Invitation refusal strategies of Bangladeshi postgraduate students in Malaysia / Yasmin Mohammed Alam

Yasmin , Mohammed Alam (2021) Invitation refusal strategies of Bangladeshi postgraduate students in Malaysia / Yasmin Mohammed Alam. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Speech acts are functions performed through the use of words (Searle,1969). Among them are request, directive, command, apology, acknowledgment, exclamation, and refusal (Beebe, Takahashi, & Uliss-Weltz, 1990). As a refusal speech act that involves making a decline or a rejection, showing an unwillingness to perform something for the 'speaker' or the 'inviter,' some refuser may use direct and bold strategies to the face. Others may use several strategies to make this refusal less face-threatening. However, there is a lack of research looking into the context of Bangladeshi participants and refusal strategies. This study aims to address this gap. Focusing on 105 Bangladeshi postgraduate students, this study explores the students' most utilized types of refusal strategies made in English to an invitation to visit during a festive celebration and how these refusal responses are realized linguistically and structurally. The collected data are in the form of written responses made on WhatsApp. The refusal responses are coded according to the classification of refusal strategies proposed by Al-Issa (2003) and Beebe et al. (1990). The refusal sequences (i.e., head-act, pre-and post-refusals) are also examined. The categorization of the internal modifiers is adapted from Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper (1989) to identify internal modifiers that are employed to intensify or mitigate the refusal expressions. The analysis suggests that most students expressed refusals indirectly than directly. They often employed 'excuses,' followed by 'statement of apologies,' and ‘negative willingness' as head-acts through various linguistics utterances. They often employed 'excuses,' 'address forms,' 'gratitude,' and 'closing statements' as supportive moves (pre-and post-refusals) through various linguistics utterances as mitigators. They employed a combination of direct, indirect strategies, and adjuncts arranged in many different combinations and positions especially with three or four combinations. They also often employed internal modifiers; e.g., adverbial intensifiers and time intensifiers to intensify the refusal expressions.

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