Abstract:
This study is a cross-cultural comparative/contrastive analysis of the politeness strategies used
in the realization patterns of two speech acts: requests and refusals to requests in British
English and Algerian Arabic. Relying on the theory of linguistic politeness proposed by
Brown and Levinson (1987), this research aims to find out the possible similarities and/or
differences in the performance of these two speech acts by Algerian Arabic natives and
British natives. Furthermore, it aims to test the different politeness strategies chosen by the
speakers of both languages according to the particular social variables of social power, social
distance and ranking of imposition. The hypothesis made is that different considerations of
distance, power, and rank of imposition by the two types of investigated speakers with
different linguistic and cultural backgrounds would result in different politeness strategies in
the realization of requests and refusals to requests. The data of this research are elicited via a
Discourse Completion Task. The obtained data are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively.
The results reveal that both respondent groups use the same range of politeness strategies.
However, while the native speakers of British English prefer negative politeness strategies,
the native speakers of Algerian Arabic prefer positive politeness. The latter group has also
proved to be more direct in making requests and refusals than the first one. Moreover,
whereas social power seems to count most in British English, considerations of social distance
are of more importance in Algerian Arabic. In addition, not only are the Algerian requests and
refusals influenced by socio-cultural conventions but also by religious beliefs. These findings
are a contribution to the studies on cross-cultural communication, which strive to find
solutions to possible communication breakdowns with regards to polite language, an
important element in human interaction.
