Russian languagestudents, there are no obstacles to viewing the findings of this research in a broader

perspective of foreign language learning and teaching.

Key words: foreign language learning, foreign language teaching, language learningbeliefs, Malaysia, the Russian language


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1. Introduction

In the 1980s, Elaine Horwitz of the University of Texas at Austin initiated research on

beliefs about language learning held by language students and teachers. Since then the

topic has been attracting considerable interest and a multitude of studies exploring

language learning beliefs were done in different countries (Truitt, 1995 Park, 1995

Kuntz, 1999 Kunt, 1997 Peacock, 1998 Sakui & Gaies, 1999 Kimura et al., 2001

Siebert, 2003 Bernat, 2006).

Researchers looked at language learning beliefs from different perspectives. Mori (1999)

examined relationship between language learning beliefs and epistemological beliefs,

Wenden (1999) focused on the relationship between metacognitive knowledge and

learners beliefs, Yang (1992) looked at the connection between language learning beliefs

and the use of learning strategies while Carter (1999) explored the link between learnersbeliefs and autonomy. Despite the availability of extensive research on language learning

beliefs, studies on this topic in the Malaysian context are lacking. The present inquiry

aims to address this gap.

Malaysia as a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country represents an interesting socio-

linguistic setting. First of all, multilingualism is promoted in Malaysia. While Malay is

the national and official language of the country, English is widely used for business

transactions, in superior courts and every day life. There are radio and TV stations that

broadcast programs mainly in the English language. Moreover, in government primary

and secondary schools, mathematics and science subjects are taught in English.

Other major languages and dialects spoken in Malaysia are Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka,

Teochew and Hainanese among the Chinese dialects Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi,

Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu among Indian languages there are also numerous indigenous

languages and dialects. A large part of the Malaysian population speaks two, three or

more languages and dialects.

Secondly, the Malay and English languages are compulsory school subjects.

Schoolchildren attending Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools learn Mandarin and

Tamil, respectively, and the Arabic language is taught at some schools. However, foreign

languages are not a part of school curriculum in Malaysia.1 Therefore, students who begin

learning foreign languages at tertiary level despite their extensive language learning


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experiences in either formal (e.g. school) or informal (e.g. through contacts with family

and friends) settings have had no previous experience of learning a foreign language, i.e.

language not spoken in their immediate surroundings. Therefore, it would be interesting

to inquire what set of beliefs about language learning do Malaysian university students

hold and whether the length of foreign language instruction influences those beliefs.

The present research study was conducted among learners of the Russian language at

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) with the aim to assess and compare language learning

beliefs of Malaysian university students at different stages of their foreign language

program.

2. Literature Review

Human beliefs on a wide number of subjects are shaped by peoples surroundings,backgrounds and previous experiences. As Barcelos (2000, p.4) asserts, Beliefs cannot

be separated from our identities, actions, and social experiences. It has been recognized

that students enter a language classroom with a set of ideas as to what learning a foreign

language involves. Such assumptions have been described as folklinguistics (Preston,

1991). Students who begin learning a new language usually have some ideas about the

language difficulty, their own ability to master the new language, etc. From their previous

language learning experience they might have gathered what learning strategies work best

for them and have formed their own views about classroom proceedings and teachers

role.

Richardson (1996, p.103) describes beliefs as psychologically held understandings,

premises, or propositions about the world that are felt to be true. Working definition of

language learning beliefs in the present study is that language learning beliefs are

intangible property of human mind about what is right/true or wrong/false in the process

of foreign language acquisition which may change depending upon the length of

instruction.

Rokeach (1968) maintains that some beliefs may be quite central and well entrenched

while other beliefs are peripheral and are hinged on less fundamental assumption. A

question whether human beliefs are malleable was raised by psychologists and

educationalists. However, research studies yield contradictory results. While some


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inquiries lend support to the proposition that learners beliefs are resistant to change

(Peacock, 2001) others indicate that beliefs do evolve over time and teachers play

important role in shaping learners beliefs (Rubin, 1987 Wenden, 1987). The latter

conclusion appears more feasible to the present authors since people and learners

need to constantly adapt to their new circumstances, and this involves making some

rectifications to ones personal beliefs and assumptions.

In this connection, context should be viewed as an important factor when exploring

students beliefs. A number of studies lend support that learners beliefs are context-

specific (Tumposky, 1991 Yang, 1992 Sakui & Gaies, 1999 Chawhan & Oliver, 2000).

A study conducted by Tumposky (1991) compared language learning beliefs of Russian

exchange students in the USA to the beliefs of American students learning Spanish and

French in American universities. As reported by Tumposky (1991), the Russian studentsbelieved that when learning a foreign language it was important to practice a lot and take

linguistic risks while American students did not share those beliefs. Also, the Russian

students, coming from a multi-linguistic environment of the former USSR believed that

learning a language was important in order to know native speakers of English while

American students in Tumposkys study did not share this opinion. As Tumposky (1991,

p.62) concluded, It seems that culture does contribute to the belief system of foreign

language learners.

A more recent study conducted by Siebert (2003) in the USA considered the influence

of ethnicity and nationality on the beliefs of students learning English in American

universities. Participants in Sieberts study came from different countries, such as Brazil,

Egypt, Japan, Russia, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, etc. All students were taking intensive

English language courses. According to the results of Sieberts study, national origin did

have an influence on students beliefs about language learning. The most significant

differences concerned such aspects of language study as length of time one needs to

master the English language, the difficulty of English, and foreign language aptitude.

Thus, Japanese students tended to have less confidence in their own language ability than

did students from the Middle East. Also, there were differences regarding the length of

time needed to master a foreign language between students of different nationalities.


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Differences in language learning beliefs among learners of different national origins

and ethnicity lend support to an assumption that learners background is an important

aspect to consider when examining language learning beliefs. Wenden (1999) mentions

the importance of social knowledge about the target language and culture. This

knowledge is shaped by and acquired from the environment which is the setting for

learning (Wenden 1999, p.435). However, the role of context in shaping learners beliefs

has not been accorded sufficient attention in previous studies. It is suggested in this study

that language learning/teaching context should be separated into macro and micro levels,

and be viewed as macro-context and micro-context. The former incorporates socio-

cultural mores and predominant views on multilingualism and the attitudes towards

language learning in learners society. The latter includes individual learners previous

experiences of language study (successful or otherwise) and their current learningsituation.

