Dinamika Ilmu - Vol. 15 No. 2 - Investigation of the Effects of the Social Power and Social Distance on the Realization of Apology between Jordanian and English Cultures

Oct 15, 2026

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The study examined how context-external variables—social power (high, equal, low) and social distance (familiar, unfamiliar)—shape perceptions of apology in Jordanian and English speech communities. Data were gathered using Discourse Completion Tests (DCT) and Scaled Response Questionnaires (SRQ) from three groups: Jordanian L2 speakers in Malaysia, Jordanian non-English speakers in Malaysia, and English native speakers in Jordan. One-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD guided analysis of four context-internal variables, revealing stronger sensitivity to hierarchical power and social distance among Jordanians and evidence of negative sociopragmatic transfer from L1 to L2.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

A. Introduction

Research focus and variables

Background: cross-cultural and inter-language research

The role of social power and social distance

Previous work and study aims

Dinamika Ilmu P-ISSN: 1411-3031; E-ISSN: 2442-9651 2015, Vol. 15 No. 2 Investigation of the Effects of the Social Power and Social Distance on the Realization of Apology between Jordanian and English Cultures Bilal Ayed Al-Khaza’leh Faculty of Major Language Studies Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) [Bilalkaza83@gmail.com](Bilalkaza83@gmail.com) Tun Nur Afizah ZainalAriff Faculty of Major Language Studies Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) [tun.afizah@usim.edu.my](tun.afizah@usim.edu.my) Abstract The current study investigated the influence of context-external variables; social power (High, Equal and Low) and social distance (Familiar and Unfamiliar) on the perception of Jordanian and English speech act of apology. Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and Scaled Response Questionnaire (SRQ) were used to elicit data from three groups: 40 Jordanian L2 speakers in Malaysia, 40 Jordanian non-English speakers in Malaysia and 40 English native speakers from British Council in Jordan. The three groups of respondents were asked to assess four contextinternal variables i.e. the severity of the offence, the possibility of the offender apology, the difficulty of the apology by the offender and the likelihood of apology acceptance by the offended party. Results of the study were accomplished using one way ANOVA and Tukey HSD post hoc statistical tests. The findings revealed that Jordanians have high sensitivity toward hierarchical power and social distance more than English native speakers. Moreover, results revealed that there are negative sociopragmatic transfers from L1 to L2 by JL2Ss based on their perception of the four-context-internal variables. Findings could be used to increase the cultural awareness toward some similarities and differences between both cultures. Keywords: Speech act of apology, Inter-language pragmatics, sociopragmatic competence, Discourse Completion Test (DCT), Scaled Response Questionnaire (SRQ) . A. Introduction Cross-cultural and inter-language researches have confirmed that there are communication differences across different speech communities and cultural groups which might lead to cross-cultural conflicts (Al-Issa, 2003; Al-Momani, 2009; Al-Zumor, 2011; Banikalef, Abdullah, & Maros, 2013; Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper, 1989) . These cultural conflicts could be avoided if the speakers of specific speech communities understand the perception and speech functions of other speech communities (Kashkouli & Eslamirasekh, 2013; Nureddeen, 2008) . Therefore, there is an essential demand to conduct researches that highlight the perception and value of speech acts cross-culturally. The interlanguage researchers investigated not only the cross-cultural similarities and differences, but also the second language speakers’ (L2Ss henceforth) development toward the pragmatic of the target culture (Bardovi-Harlig, 2010; Bataineh, 2014; Ifantidou, 2014) . According to Brown & Levinson (1987) social power and social distance are considered as the main sociolinguistic variables that influence the perception of apology among the speakers of different cultural backgrounds. Apology has received a great amount of attention in the field of sociolinguistics due to its significant importance as a remedial interchange aims to re-establish the social harmony after a real or virtual offence has been performed (Brown & Levinson, 1987; Goffman, 1981) . As such, inter-language researchers remarkably recognized the eminent importance of achieving the pragmatic competence, particularly the sociopragmatic competence which is the concern to the social status and identity of the interlocutors during the conversation. Therefore, any possible violation for these sociopragmatic norms would likely lead to pragmatic misunderstanding in the stream of the conversation (Thomas, 1983; Ziran, 2004) . The main concern of the present study is to investigate the influence of the context-external variables of social

FAQs

What variables does the study examine regarding apologies?

It investigates social power (high, equal, low) and social distance (familiar, unfamiliar) as context-external variables, and four context-internal variables related to apology.

How were data collected and what were the main analysis methods?

Data were elicited using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and a Scaled Response Questionnaire (SRQ), then analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD post hoc tests.

What key findings emerged about Jordanian and English perceptions of apology?

Jordanian participants showed higher sensitivity to hierarchical power and social distance than English native speakers, and the results indicated negative sociopragmatic transfer from L1 to L2.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dhado