Congratulation Strategies: Pragmatic Study (Published)
There are different ways to express positive emotions and feelings when people come across happy occasions. The present study investigates how people pragmatically express congratulations. One hundred and sixteen participants were recruited to answer a DCT which was used as a tool for uncovering the strategies of congratulations and answering the questions: (1) what are the main pragmatic strategies for congratulations? (2) what are the differences in using these strategies when it comes to males and females? (3) pragmatically, what are the positive politeness strategies used in expressing congratulations? And (4) are there any differences between males and females in using these positive politeness strategies? Among the findings revealed seven pragmatic strategies of congratulations saying congratulations, giving good wishes, expressing happiness, using jokes, mentioning the reason, asking for information or details, and giving compliments and encouragement.
Keywords: Speech Act, congratulations, give gifts, politeness strategies
A Comparative Study of Jordanian Arabic and American English Refusal Strategies (Published)
This study investigates the similarities and differences of the speech act of refusal between Jordanian Arabic (JA) and American English (AE). Data were collected using an adopted version of the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) by Al-Issa (1998). Next, data were analysed in terms of semantic formulaic sequences and were categorized based on the classification of refusal strategies established by Al-Issa (1998). Results revealed that both groups of participants were in agreement regarding their preference of strategy; hence, they preferred indirect strategies followed by adjunct strategies followed by direct strategies. However, Jordanian participants tended to use more indirect strategies than the American participants who used direct refusal style. The study concludes with a discussion of important directions for future research.
Keywords: Collectivism, Individualism, Refusals, Semantic Formulas, Speech Act