Separating context into two different levels adds some structure to learners language

beliefs which allows a better insight into organization and nature of those beliefs. For

example, this would allow making tentative propositions as to which of the learners

assumptions are more central since they were shaped by the societal factors or macro-

context -- and, therefore, be more resistant to change. On the other hand, learners beliefs

shaped by micro-context could be viewed as peripheral and, as such, of a more transient

nature.

Some researchers examined how learners beliefs are modified in the course of

language learning. Allen (1996) employed contextual approach to investigate whether

and how teachers beliefs influence learners beliefs. In her study, initially, there was a

mismatch between the learners and teachers beliefs. Thus, the subject, a Lybian student

learning English in Canada, thought it was better to learn language from native speakers,

placed a considerable importance on acquiring native-like pronunciation and preferred

teacher-directed activities in the classroom. Those views did not coincide with the

teachers perspective on language learning. By the end of semester, the students and

teachers beliefs converged. The student realized that learners should take more initiative

in their learning and that to become a competent speaker one did not need to have an

excellent pronunciation, all of which reflected his teachers opinion.


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Kern (1995) conducted a longitudinal study among university students of French at the

beginning of their first semester of the language study and at the end of their second

semester. Though he found very little change over time, he concedes that some beliefs are

more easily modified than others. Kern maintains that students take heed of and interpret

messages from their language teachers regarding what the latter consider an appropriate

approach to language learning. As language students involvement with their instructor is

quite intensive, in order to ensure a more successful learning outcome students may

choose to arrange their learning behaviour to accommodate the perceptions of their

teachers. This is an important observation to consider. Apparently, the nature and stability

of language learning beliefs could be probed further by examining similarities and

differences of beliefs held by learners at different stages of their language program.

Kuntz (1999) investigated beliefs about language learning among schoolchildren ofdifferent languages (French, German, Latin, Spanish) at five levels of language

instruction. Though the learners in her research were of much younger age than

university students, the results provide some useful insights for the present study. Kuntz

assessed beliefs that had been most commonly shared by the students of different

languages at different levels of instruction as well as beliefs that had differed significantly

between the groups of learners. She concluded that learners assumptions about foreign

language learning do change with the length of instruction, and some beliefs weaken

while others grow stronger. Especially, beliefs concerning communication strategies

underwent most significant changes. For example, students of all languages at more

advanced levels expressed stronger disagreement with the statements that learning a

foreign language is mostly a matter of translation, and that one has to know all the words

for a good reading comprehension. Also, the students acquired more realistic beliefs

about time span needed for learning a foreign language. Kuntz (1999, p.33) concludes

that these changes may reflect program activities and personal experiences.

The current research aims to investigate whether length of instruction effects students

language learning beliefs. Questions of significance here are: (1) Do the novice and

intermediate level learners hold uniform beliefs about language learning? (2) What are

the areas where the learners beliefs are most uniform and what are the areas where those


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beliefs are most inconsistent? and (3) Do the intermediate level students have more

realistic views regarding language learning?

3. Research Method

Participants

One hundred seven students learning the Russian language at Universiti Malaysia Sabah

(UMS) participated in this research. Thirty-one (31) students completed one semester of

the language program and were at the beginners level seventy six (76) students

completed three semesters of the Russian language study and reached the intermediate

level. Foreign language is a compulsory course for the participants the duration of the

program is four semesters.

Instrument

The students were given questionnaires, one per person. First part of the questionnaire

elicited information regarding demographic profile of the respondents (e.g. age, gender,

mother tongue, etc). Second part of the questionnaire employed a 5-point Likert scale

ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree statements.

Horwitzs (1988) Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) was consulted

and modified to suit the objectives of this study and the Malaysian context. In Horwitzs

BALLI items are grouped into five themes: (1) language difficulty, (2) foreign language

aptitude, (3) nature of learning, (4) learning strategy, and (5) motivation. The instrument

employed in the present inquiry omits those statements of Horwitzs BALLIthat deal with

learners motivation. It was done because motivation is a psychological construct that

involves incentives extrinsic or intrinsic -- to learn and, as such, is not based on the

premise that something is right/true or wrong/false, which is an inseparable part of the

concept of beliefs. Secondly, the instrument used in this study includes a new parameter

to examine the learners beliefs about the importance of learning a foreign language.

Considering the Malaysian socio-linguistic context (i.e. multi-lingual environment,

widely-spread usage of the English language), the learners opinions about the

importance of learning a foreign language was an interesting aspect to examine. Finally,


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questionnaire items that assess the same parameters of the learners beliefs are grouped

together in this research.

The instrument used in the present inquiry contains 20 items and focuses on the

following areas of the learners beliefs: (1) foreign language aptitude (items 1-4), (2)

difficulty of language learning (items 5-8), (3) nature of language learning (items 9-12),

(4) learning and communication strategies (items 13-16), and (5) the importance of

learning a foreign language (17-20)

The first four sections of the questionnaire examined the beliefs which were shaped by

the learners previous and present learning experiences (i.e. micro-context domain). The

fifth section of the questionnaire sought the learners opinions about foreign language

learning and multilingualism, which incorporated macro-context domain.

Procedure

The questionnaires were distributed in December 2005 during the first class of the second

semester of academic year 2005/2006. The students completed answering the

questionnaires in the class and returned the forms to the lecturer. Thus the response rate

was 100 percent. In order to ensure that the respondents expressed their own views, they

were encouraged to give answers individually without consulting their classmates.

Research Hypothesis

This study has one research hypothesis regarding the relationship between language

learning beliefs and length of language instruction. It is hypothesized here that there were

significant differences in the language learning beliefs between the novice and

intermediate students including the learners perceptions about their own foreign

language aptitude, the perceived level of difficulty of the language under study, the nature

of language learning, the employment of learning and communication strategies, and the

importance of learning a foreign language.

Data Analysis

In this study, descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the data. The

frequencies of the occurrence for each of the questionnaire statements were computed


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first. Then, analysis of the data was performed using the SPSS software, version 13.

Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations for each statement are reported

in Tables 1-5. In the data analysis, responses strongly disagree and disagree were

grouped as disagreement with a statement, while strongly agree and agree answers

were interpreted as agreement.

T-test was used to test the research hypothesis. The respondents were separated into

two groups according to the duration of their language program: (1) the beginner students

who had studied Russian only one semester, and (2) intermediate level students who had

completed three semesters of the Russian language program.

4. Findings

The participants in this study were predominantly science students (71%, n=76). Themajority of the respondents (97.2%, n=104) were between 19 to 22 years old there were

considerably more females (60.7%, n=65) than males (39.3%, n=42). By ethnic groups,

Chinese students represented 42.1% (n=45) of respondents, Malay students represented

14% (n=15), Indian 10.3% (n=11), Kadazan 15.0% (n=16), and others 18.7% (n=20).2

Regarding linguistic background, the majority of respondents (45.8%, n=49) indicated

the Chinese language as their mother tongue 26% (n=28) of respondents listed the

Malay language, 10.3% (n=11) Indian, 9.3% (n=10) Kadazan, and 8.4% (n=9) other

as their mother tongue. None of the respondents was monolingual. Bilinguals represented

24.3% (n=26) of the cohort the majority of respondents (39.3%, n=41) spoke three

languages, while a considerable number spoke four (21.55%, n=23) or five (14.0%, n=15)

languages and/or dialects. All the respondents learned the Malay and English languages

at school, and more than half of them (54.2%, n=58) learned three languages (Malay,

English, and Mandarin). As these data indicate, all of the students have had an extensive

language learning experience. However, none of the respondents mentioned learning a

foreign language at school.3

As results of the data analysis show, students held quite definite beliefs about language

learning. Only one statement of the questionnaire gathered the majority of neutral

responses (i.e. I believe that I have a special ability to learn the Russian language).


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Regarding the existence of foreign language aptitude (see Table 1), the majority of

students agreed that children were more adept language learners than adults (statement

#1). They expressed overall agreement that some people have special language ability

(#2). The respondents were undecided as to whether they personally had a special talent

for language study (#3), and disagreed that people who are good at science and

mathematics are less adept language learners (#4).

Table 1: Foreign Language Aptitude (Items 1-4)Item 1 2 3 4 5

(SD D N A SA)Mean Standard

Deviation1. It is easier for children than adults tolearn a foreign language.

Overall

BeginnersIntermediate

t-value

2. Some people are born with a specialability which helps them to learn aforeign language.

OverallBeginnersIntermediate

t-value

3. I believe that I have a special abilityto learn foreign languages.


t-value

4. People who are good at mathematicsand science are not good at learningforeign languages.


1 12 16 47 31

0 6 7 15 31 6 9 32 28

-2.798**

6 16 36 35 143 6 11 10 13 10 25 25 13

-2.066*

5 29 46 23 42 5 14 9 13 24 32 14 3

1.013

27 54 21 3 23 20 7 1 0

24 34 14 2 2

3.89

3.484.05

3.333.003.46

2.933.062.87

2.062.192.00

0.98

0.920.96

1.061.031.05

0.910.920.99

0.860.650.92


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t-value 1.062

Note: Tables 1-5 use the following abbreviations1=SD (Strongly Disagree), 2=D (Disagree), 3=N (Neither agree nor disagree), 4=A (Agree),5=SA (Strongly Agree).* indicates significance at 0.05 level, ** indicates significance at 0.01 level

The t-test indicates significant shift in beliefs concerning two statements (#1 and #2).

As the results show, beliefs that children are better at languages than adults (t= -2.798)

and that some people are born with special ability to learn languages (t= -2.066) were

stronger among the intermediate level students.

Table 2: Difficulty of Language Learning (Items 5-8)

Item 1 2 3 4 5(SD D N A SA)

Mean StandardDeviation

5. The Russian language is: (1) verydifficult (2) difficult (3) mediumdifficult (4) easy (5) very easy.


t-value6. If someone spent one hour a daylearning the Russian language, how longwould it take him/her to become fluent?(1) less than 1 year (2) 1-2 years (3) 3-5years (4) 5-10 years (5) not possible tolearn Russian with 1 hour per day study.


t-value7. I think it is difficult to understand theRussian language.


t-value

11 37 55 4 03 9 18 1 08 28 37 3 0

0.561

11 41 33 13 93 14 10 3 18 27 23 10 8

-1.128

1 8 20 69 90 3 12 15 11 5 8 54 8

-2.373**

2.492.552.46

2.702.522.78

3.723.453.84

0.730.720.73

1.080.921.13

0.760.720.75


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8. I think that Russian grammar isdifficult.

OverallBeginners

Intermediatet-value

0 7 18 56 260 5 7 13 6

0 2 11 43 20-2.156*

3.143.65

4.07

0.820.98

0.71

The next section of the questionnaire explored the students beliefs about the difficulty

of language learning (see Table 2).

As the results show, the majority of students at all levels considered the Russian

language of medium difficulty (#5), and thought they could become proficient in 1-2

years with 1 hour per day study (#6). Likewise, the majority of students in both groupsagreed that it was difficult to understand the Russian language (#7) and that Russian

grammar is difficult (#8). Agreement of the learners at the intermediate level was

considerably higher for the last two statements compared with the beginner learners (t= -

2.373 and t= -2.156 for statements #7 and #8, respectively).

Answers to the questions regarding the students beliefs about the nature of language

learning (see Table 3) indicate that students at two levels share strikingly uniform

opinions as to how a language should be learned. The majority of students at each level

agreed that learning a language mostly involves memorizing new vocabulary (#9) and

grammar (#10), and requires different strategies from learning other school subjects (#11).

By contrast, they disagreed that learning a language is about performing translation from

ones mother tongue. Especially consistent in this section was the belief that learning

grammar constitutes an important part of the language program with a very small

discrepancy in opinions between the groups (t= 0.050).

Regarding learning and communication strategies (see Table 4), the majority of

students at both levels agreed that excellent pronunciation was important (#13), disagreedthat one should speak only when able to produce error-free language (#14) were willing

to practice the language with native speakers (#15) and take linguistic risks at guessing

unknown words (#16). In this section of the questionnaire, only one statement regarding

the importance of an excellent pronunciation (#13) produced different opinions between


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two groups of students (t= 2.020) the intermediate level students attributed less

importance to a good accent than the novice learners.

