Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates
Refusal refers to a face-threatening act (FTA) which may put one’s self esteem at risk in communication. It encompasses turning down someone’s request, offer or suggestion. The speech act of refusal has been one of the most prominent areas of interest for many scholars. However, there is a dearth of...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2023
|
| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22636/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22636/1/584042180251PB.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848815647835815936 |
|---|---|
| author | Nurul ‘Aqiilah Mohd Kamal, Adlina Ariffin, |
| author_facet | Nurul ‘Aqiilah Mohd Kamal, Adlina Ariffin, |
| author_sort | Nurul ‘Aqiilah Mohd Kamal, |
| building | UKM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Refusal refers to a face-threatening act (FTA) which may put one’s self esteem at risk in communication. It encompasses turning down someone’s request, offer or suggestion. The speech act of refusal has been one of the most prominent areas of interest for many scholars. However, there is a dearth of such study particularly within the Malay community. Thus, this study examined the refusal strategies used by Malay undergraduates in the context of English as a Second Language (ESL), observed the differences and similarities in the refusal strategies of male and female undergraduates, and analysed the influence of relative power on the choice of their refusal strategies. This study employed the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) which was distributed among sixty Malay ESL undergraduates, consisting of 30 males and 30 females where they were required to refuse requests from three addressees (lecturer, friend, junior) in five different situations. The collected data were then analysed quantitatively. The findings showed that 32 out of 41 types of refusal strategies were used by the participants such as statements of regret, excuse and reason. Both male and female students employed indirect refusal strategies regardless of the person’s relative power. However, in using direct refusal strategies, females tended to be more direct in stating their refusals than males. The findings of this study will provide new insights on the pragmatic competence of Malay ESL undergraduates in employing refusal strategies in English, specifically when different gender and relative power are deployed in communication. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:53:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:generic.eprints.org:22636 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:53:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:generic.eprints.org:226362023-12-16T04:22:09Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22636/ Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates Nurul ‘Aqiilah Mohd Kamal, Adlina Ariffin, Refusal refers to a face-threatening act (FTA) which may put one’s self esteem at risk in communication. It encompasses turning down someone’s request, offer or suggestion. The speech act of refusal has been one of the most prominent areas of interest for many scholars. However, there is a dearth of such study particularly within the Malay community. Thus, this study examined the refusal strategies used by Malay undergraduates in the context of English as a Second Language (ESL), observed the differences and similarities in the refusal strategies of male and female undergraduates, and analysed the influence of relative power on the choice of their refusal strategies. This study employed the Discourse Completion Test (DCT) which was distributed among sixty Malay ESL undergraduates, consisting of 30 males and 30 females where they were required to refuse requests from three addressees (lecturer, friend, junior) in five different situations. The collected data were then analysed quantitatively. The findings showed that 32 out of 41 types of refusal strategies were used by the participants such as statements of regret, excuse and reason. Both male and female students employed indirect refusal strategies regardless of the person’s relative power. However, in using direct refusal strategies, females tended to be more direct in stating their refusals than males. The findings of this study will provide new insights on the pragmatic competence of Malay ESL undergraduates in employing refusal strategies in English, specifically when different gender and relative power are deployed in communication. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023-07 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22636/1/584042180251PB.pdf Nurul ‘Aqiilah Mohd Kamal, and Adlina Ariffin, (2023) Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates. e-Bangi Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 20 (3). pp. 245-256. ISSN 1823-884x http://ejournal.ukm.my/ebangi/index |
| spellingShingle | Nurul ‘Aqiilah Mohd Kamal, Adlina Ariffin, Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates |
| title | Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates |
| title_full | Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates |
| title_fullStr | Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates |
| title_short | Gender and power relation in English refusal strategies of ESL undergraduates |
| title_sort | gender and power relation in english refusal strategies of esl undergraduates |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22636/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22636/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22636/1/584042180251PB.pdf |