• ISSN: 2382-6282 (Print); 2972-3108 (Online)
    • Abbreviated Title: Int. J. Lang. Lit. Linguist.
    • Frequency: Bimonthly
    • DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL
    • Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Jason Miin-Hwa Lim
    • Managing Editor:  Jennifer X. Zeng
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HOME > Archives > 2018 > Volume 4 Number 3 (Sep. 2018) >
IJLLL 2018 Vol.4(3): 159-163 ISSN: 2382-6282
DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL.2018.4.3.168

Refusing Requests: Is there A Difference between Students and Their Teachers?

H. Ipek

Abstract—Learning a foreign language not only involves learning to read, listen and speak in the target language or to learn its vocabulary and grammar. It also involves a competency in the pragmatics of the foreign language. It has been argued that grammatical knowledge does not necessarily ensure a corresponding level of pragmatic knowledge. Also, the pragmatics of native speakers and leaners may differ as well. Thus, this study aims to investigate the refusals to requests by non-native EFL students, their non-native teachers and their native teachers. 45 subjects (20 upper-intermediate EFL students, 20 non-native EFL teachers, and 5 native EFL teachers) voluntarily participated in the study. The data were collected using a discourse completion test (DCT) consisting of 12 situations as a written role-play questionnaire. Reponses were analyzed in terms of refuser status and semantic formulas using the classification of refusals suggested by Beebe, Takashi, and Uliss-Weltz (1990). The content of the most frequent formulas were examined as well. Results revealed that there was no consistency in the order of semantic formulas and their contents among the participants when the respondent was in a higher position. Reponses to requesters at equal position showed a consistency between the native and non-native teachers but not between teachers and students. Finally, a complete similarity in the semantic formulas was observed among the three groups when the requesters and refuser were at equal potion or when refuser was in a lower position. Yet, the contents of these refusals differed. The findings suggest that language learners seem to have a need to improve their competency in using the refusals when they are in higher position.

Index Terms—Pragmatic competence, refusals, speech acts.

H. Ipek is with Anadolu University, Georgia (e-mail: hipek@anadolu.edu.tr).

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Cite:H. Ipek, "Refusing Requests: Is there A Difference between Students and Their Teachers?," International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 159-163, 2018.

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