Speech Acts and Cross-Cultural Pragmatics

Abstract

Linguistically diverse learners tend to first relate the pragmatic ability they already possess in their first or more dominant language (L1) to act in the L2; as a result, miscommunication and misunderstandings are frequent and common. Teachers can help learners develop awareness about L2 pragmatic norms by making visible how speech acts are performed in the L2 community of speakers while providing opportunities to engage in role-playing or real interactions involving the accomplishment of selected speech acts. This chapter offers an overview of the importance of context in cross-cultural interactions, a brief survey of the theories of speech acts, and concrete pedagogical ideas for teachers to develop linguistically diverse learners' pragmatic awareness and ability while celebrating and promoting linguistic and cultural diversity.

Digital-Based Genuine Invitation Strategies of Najdi Arabic Speakers: A Socio-Pragmatic Analysis

“…Philosophical viewpoints have been advanced in the literature, with authors discussing the strategies for performing and comprehending the illocutions of speech acts considering politeness principles and face wants (Brown & Levinson, 1987;Lakoff, 1973;Leech, 2014) as well as the different sociocultural measures that influence their selection (Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper, 1989). Bauler (2022) assumed that politeness in intercultural communication is reflected in how language communicates the interpersonal distance between individuals and their diverse social roles as well as how -face-wants‖ are enacted in a speech community, namely the endeavor to develop, preserve, and save face during the verbal exchange. Lakoff (1973) established some universal guidelines to pursue appropriate communication: (1) do not impose, (2) give options, and (3) be friendly.…”

“…As a typical speech act, invitations inevitably project a pending response from the addressee, triggering a series of actions in which both parties indulge in the process of mutually collaborative interaction. However, compared to other commonly studied social speech acts, extending an invitation requires higher levels of sociability, implications, and commitment (Bauler, 2022;Wolfson, Marmor, & Jones, 1989). That is, when speakers extend an invitation, they exert some social obligations in which they expect the recipients to accept and spare some time for the occasion.…”

“…Despite the increasing volume of research on the realizations and cross-cultural differences of speech acts over the past three decades, the speech act of invitation has been relatively overlooked, particularly in non-Western languages (Margutti & Galatolo, 2018). Because research on speech acts is affected by severe ethnocentricity (Bauler, 2022), there is a dearth of literature on invitations in Arabic (Abdelhady, 2015;Al-Ali, 2006;Al-Khatib, 2006;Naim, 2011;Nassar, Saad, & Nordin, 2020;Oraby, 2020), let alone invitations in Saudi Najdi Arabic, a comparatively less investigated context. This could be owing to several reasons.…”

“…First, invitation exchange involves a sequence of turns between the inviter and the invitee, which makes data collection and organization more problematic, especially for natural observation methods (Margutti & Galatolo, 2018). Second, empirical evidence emerging from cross-cultural studies suggests that a particular community's sociocultural norms and expectations fundamentally affect both the inviters' linguistic behavior and the invitees' perceptions (Bauler, 2022). What is perceived as appropriate and polite behavior in one community may not be the same in another.…”