An Intercultural Study of Refusal Strategies Used in Jordanian Arabic and American English

The present study compares and contrasts the refusal speech act in Jordanian Arabic and American English. The refusal speech act is among the most dominant issues in disciplines such as educational environment and social work. Researchers become more interested in such topics as it helps them to compare and contrast between native and non-native speakers of English. Therefore, the topic is quite common regarding identifying the strategies among non- native speakers. However, very little research discovered the similarities and differences between native and non-native speakers of English. Thus, the researchers of this study tried to fill the gap by presenting an intercultural study of Refusal Strategies Used in Jordanian Arabic and American English. Refusing to take part in an action is a negative response that may result in a disagreement and harm the relationship between the listener and the provider. To prevent conflict when a presenter must deny a request, the presenter must deliver an appropriate denial and adapt to the interlocutors perspective as well as the nature of the issue. The researchers used a modified Discourse Completion Test (DCT) as the research instrument. The findings reveal that both participant groups mainly preferred indirect strategies, followed by adjunct and direct strategies. In comparison, Jordanians tended to use more subversive strategies, unlike American participants who used a direct rejection strategy. The paper ends with an argument of significant future research areas