Table 3: Nature of Language Learning (Items 9-12)



9. Learning a foreign language ismostly about memorizing many newwords.


t-value

10. Learning a foreign language ismostly about learning many ofgrammar rules.


t-value

11. Learning a foreign language

requires different strategies fromlearning other academic subjects.


t-value

12. Learning the Russian language ismostly a matter of translating from my

native language.OverallBeginnersIntermediate

t-value

2 13 11 59 220 4 2 16 92 9 9 43 13

1.123

1 17 14 49 261 4 2 18 60 13 12 31 20

0.050

0 11 15 53 280 2 4 21 40 9 11 32 24

-0.328

10 35 32 28 25 9 7 10 05 26 25 18 2

-0.496

3.803.973.74

3.773.773.76

3.923.873.93

2.792.712.82

0.960.940.97

1.021.021.03

0.900.710.97

1.001.100.96


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Table 4: Learning and Communication Strategies (Items 13-16)



13. It is important to speak the Russian

language with excellent pronunciation.OverallBeginnersIntermediate

t-value

14. You should not say anything in theRussian language until you say itcorrectly.

Overall

BeginnersIntermediate

t-value

15. If I heard someone speaking theRussian language, I would approachthem and try to practice speakingRussian.

OverallBeginners

Intermediate

t-value

16. It is OK to guess a Russian word ifyou dont know its meaning.


t-value

0 10 32 49 160 1 7 17 60 9 25 32 10

2.020*

35 52 9 11 0

10 15 2 4 025 37 7 7 0

0.270

1 16 36 40 140 5 5 16 5

1 11 31 24 91.494

5 10 26 55 112 4 7 16 23 6 19 39 9

-0.997

3.663.903.57

1.96

2.001.95

3.473.68

3.38

3.533.393.59

0.840.740.86

0.91

0.960.89

0.930.94

0.92

0.971.020.94

The final section of the questionnaire sought the students opinions about the

importance of learning a foreign language. The results are reported in Table 5.


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Table 5: Importance of Learning a Foreign Language (Items 17-20)



17. It is important that everyone knows a

foreign language (other than English).OverallBeginnersIntermediate

t-value

18. I think knowing a foreign languagebesides English is important for me.

OverallBeginners

Intermediate

t-value

19. I think everybody should have anopportunity to learn a foreign languageeither at school or university.


t-value20. I think a well-educated person shouldknow foreign language(s).


t-value

2 4 31 39 311 2 7 11 101 2 24 28 21

0.013

0 5 8 51 430 3 2 12 14

0 2 6 39 29-0.336

1 0 4 54 481 0 1 17 120 0 3 37 36

-1.268

2 15 24 34 322 4 4 13 80 11 20 21 24

-0.364

3.873.873.87

4.234.19

4.25

4.384.264.43

3.743.683.76

0.941.050.90

0.790.94

0.71

0.650.810.57

1.091.191.05

Answers to the questions demonstrate an amazing uniformity of the students beliefsregardless of the length of language instruction. Thus, the majority of respondents at each

level thought that knowing a foreign language was important for everyone (#17) and

personally for themselves (#18). They overwhelmingly supported the statement that

foreign languages should be taught at schools or universities. Though there has been no


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significant divergence in students opinion in this section of the questionnaire, the

intermediate-level learners tended to hold a somewhat stronger belief regarding the

importance of foreign language learning.

5. Discussion and Conclusion

Statistical analysis done in this study revealed five (5) significant discrepancies in the

beliefs of the beginner- and intermediate level students. Two statements each concerned

language aptitude and the difficulty of learning the Russian language one statement

involved learning and communication strategies.

First of all, the beliefs that children learn foreign languages easier and faster than adults

and that some people have an inherent talent for learning languages were stronger among

the intermediate level students. Such responses may reflect the students waningconfidence in the success of learning outcome. This could be due to the students making

comparisons between their previous and present language learning achievements.

Languages that the participants learned at primary and secondary school (e.g. Malay,

English, Tamil, Mandarin) and at a younger age were widely spoken in their immediate

surroundings. This allowed the learners to practice newly-acquired skills outside the

classroom and cement their knowledge. However, learning a foreign language in a

country where possibilities to practice the language are very limited can be a challenging

task. Slower than expected progress in attaining fluency in the Russian language may

have led the students to a conclusion that special talent for language learning is needed

and that starting age is an important factor in language learning.

Secondly, statements that it is difficult to understand the Russian language and that

Russian grammar is difficult received stronger agreement from the intermediate level

students. This result is not controversial. As students advance in their language study,

they become exposed to increasingly complex linguistic structures. This makes them

aware of different aspects of language learning and shows that mastering different

language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) requires various degrees of effort

on the part of learners.

Lastly, the importance of an excellent pronunciation is another variable where the

divergence in the beliefs between the beginner- and intermediate level students was


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statistically significant. The intermediate level students gave less value to speaking with a

native-like accent thus demonstrating enhanced learning and communication strategies

than did the beginner students.

Beliefs that were most consistent between two cohorts of learners involved in this study

were in the areas of the nature of language learning (section 3 of the questionnaire) and

the importance of learning a foreign language (section 5). Only slight differences

transpired in the opinions of the novice and intermediate level students and no

statistically significant relationship was detected. Regarding the nature of language

learning, although both groups agreed that a major part of language learning was

memorizing new words, the intermediate level students were slightly more aware that

enriching ones vocabulary was not the most important part in achieving good language

proficiency. Also, a greater proportion of the intermediate level students viewed foreignlanguage study as a necessary and integral component of education.

To conclude, findings of the present research lend support to a proposition that the

tenacity of learners beliefs depends on whether those beliefs were shaped by the micro-

context or macro-context. Beliefs formed by the micro-context (e.g. learning situation)

tended to be less stable. In this study, the most malleable beliefs concerned the learners

perception of language aptitude, their assessment of the difficulty of language learning

and employment of communication and learning strategies.

