Awareness of language or language competency has greatly changed from the focus of language itself as form and structure to language use as pragmatics. Accordingly, it is widely accepted that different cultures structure discourse in different ways. Moreover, studies have shown that this holds for discourse genres traditionally considered as highly standardized in their rituals and formulas. Taking inspiration from such studies, this paper employs a corpus-based approach to examine variations of the apology and thanking strategies used in English and Italian. First the apology itself as a form of social action is closely analyzed and then thanking. This study also pays special attention on analyzing and contrasting apology and thanking strategies in American English and in Italian in terms of Marion Owen's remedial strategies (Owen, 1983), and Olshtain & Cohen's semantic formulas in the apology speech act set (Olshtain & Cohen, 1983). The purpose of the study is not only to compare apology and thanking speech acts but to also learn their contextual use. The findings suggest that the status and role of the situation affect the speakers' choice of apology and thanking strategies, and semantic formulas are of great importance.
New immigrants' arrival in any country indeed brings new challenges to settle in the country. Learning the language of a new country is one of the major hassles in settling and starting a new life. In Canada, new immigrants must learn English as a second language because English is an official language and is also used day to day in almost all provinces except for a few states where the French language is more acceptable compared to English. Learning English requires motivation and there are some barriers in learning. Thus, this study addresses these barriers and assesses what motivational factors are there for new immigrants to learn English. It was a cross-sectional quantitative study conducted at a poly-cultural center, and Canada from June-2018 to December-2018. A total of 325 participants who registered and gave consent were included in this study. The results showed that factor 1 (Desire for career and economic enhancement) is significantly associated with age groups (P=0.001), gender (0.001), educational status (P=0.012), and time in Canada (P=0.027). Factor 2 (Desire to become a global citizen) is not significantly associated with all demographic data except for gender (P=0.027). Factor 3 (Desire to communicate and affiliate with foreigners) shows an association with all other demographic characteristics, except for gender (P=0.63), nationality (P=0.568), and educational status (P=0.091). In factor 4 (Desire for self-satisfaction), only educational status (P=0.046) has a significant association. Factor 5 (self-efficacy) and factor 6 (Desire to be integrated with other cultures) do not show any significant association with any demographic characteristics. In conclusion, the main motivating factors for new immigrants learning English as a second language acquisition is the desire for career and economic enhancement and the desire to communicate and affiliate with foreigners.
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