Effects of cultural background of college students on apology strategies
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Wei Hong
Abstract
This article presents the research findings from a cross-cultural comparison of apology strategies written in English by two groups of college students. The study analyzed the e-mail correspondences for class absences from students to professors in two undergraduate classes, a technology class and a Chinese language class. It was found that the cultural background of the students and the course attendance policies were two major factors that caused different apology strategies. The differences are attributed to the different perceptions of social distance, politeness, severity of offense, and obligation for apology. It may be concluded that, although expressed in English and in the same given situation, the data present a great difference in the choice of apology strategies due to sociopragmatic and cultural interventions.
© Walter de Gruyter
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Articles in the same Issue
- Authenticities and lineages: revisiting concepts of continuity and change in language
- Which self? Pronominal choice, modernity, and self-categorizations
- Attitudes to western loanwords in Indonesian
- Minority language use in Cameroon and educated indigenes' attitude to their languages
- Language maintenance among “fortunate immigrants”: The French in the United States and Americans in France
- Language use in interlingual families: Do different languages make a difference?
- Effects of cultural background of college students on apology strategies
- Language contact in South America