By contrast, beliefs shaped by the macro-context (i.e. prevailing attitudes within society

toward language learning and multilingualism) were more tenacious. An interesting

finding of the present research was that all the participants were very enthusiastic about

learning a foreign language and thought that everybody should have an opportunity to

learn a foreign language either at school or university. This attitude reflects Malaysias

socio-linguistic context where multilingualism is not only promoted but is the way of life.

This finding could be of interest to educational policymakers and school curriculum

planners since it lends support to the idea of introducing foreign languages program at an

earlier stage of education, such as primary or secondary schools.

Results of this study offer some useful insights into language learning beliefs of

students living in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural country. The findings indicate that

language learning beliefs do evolve over the duration of the language program. However,


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there are limitations to this research. First of all, the participants in this study were from

the same university and the sample size was relatively small. Therefore, some caution

should be exercised regarding applicability of the findings to other Malaysian university

students. For future research, a wider population sample from various institutions of

higher learning in Malaysia could be considered. Secondly, the present inquiry employed

the Likert scale questionnaire, which is recognized as economical and effective research

technique. However, as Sakui & Gaies (1999, p.486) maintain, Questionnaires

consisting of closed items allow respondents only to state their beliefs and then only the

beliefs which are included in the questionnaire. Future studies on the topic may consider

including data from interviews, learning diaries and open-ended questionnaires to

supplement research findings.

To conclude, knowledge of students beliefs about language learning is important forlanguage instructors as it can provide a valuable insight into the learners perceptions of

and ideas on language learning. This is especially important for expatriate teachers who

have different learning experiences and backgrounds from their students. Ideas and

opinions about language learning tend to influence students learning behaviour.

Therefore, assessing learners beliefs could help to identify potential problem areas and

make some adjustment to the classroom procedure.

Notes1 More recently, teaching of the Arabic and Mandarin languages at schools has been

promoted. Also, some residential schools offer the Japanese and German languagecourses.

2 Among others such ethnic groups as bajau, bajau-dusun, sino-kadazan, sino-dusun, bidayuh, iban were listed.

3

Mandarin being a lingua franca for the Chinese community cannot be considered as aforeign language in Malaysia, since ethnic Chinese represent about 24% of thecountrys population.


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Just Say Thank You: A Study of Compliment Responses

Hessa Al Falasi,American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Bio Data:Hessa Ghanem Al Falasi is in her third year of teaching. She is teaching Grade 6 and 7 inFujairah School for Basic Education, a government school in Fujairah. She is alsocompleting an MA in TESOL in the American University of Sharjah. She is interested inassessment and evaluation. Ms. Al Falasi is currently working on her thesis, which is atextbook evaluation of the new English national curriculum UAE English Skills.

AbstractThis study aims at finding out whether Arabic learners of English (Emarati Females in

particular) produce target-like compliment responses in English and whether pragmatictransfer can occur. Discourse completion tests (DCTs) and interviews were used to studythe strategies employed when responding to compliments by native speakers (NSs) andArabic non-native speakers (NNSs) of English. Findings suggest that Arabic (L1)expressions and strategies were sometimes transferred to English (L2). This study alsoindicates that Emarati female learners of English transfer some of their L1 pragmaticnorms to L2 because they perceive these norms to be universal among languages ratherthan being language specific. It also indicates that Arabic NNSs of English have somemisconceptions about NSs that affect the way they respond to their compliments. Someimportant cultural and pedagogical implications are discussed at the end of the paper.

Key words: pragmatic transfer, compliment responses, raising cultural awareness in theEFL/ESL classroom.

Introduction


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Communicating with speakers of other languages is a complex behaviour that requires

both linguistic and pragmatic competence. Whether we speak in a first or second

language, we are influenced by sociocultural norms and constraints that affect the way we

communicate. Rizk (2003) points out that what is considered appropriate in one language

might not be so in another. Praising a girl of being fat, for instance in a Western African

community is considered a compliment while in an American context it is perceived as

an insult.

Most of the problems that EFL learners face in intercultural communication are mainly

pragmatic. Teachers of EFL often choose not to stress pragmatic knowledge in their

classrooms, focusing instead on linguistic knowledge. Eslami-Rasekh (2004) warns that

this might result in pragmatic failure when EFL learners actually communicate with

native speakers (NSs), something that is attributed to some other cause, such as rudeness.The only way to minimize pragmatic failure between NSs and NNSs is by acquiring

pragmatic competence, that is, the ability to use language effectively in order to

understand language in context (El Samaty 2005, p. 341). Emarati EFL students are not

exposed to the target community and culture and they find it extremely difficult to

produce or sometimes understand a speech act.

Compliment responses are one type of speech acts that differs considerably from Arabic

to English. Native speakers of English might consider the way Arabic speakers respond

to compliments offending or bizarre, because they understood only the words without the

cultural rules that govern them and vice versa. This study aims at finding out whether

Arabic learners of English produce target-like compliment responses and whether

pragmatic transfer can occur. It examines how compliment responses are used in the

UAE culture and the differences between them and the ones used in the American culture.

Despite the wealth of empirical studies conducted about speech acts in general, few data-

based studies have ever focused on L1 transfer of compliment responses. More research

is necessary in this area to better understand the relationship between L1 transfer and

compliment responses in L2 use. The present study contributes to the limited collection

of research done on compliment responses in Arabic. This will be achieved by: (1)

reviewing studies on pragmatic transfer and compliment responses, (2) discussing the


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methodology and results of the present study, and finally (3) suggesting some classroom

implications that could apply to EFL teaching in the UAE context.

Literature Review

Pragmatic Transfer

Intercultural miscommunication is often caused when learners fall back on their L1

sociocultural norms in realizing speech acts in a target language. This is referred to as

pragmatic transfer. Rizk (2003) defines pragmatic transfer as the influence of learners

pragmatic knowledge of language and culture other than the target language on their

comprehension, production, and acquisition of L2 pragmatic information (p. 404).

Pragmatic transfer can be either positive, which is considered an evidence of

sociocultural and pragmatic universality among languages, or negative, which indicatesinappropriate transfer of L1 sociolinguistic norms into L2. This often results in pragmatic

failure, or being unable to understand the meaning of an utterance in the target language.

