Refusal strategies among Indonesian EFL students from different cultural backgrounds  

Oleh:

Bonafix, Siana Linda

Jenis: Article from Proceeding
Dalam koleksi: KOLITA 15 : Konferensi Linguistik Tahunan Atma Jaya Kelima Belas, page 523-527.
Topik: refusal; cultural background; politeness; face
Fulltext: 523-527 (Siana Linda Bonafix - OK).pdf (315.84KB)

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Perpustakaan PKBB Nomor Panggil: 406 KLA 15 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 1) Tandon: 1

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Refusal is a complex situation that can disturb a relationship between a speaker and an addressee. In order not to offend the addressees, it is important to use appropriate strategies in making refusals. As revealed by Yang (2008), it is more important on how to say ‘No’ than on uttering ‘No’ itself. How to say “No” cannot be separated from culture. Some studies reveal that there are differences between EFL learners and native speakers of English in producing refusals (e.g. Mouveni, 2014; Hashemian, 2012; Al-Eryani, 2007). However, there have been only a few studies involving different Indonesian cultural backgrounds in making English refusal. For example, the Batakese women are more direct than the Javanese women when they produce refusals (Neluk, 2008). An English classroom in Indonesia may consist of students with different cultural backgrounds, such as Javanese, Sundanese, Bataknese, Palembangnese and other cultural groups. Since the L1 of Indonesian EFL speakers can influence the L2 learning, L1 cultural elements can also be brought into their L2 utterances, in this case English. This study aims to examine if there are any cultural influences between students coming from two cultural backgrounds, Jakarta and Sumatra cultures, when they refuse in English. The participants of the study were eight intermediate EFL students studying in Jakarta. They were all undergraduate students, aged 20 years old. Four participants are categorized as the Jakarta group, and the other four belong to the Sumatra group. Those who are in the Jakarta group were born and raised in Jakarta, while those in the Sumatra group were born and raised in Sumatra. The data were collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT). In order to elicit refusals, six scenarios were created to suit in a college-life context. The data were analyzed by using the classification of refusal strategies adapted from Beebe et al. (1990). This study reveals three findings. First, all respondents prefer to use various indirect strategies to perform refusal in order to maintain good relationship and politeness. Second, the EFL speakers from the Sumatera group are more direct in making refusal than those from Jakarta group. Third, the EFL speakers from the Jakarta group prefer to show positive face by expressing gratitude and positive opinions, but both groups try to keep the negative face.

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