In most speech communities, the speech act of complimenting is a well established politeness strategy. While the giving of and responding to compliments can be regarded as rather universal across different languages and cultures, the form, frequency and function of compliments and compliment responses significantly varies. In the following chapters, I would like to compare English compliment responses to realizations of the same speech act in Chinese and German. Since the 1970s, sociolinguists have turned towards research on communicative competence, thereby focussing on native speaker’s performance of speech acts (e.g. compliments, apologies, requests, complaints etc.). In the last three decades, the speech event of complimenting and compliment responding has been one of the major areas on which sociolinguistic research has focussed on. There are extens ive studies on this respective speech act in American English (e.g. Pomerantz 1978, Manes and Wolfson 1980) as well as comparative cross-cultural research on complimenting behavior, examining the differences in speech act realization between variants of English (American /Irish , e.g. Schneider 1999; American /South African, e.g. Herbert 1989), and between English and other languages (Chinese, e.g. Chen 1993; German, e.g. Golato 2002). These studies of communicative competence make apparent that communicating effectively and efficiently in a language requires more than just linguistic knowledge; the ability to use this linguistic knowledge appropriately in the given sociocultural context is also essential. Learners with insufficient pragmatic knowledge frequently transfer patterns from their native language into the foreign language. Second language teaching profits from studies in communicative competence because it provides teachers with information on realization strategies concerning certain speech acts in different languages.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. American English Compliments
2. Compliment Responses Strategies in American English
3. Compliment Response Strategies in Chinese
4. Compliment Response Strategies in German
5. Sociocultural Transfer in SLA
6. Teaching Sociocultural Competence
Conclusion
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This academic paper examines the sociolinguistic phenomenon of complimenting and responding to compliments across different cultures, specifically analyzing how native speakers of American English, Chinese, and German utilize varying strategies. The central research objective is to investigate the problem of "sociocultural transfer" in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), where learners incorrectly apply native language norms to target language interactions, and to provide pedagogical insights on how instructors can improve learners' sociocultural competence.
- Comparison of compliment response strategies in American English, Chinese, and German.
- The influence of cultural values on politeness principles and face-saving acts.
- Analysis of sociocultural transfer and its impact on cross-cultural communication.
- Identification of pragmatic differences that lead to misunderstandings between native and non-native speakers.
- Pedagogical strategies for teaching sociocultural awareness in the classroom.
Excerpt from the Book
5. Sociocultural Transfer in SLA
Mastering L2 grammatical rules does not necessarily ensure effective communication in a target language. In a second language, speech acts are especially difficult to perform because they “actually vary in both conceptualization and realization across languages and cultures, and […] their modes of performance are mainly motivated by differences in deep-seated cultural conventions and assumptions” (Yu 2003: 1681). Learners are often not sufficiently familiar with cultural norms or the socially appropriate use of expressions in the given speech community.
Sociolinguistic research has significantly contributed to the study of second language acquisition by discovering that learners’ interlanguage can be subject to sociolinguistic transfer. Studies by sociolinguists Beebe (1974) or Schmidt (1980) demonstrate how learners of English transfer phonetic patterns of their native language into the interlanguage. However, sociolinguistic transfer does not only refer to rule transfer but also to the transfer of sociocultural competence. Beebe defines the latter as: “pragmatic transfer – transfer of sociocultural norms at the discourse level in writing and conversations” (Beebe 1988: 56). In compliment response behavior, learners lacking pragmatic L2 knowledge needed in a compliment interaction, often give inappropriate answers by transferring the content, order and frequency of response strategies from their native language into the target language. They may transfer their first language rules and conventions into the second language, assuming that such rules are universal.
Based on the previous observation of different realization strategies of compliment responses in American English as opposed to Chinese and German, one could assume that miscommunications might occur in cross-cultural encounters between learners and native speakers. Especially, unawareness of cultural differences leads to conflicts and breakdowns between second language students and native speakers, both representing a different cultural background.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This chapter introduces the study of communicative competence and speech acts, outlining the goal of comparing compliment responses across American English, Chinese, and German.
1. American English Compliments: Defines the structure and social function of compliments in American English, highlighting their role as a positive politeness strategy.
2. Compliment Responses Strategies in American English: Explores the conflicting politeness maxims of agreement versus avoiding self-praise, detailing various American response strategies.
3. Compliment Response Strategies in Chinese: Examines how Chinese politeness principles prioritize self-denigration and modesty, contrasting sharply with Western acceptance norms.
4. Compliment Response Strategies in German: Analyzes German compliment responses, noting their reliance on confirmation markers and assessment-pursuit, which differ from English-speaking norms.
5. Sociocultural Transfer in SLA: Discusses how learners often misapply native cultural norms to L2 interactions, leading to potential pragmatic failures and misunderstandings.
6. Teaching Sociocultural Competence: Provides recommendations for language teachers on how to raise student awareness regarding cultural differences and effective speech act performance.
Conclusion: Summarizes the necessity of teaching culture-specific strategies rather than universal principles to facilitate successful cross-cultural communication.
Keywords
Sociolinguistics, Second Language Acquisition, SLA, Communicative Competence, Compliment Responses, Sociocultural Transfer, Politeness Strategy, Pragmatic Knowledge, Cross-Cultural Communication, Speech Acts, Sociocultural Competence, Native Speakers, Language Pedagogy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this research?
The work focuses on how the speech act of complimenting and responding to compliments varies across different languages and cultures, and how these differences influence second language learning.
What are the primary cultural groups studied?
The paper primarily compares communicative strategies between native speakers of American English, Chinese, and German.
What is the main goal or research question?
The main goal is to explore the concept of "sociocultural transfer," where learners erroneously apply the pragmatic norms of their native language to the target language, and to suggest ways to address this in education.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The study relies on a review of existing sociolinguistic research, including discourse completion tasks and conversational analysis of natural speech data.
What is covered in the main body of the paper?
The main body examines the specific compliment response strategies used in each of the three languages, the phenomenon of sociocultural transfer in SLA, and methods for teaching sociocultural competence.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
Key concepts include Sociolinguistics, Pragmatic Transfer, Compliment Response Strategies, Politeness Maxims, and Second Language Acquisition.
How does the Chinese response strategy differ from the American one?
While Americans often accept compliments to maintain solidarity, Chinese speakers frequently use rejection, denigration, and explanation to uphold cultural norms of modesty and humility.
Why might German speakers’ responses be misinterpreted by Americans?
German speakers often use confirmation markers or response pursuit tags that do not exist in American English, which native American speakers may interpret as arrogant self-praise.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Natalie Lewis (Autor:in), 2003, Compliment Responses in Different Languages and the Problem of Sociocultural Transfer in SLA, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/23876