(Liu, 1997). Negative pragmatic transfer, as Rizk (2003) explains, takes the form of

translating some formulaic expressions/ phrases functioning to express different speech

acts in (L1) to express the equivalent speech act in L2. (p.405). El Samaty (2005)

mentions one factor that might influence pragmatic transfer and that is learners

perception of what constitutes a language specific or a universal issue (p.342). Learners

would not transfer an L1 pragmatic feature to L2 if they know that it is language specific.

Research on Pragmatic Transfer

Pragmatic studies dealing with different speech acts have been conducted since the early

1980s. These studies focused on L1 in most cases, but later, L2 and cross-cultural

variations have been introduced. The L2 pragmatic transfer studies have shown that

despite being linguistically competent in a second language, learners are likely to transfer

L1 pragmatic rules in their L2 production (El Samaty, 2005). Takahashi and Beebe (1987)

hypothesized that there is a positive correlation between L2 proficiency and pragmatic

transfer. They argued that more proficient learners tend to transfer L1 socio-cultural

norms more than less proficient learners because they have enough control over L2 to

express L1 sentiments at the pragmatic level. Eslami-Rasekh (2004) supports this claim


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by stating that linguistically competent learners do not necessarily possess comparable

pragmatic competence. Even grammatically advanced learners may use language

inappropriately and show differences from target-language pragmatic norms.

In 1986, Blum-kulka and Olshtain used discourse completion tests to analyze the

utterance length of requesting strategies in Hebrew. They collected the data from non-

native speakers of Hebrew at three proficiency level, and they found out that high-

intermediate learners produced utterances longer than the utterances of low-intermediate

and advanced learners, which was considered by the researchers as pragmatic failure

( Ghawi 1993, p.39).

Compliments and compliment responses

A compliment is one form of speech acts and it can be defined as an utterancecontaining a positive evaluation by the speaker to the addressee (Liu,1997). There is an

infinite number of words that could be chosen to compliment, but the set of lexical items

and grammatical patterns we use in our daily interaction when complimenting and have

high frequency in our daily discourse are very restricted. According to Wolfson (1986),

two-thirds of English compliments use the adjectives "nice, good, beautiful, pretty, great",

and 90% make use of just two verbs "like and love (p.116). The lack of creativity in the

form and content of English compliments is related to their function in discourse. Herbert

(1986) demonstrates that compliments are used to negotiate solidarity with the

addressee (p.76). Their aim is to make the addressee feel good and their formulaic

nature minimizes the chance that they will be misinterpreted by the addressee.

On the surface level, there is not much difference between Arabic and English cultures

in the use of compliments. However, if we look at compliment responses, differences

arise. When communicating with native speakers of English, Arabs may sometimes

sound bizarre or offending. This is duo to some differences in the way the two cultures

use compliment responses. In the Arab society, it is a deeply-rooted religious belief that

humility is a virtue. Even when accepting a compliment, Arabs tend to return the

compliment (which might sound insincere to NSs), or insist on offering the object of the

compliment to the speaker (something that might be embarrassing to the NSs who did not


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expect this behavior). Therefore, differences may result in serious communicative

interference in cross Arabic and English culture communication.

Research on Compliment Responses

The first researcher who discussed compliment responses from a pragmatic perspective

was Pomerantz in 1978. She claimed that Americans face two dilemmas when responding

to compliments: (A) they have to agree with the speaker, and (B) they have to avoid self-

praise. Urano (1998), further explains this dilemma by stating that when a recipient of a

compliment responds by agreeing with the speaker (Condition A), it violates Condition B

as this response goes against the sociolinguistic expectations of the speaker. On the other

hand, if the speaker doesnt accept the compliment to avoid self-praise, the response will

be face-threatening since it violates Condition A. To mediate this conflict, recipients ofcompliments resolve to a variety of solutions: (1) Acceptance, (2) Rejection, and (3) Self-

praise avoidance.

Herbert (1986) revised Pomerantzs taxonomy by analyzing American English

speakers compliment responses. He collected more than a thousand samples of

compliment responses from American college students in a three-years period project.

Surprisingly, only 36.35% compliment responses were accounted for by acceptance.

Herbert ended up with a three-category, twelve-type taxonomy of compliment responses.

(Table 1)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Response Type Example

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. Agreement

I. Acceptances

1. Appreciation Token Thanks thank you (smile)

2. Comment Acceptance Thanks its my favourite too.

3. Praise Upgrade Really brings out the blue in my eyes, doesnt it?

II. Comment History I bought it for the trip to Arizona.

III. Transfers

1. Reassignment My brother gave it to me.


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2. Return Sos yours.

B. Nonagreement

I. Scale Down Its really quite old.

II. Question Do you really think so?

III. Nonacceptances

1. Disagreement I hate it.

2. Qualification Its alright, but Lens is nicer.

IV. No Acknowledgment (silence)

C. Other Interpretations

I. Request You wanna borrow this one too?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 1. Herberts Taxonomy of Compliment responses (Herbert 1986, p. 79)

Since then, a number of contrastive studies have been conducted to compare

compliment responses in different languages and language varieties. Arabic and South

African English speakers were found to prefer accepting compliments rather than reject

them. Speakers of Asian languages, on the other hand, were likely to reject compliments

(Urano, 1998). In 1989, Wolfson collected observational data on compliments from

authentic interaction between native and non-native speakers over a period of two years.

She found out that L2 speakers did understand the function of compliments as a social

lubricant in the American culture. They had difficulty in responding appropriately to

compliments (Ghawi 1993, p.40). In another contrastive study of compliment responses

between Chinese learners of English and American NSs of English, Chen (1993), found

out that the majority of Chinese NNSs of English rejected compliments, compared to the

American NSs who accepted and appreciated those compliments.

More recently, Cedars (2006) contrastive study of compliment responses used by Thai

NNSs of English and American NSs of English revealed significant differences in

responses to English compliments between the two groups. While Americans tended to

accept compliments and elaborate positively in their responses, Thai NNSs of English

refrained from elaborating and used formulaic expressions in their responses. Cedar


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explained this by stating that the English conversational competence of Thai subjects

was not developed enough to express their feelings of positive elaboration (p.15).

Despite the above reviewed studies on compliments and compliment responses, the lack

of studies on Arabic learners of English in this area is obvious.

