Sociocultural transfer in L2 speech behaviors: evidence and motivating factors

Social Beliefs for the Realization of the Speech Acts of Apology among Jordanian EFL Graduate Students

“…It has become explicitly obvious that separating the teaching of second language words and phrases from their sociocultural situation may result in misunderstanding which may hamper interaction purposes (Blum-Kulka, 1991). Although speech acts are a universal concept, and are embedded in all languages, their usage varies from one culture to another (Al-Issa, 2003;Hussein & Hammouri, 1998). Cross-cultural studies of speech acts have revealed that L2 learners face problems in applying speech acts when they interact with native speakers of the target language (Chen, 1993;Cohen & Olshtain, 1983).…”

“…However, teaching speech acts as an aspect of communication skills is not highlighted in Jordanian English institutes, high schools and universities. For this reason Jordanian (EFL) learners often fail to recognize the correct function of speech acts in EFL (Al-Issa, 2003;Bataineh, 2006). Among communicative functions, apologies present a complicated interaction for language learners, who have to restore the "breached harmony" (Hussein & Hammouri, 1998, p. 66) between themselves and their interlocutors after the inflicted offense, actual or potential.…”

“…Researchers such as Eslami-Rasekh and Mardani (2010)have found thatIranian EFL learners tend to use their own language norms in expressing the speech actin the target language. Intercultural miscommunication happens when there is a breakdown in communication between interlocutors of two different cultures or languages due to sociolinguistic transfer (Al-Issa, 2003) . Hence the purpose of this study, that is, to investigate the communicative pattern of the Jordanian students studying in Malaysia because as there is a constant influx of them pursuing their studies in this country, so is the increased possibility for miscommunication to happen either with the locals or with other international students here.…”

A Sociolinguistic Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns in Jordanians’ Facebook Status Updates

“…First and foremost this study will enrich speech act research by adding value to previous research of speech acts, particularly among young Arab Jordanians in its method. Most of the recent speech acts studies in the Jordanian context have been conducted conventionally whether through using discourse completion test (DCT) only (e.g., Al-Adaileh, 2007;Bataineh & Bataineh, 2006 ;Al-Shboul et al, 2012 ), or DCT andinterview (e.g., Banikalef &Marlyna 2013a;Al-khatib, 2006;Al-Issa 2003). This means that most of these studies elicit unnatural data because what people would write or say in the imaginary situation does not fully represented what they actually say in real situations (Nurani, 2009).…”

“…Thus, the current study observed the socio-pragmatic and cultural values inherent in the speech act of the young Arab Jordanian Facebook users. Most of the relevant research (e.g., Atawneh & Sridhar, 1993;Abdel-Jawad, 2010;Al-Issa, 2003;Banikalef, Maros, Aladdin, & Al-Natour, 2015;Al-Momani 2009;Al-Shboul, Maros, & Mohd Yasin, 2012;Banikalef & Maros, 2013) focus on semantic and syntactic domains without giving attention to the pragmatic skill which is seen as a significant process through the daily life interaction. This is to say that the majority of speech acts studies in Jordanian context attempted to find out the strategies of particular speech act produced by foreign or second language learners compared to native speakers of that language.…”