A Contrastive Study of the Use of Apology Strategies by Saudi EFL Teachers and British Native Speakers of English: A Pragmatic Approach

Abstract

This study examines the apology strategies used by 30 British native speakers of English and compares them with those employed by 30 Saudi EFL teachers, using a Discourse Completion Task (DCT). The study considers expressions of regret based on gender, cultural differences and severity of the offence. It is a quantitative, descriptive research study; it relies in its data collection process on a DCT whose reliability and internal and external validity are verified. It investigates three categories of variables types: binary, nominal and ordinal. The binary variables refer to gender, i.e., male and female, the nominal category is concerned with Arabic and English languages, and ordinal variables refer to the most frequent apology strategies employed by the respondents. The present study uses a quantitative method of data analysis which employs descriptive statistics (i.e., frequency analysis and percentages) in order to address the research questions and indicate the types of apology strategies that are frequently used by the speakers of the two investigated groups. The findings show different ways of using apology strategies by the two investigated groups based on the variables considered. Finally, the study concludes with some pedagogical implications for EFL teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).