Research questions

As mentioned earlier, the purpose of this study is to examine pragmatic transfer in

compliment responses by Arabic learners of English. Three related research questions

emerged:

1. What are the similarities and differences in compliment responses between female

NSs and Emarati female NNSs of English?

2. When speaking in English, will Emarati females compliment responses be closerto Arabic or English?

3. Does language proficiency play a role in their use of compliment responses?

In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to first examine the patterns of

compliment responses by Americans and Emarati females in their L1, and second to

observe compliment responses by Emarati females in their L2 (English).

Methodology

For validity and reliability, I used triangulation by not concentrating on just one source of

information. I approached the topic from different points of view by combining

quantitative data from discourse completion tasks (DCTs) and qualitative data from

interviews. I also used theories and background knowledge from books and journals

articles that guided me to approach my topic in the right way.

Participants

The subjects of the study were all female participants divided into three main

groups:

- Group1: American NSs of English = 10 ( HCT teaching staff)

- Group2: Emarati NNs + English majors = 10. All of them are English Teachers

at the Fujairah Elementary School for Girls.


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- Group3: Emarati NNs non-English majors = 6. 2 Housewives + 4 Math teachers

at the Fujairah Elementary School for Girls.

The reason why females were chosen for this study is because they tend to use

politeness strategies more than men do. According to Guodong & Jing (2005), many

research studies support this claim. They explain that studies on the relation of gender

and language have found out that women are more sensitive than men to being polite.

Studies conducted by Liao & Breneham and Brown in1996 and 1998 also found that

women are more status sensitive than men. Therefore, it is predictable that women will

use more politeness strategies than men do. What is also important to note, as Liu (1997)

explains, is that women are traditionally assumed in both cultures to be more concerned

than men with personal topics such as physical appearance, clothing, food and diet.

Tools

1. Discourse Completion Test :

The Discourse Completion Test (DCT) consists of six scenarios, in which participants are

expected to respond to compliments. These scenarios were designed to meet the purpose

of this study and to elicit data on compliment responses from both NSs and NNSs of

English. The final version in English was translated by the researcher to Arabic. Groups 1

and 2 took the English version, and group 3 took the Arabic version.

2. Interviews :

This tool was used to account for the reasons of the participants responses and minimize

the researchers bias when interpreting the data.

Findings

The data collected from the three groups through the discourse completion test will be

presently analyzed for the six scenarios. The analysis will be based on Herberts

taxonomy of compliment responses to examine the similarities and differences between

native and non-native speakers of English.

Scenario 1:


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You have just finished presenting your research paper. At the end of the class (when you

were just leaving the classroom), one of your classmates say: You did an excellent job! I

really enjoyed your presentation. You answer: _________________

Almost all of the NSs responses to this scenario were agreement. Their responses varied

between appreciation token oh, thank you!, to comment acceptance thanks! Im glad

you enjoyed it, and praise upgrade you have no idea how hard I worked for that!. Only

one NS responded by disagreeing and questioning Really? I thought it was just ok. On

the other hand, almost all of the native speakers of Arabic (NSAs), have responded by

either transfer (returning the compliment) oh, your presentation was much better, or

interpreting it as a request do you want me to help you with your presentation? Only

one of the NSAs responded with a simple thank you. The responses of NNSs who took

the English version of the DCT showed more use of the agreement responses likethanks! and Its nice of you to say so. However, they also showed literal translation

of Arabic formulaic expressions used as compliment responses. These translations

included Im your pupil, which is a scale down expression that means the speaker is

much better than the addressee, and Im ashamed which might strike a NS as extremely

out of place, but is literally translated from the widely used Arabic formulaic expression

( ) akhjaltom tawaadona.

Scenario 2:

You have some friends and relatives over for coffee and cake that you baked. Someone

says: Tastes Yummy!. You answer:_________________

Eight of the ten NSs responded with thanks and then offering to give the speaker the

recipe would you like the recipe?. The other two responded by giving information or

history, its a family recipe. NNSs who answered in Arabic used questions really? Did

you really like it?, disagreement no its not, youre just complimenting me!, and

reassignment my mom gave me the recipe. NSAs who answered in English did not use

those two strategies in their responses. Instead, they resolved again to literally translating

Arabic formulaic expressions like Your taste is yummy, and I added my magic to it /

thats because I dipped my sweet finger in it. Only one person responded with thank

you.


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Scenario 3:

You were shopping for a skirt and a stranger (male) approaches you and says: This

would look amazing on you! You answer:____________________

NSs all responded with either no acknowledgment, or by not accepting the compliment

whats it got to do with you?. NNSs who answered in Arabic and English also

responded with no acknowledgment, or by offending the man.

Scenario 4:

You were shopping for a skirt and a stranger (female) approaches you and says: This

would look amazing on you! You answer:__________________

NSs responded with either a question really?/ oh, so do you think I should buy it? or anappreciation token thanks / thank you. NNSs who responded in Arabic used formulaic

expressions like May Allah bliss you jazaaki allah khair, May Allah make all your

days beautiful Allah yhalli ayyamek. NNSs who answered in English used tokens of

appreciation thanks/ how sweet of you to say so, or returned the compliment by

translating Arabic formulaic expressions Your eyes are beautiful oyoonech el helwa.

Scenario 5:

Some friends are over at your house. One of them looks at a clock hanging on the wall

and says: I love your clock. It looks great in your living room!. You answer: _____

NSs responded with comment history It was a present from my daughter/ I bought it in

Harrods, or acceptance yes, I loved it when I bought it. NNSs who answered in Arabic

interpreted this compliment as a request and responded with offering the clock to the

speaker and insisting that they take it. NNSs answering in English also insisted that the

speaker take the watch you must take it! I swear, you must!. Only one NNS answered

with an appreciation token you like it! Thank you!.

Scenario 6:

Youre wearing a new shirt and a colleague looks at you and says: This shirt looks great

on you! Blue is a great color for you. You answer: ___________________


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NSs responded with appreciation tokens thanks/ you made my day!, questions is it

really?/ do you think so?, disagreement I dunno, I prefer pink, and comment

acceptance oh, its my favorite color. Thanks. NNSs who answered in Arabic

responded with returning the compliment youre more beautiful/ this is because you

have a good taste, disagreement thanks, but I know this is only a compliment, and

questions really? Swear!!. NNSs who answered in English returned the compliment by

translating Arabic formulaic expressions your eyes are beautiful and they see everything

beautiful, disagreement please dont say that, youre embarrassing me!, scale down

oh, its so cheap! I bought it in the sales, and comment acceptance thanks, I like it

too.

