“Wallah! I Beg Your Pardon...”: A Cross-cultural Study of Apology Speech Acts

Abstract

This study explores the cross-cultural pragmatic features of apology speech acts generated by Arabic native speakers, English native speakers and advanced Saudi learners of English. The instrument employed for this study was a discourse completion task (DCT). The DCT included eight situations that elicited apologetic responses from 69 participants. Results revealed that Arabic native speakers and Saudi learners of English use apology strategies following a similar order of frequency that differs than English native speakers. Saudis frequently use oaths and use sarcasm instead of apology, or accompanied by apology, in their responses. Saudi learners of English are influenced by their Arabic culture, which leads to efficient communication at times while interfering with it at others.