Flourishing Creativity & Literacy - A Study on the Perception of Jordanian EFL Learners’ Pragmatic Transfer of Refusals

Oct 15, 2026

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This study investigates the perception of Jordanian EFL learners’ (JEFL) pragmatic transfer of refusal strategies in terms of contextual and cultural factors. Data were collected using a discourse completion test (DCT) and a scaled-response questionnaire (SRQ) to elicit perception data from participants. SRQ results showed high ratings for the speaker’s right to refuse across social categories, with group differences in perceived relative strength and negative transfer criteria in specific categories.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1. Introduction

Background and rationale

2. The Speech Act of Refusal

Definition and cross-cultural implications

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 6 No. 1; February 2015 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia Flourishing Creativity & Literacy A Study on the Perception of Jordanian EFL Learners’Pragmatic Transfer of Refusals Ibrahim Fathi Huwari Department of English Language and Translation, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan E-mail: [ibrahimhuwari@yahoo.com](ibrahimhuwari@yahoo.com) [Yasser Al-Shboul](Yasser Al-Shboul) (Corresponding author) Salt College for Human Sciences, Balqa Applied University, Salt, Jordan [E-mail: nowshboul@yahoo.com](E-mail: nowshboul@yahoo.com) Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n. 1p.46 URL: [http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.1p.46](http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.1p.46) Received: 16/09/2014 Accepted: 05/02/2015 Abstract This study investigates the perception of Jordanian EFL learners’ (JEFL) pragmatic transfer of refusal strategies in terms of contextual and cultural factors. Data were collected using a discourse completion test (DCT) and a scaledresponse questionnaire (SRQ) to elicit perception data from the participants. Data from the SRQ were analyzed based on the speaker ’s right to refuse the initiating act. Findings revealed that the right the speaker has to refuse the initiating act was assigned high ratings by the three groups (i.e., M > 3.00) in all social categories. Individually, however, the groups displayed the rating value differently where the AEL1 group’s perception of the speaker’s right was relatively higher than that of the JEFL and JAL1 groups in all the social categories. The JEFL participants ’negative pragmatic transfer criteria were met in the first and third social categories. The study concludes with a discussion of important directions for future research. Keywords: Perception, Refusal, Pragmatic transfer, Pragmalinguistic transfer, Sociopragmatic transfer 1. Introduction Over the past two decades, studies (Ramos, 1991; Kasper, 1997; Al-Issa, 1998; Bardovi-Harlig, 1999; Al-Momani, 2009) of interlanguage speech acts have come to realize the importance of pragmatics in second language acquisition, i.e., the need to account for the rules that govern the use of language in context. Not only do second language learners need to know phonology, syntax, and lexicon of a language, they also need to know the rules of speaking. These studies have also revealed that second/foreign language learners have different L2 pragmatic system from the native speakers of the L2, in terms of both perception and production. Gass and Selinker (2001) pointed out that second/foreign language learners rely on their own native language behaviour and culture norms in learning the target language. Thomas (1983) stated that pragmatic transfer occur when speakers use their L1 speech act strategies that are inappropriate in the corresponding of L2 settings. Pragmatic transfer is also operative due to different cross-cultural assessments of size of imposition, taboos, relative power or social distance. With this in mind, the concept of pragmatic transfer in interlanguage pragmatics has received increased attention and has been investigated by a number of applied linguists and ESL/EFL educators. Since researchers disagree about how to define the scope of pragmatics (Kasper, 1992), available definitions of pragmatic transfer therefore varied based on their stance. For example, Kasper (1992) defines pragmatic transfer as the influence that previous pragmatic knowledge has on the use and acquisition of L2 pragmatic knowledge. Specifically, according to Kasper (1992: 207), pragmatic transfer in interlanguage pragmatics is identified as “the influence exerted by learners ’pragmatic knowledge of languages and cultures other than L2 on their comprehension, production and learning of L2 pragmatic information”. Research into the production of speech acts has shown that both similarities and differences exist between native and non native speake

FAQs

What does the study investigate about Jordanian EFL learners?

It examines how Jordanian EFL learners perceive the pragmatic transfer of refusal strategies, especially considering contextual and cultural factors.

How were the data collected in this research?

The study used a discourse completion test (DCT) and a scaled-response questionnaire (SRQ) to elicit participants’ perception data.

What did the SRQ findings show regarding refusal strategies?

Results indicated that the speaker’s right to refuse the initiating act received high ratings across social categories, though the groups differed in how those ratings were distributed.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Terk