DiscussionIt was clear from the above analysis that in most cases, female Emarati learners of

English did not produce target-like compliment responses. They unconsciously brought

about some L1 expressions and strategies which might result in communicative

breakdown. For instance, they literally translated Arabic formulaic expressions used in

compliment responses and these expressions were not always suitable for the compliment

given in English. They intended their responses to be polite but they were not appropriate.

For example, the expression Im ashamed would be more appropriate when an offence

is committed, rather than to show gratitude and appreciation. These strategies were used

both by English and non-English majors, which means that communicating with NSs

might slightly affect their use of compliment responses, but does not have changed it

completely to a target-like response.

Another important issue that rises from the findings is that NNSs had some

misconceptions about the way NSs responded to compliments. These misconceptions

have affected the way NNSs would deal with NSs considering compliment responses.

This was illustrated through scenario 3 (see above). In the UAE culture, compliments

from men are generally not accepted unless the man is a member of the family. However,

if they happen, the appropriate response from the female would be to simply ignore the

man. Responses to other compliments are normally answered based on the real

circumstance or position the addressee is in at the moment he/she is greeted.


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Scenario 3 illustrates a situation that many females in the UAE are likely to find

themselves in while shopping. The responses of the NNSs were analysed above and they

ranged from no acknowledgement, to offending the male. After groups 2, and 3 finished

their DCTs, I asked them the following question how do you think a female NS would

respond in this situation? All of the NNSs answered that a NS would be happy to get this

compliment, would highly appreciate it, and would thank the man. While, as obvious

from the data analysis above, all but one NS answered that they would either ignore the

man or tell him to mind his own business. When I asked the NNSs how this idea they

have of NSs affected them, half of them stated that it does not affect them in any way the

other half, however, explained that an American male would expect the female to be

happy when complimented while a local male would know that this female would be

insulted. If the man who complimented me was a foreigner, I would accept thecompliment and thank him, if it was a local guy, said one of the interviewee, I would

certainly ignore him.

Another issue is the way NSs and NNSs view compliments. Compliments in the UAE

had turned into a routine and they are perceived to be insincere most of the time. There

are several factors that affect the use of compliments in the UAE, like social distance, age,

gender, and social status. Some of the reasons why people in the UAE use compliments

are, as Boyle (2005) explained, 1) to avoid hurting other peoples feelings 2) to give

people some hope and encouragement 3) to protect one self from more powerful people

4) because they want other people to compliment them too 5) its encouraging (p.356).

For these reasons, many people use compliments even if they were insincere, as a means

of making people feel good. Thats why it was found in NNSs responses expressions like

oh, this is not true, youre only complimenting me! and Really? Or is it just a

compliment?

It was obvious also that language proficiency did not play a role in producing target-

like compliment responses. Both English majors and non majors produced the same

compliment responses. The only difference is that group 2 translated those responses

literally to English.

Other deviations from the native norms are the following: (1) NNSs used longer

compliment responses because there is a general understanding that the longer the


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response to compliments, the more sincere it is, (2) NNSs, sometimes, responded to

compliments with a joke that might be misunderstood by speakers of other languages, (3)

because of their strong ties with their religion, Emarati NNSs have their faith in (Allah)

God deeply embedded within their speech acts. Thats why most of the compliment

responses are in the form of a small prayer that the speaker be blessed from Allah, and

he/she gets whatever they want with the help of Allah allah eykhaleech, allah ysallemch.

Conclusion

The present study explored pragmatic transfer of compliment responses in Arabic

learners of English in comparison with the data from native speakers of American

English. The findings of the study show that Arabic learners did not produce target-like

responses to compliments. This suggests that its not enough to build learners linguisticcompetence and that it might be necessary to also develop their sociocultural, which will

in turn develop their understanding of the frames of interaction and rules of politeness

within the target culture. It is also important to provide learners with knowledge of the

linguistic forms or stylistic strategies appropriate to convey the intended meaning in

different contexts or situations.

The study offers two pedagogical implications, one for syllabus designers and the other

for instruction. First, when designing textbooks, syllabus designers should examine

learners needs considering the understanding and production of speech acts in the target

language and which of these speech acts they are likely to come across. Learners should

be made aware of NSs usage of the variety of expressions to realize a certain function,

depending on the situation where they are used. This could be accomplished by eliciting

compliment responses from their own culture, and presenting the target cultures way of

responding to compliments to raise their awareness.

Second, Emarati EFL learners have no contact with NSs of English, and that calls for

more communication in the classroom, as it contributes to interlanguage development.

This could be achieved through: (a) using authentic materials from the target language

that will help learners understand as many native and non-native varieties and

communicative styles as they can be expected to come across, (b) focusing on learner-

centred activities like role plays and real discussions to develop efficient strategies of the


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target language, (c) team-teaching with NSs to give the students a chance to interact and

learn English under the supervision of a NS.

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Takahashi, T. & Beebe, L. (1987). The development of pragmatic competence in

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Politeness Markers in Persian Requestives

Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan, University of Zanjan, Iran

Bio Data:Dr Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan is Assistant Professor of TEFL at the Universityof Zanjan, Iran. He has been teaching BA and MA courses at different IranianUniversities for the past fifteen year and is a member of the editorial boards of Asian EFLJournal, The Linguistics Journal, and I-Manager's Journal of Educational Technology. Heis also editor-in-chief of Iranian Journal of Language Studies (IJLS). His areas of interest

include language testing and English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

AbstractIn a study of the effects of complainers' sex, age, perceived situational seriousness, andsocial class on the use of conversational strategies in their complaining behavior, 465subjects of varying age, sex, and social class were observed and tape recorded inspontaneous conversation by 25 field workers. The field workers also filled out achecklist that provided the data of the study, which were then input into twononparametric tests: (a) Mann-Whitney U Test, and (b) Kruskal Wallis H Test. Theresults of data analysis showed that 'repetition of complaint' was an important strategy inco

april 2007 vol2 issue1

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