Manivannan, Marsha Lavania (2012) The influence of interpersonal solidarity on the choice of refusal strategies / Marsha Lavania a/p Manivannan. Masters thesis, University of Malaya.
Abstract
Refusal is a face threatening act because it contradicts with the expectations of the speaker and therefore, is not a preferred speech act. However, the speech act of refusal cannot be avoided as it is part of our daily communication. Therefore, this study is carried out to perceive how Malaysians, a collectivist society, handle refusal. The present study investigates the effects of interpersonal solidarity on the choice of refusal strategies made by Malaysians as well as the most frequently used refusal strategy by Malaysian men and women respectively, with regards to wedding invitations. These objectives are expressed through three research questions. The data, taken from a social network called Facebook, comprises written refusal expressions to wedding invitations. The Interpersonal Solidarity Scale was used to find out the interpersonal solidarity between the participants and the wedding hosts. A total of 200 refusal expressions from five weddings were taken as data for this study and they were analysed and coded according to an adapted framework of refusal strategies that is developed from a combination of the frameworks proposed by Beebe et al. (1990) and Campillo et al. (2009). The findings indicate that interpersonal solidarity does not influence the choice of refusal strategies; and the most frequently used strategy by both Malaysian men and women is REGRET/ APOLOGY. Observations on the use of linguistic forms and patterns of refusal expressions identified in the data are discussed in detail as well.
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