Responding to Rudeness: A Comparative Study of Native Speakers of English and Native Speakers of Korean

초록

Building on Beebe (1997), the present study compared pragmatic strategies and linguistic devices employed in responding to rudeness by native speakers and nonnative speakers of English. While the nonnative participants in Beebe (1997) included speakers from various L1 backgrounds, this study specifically targeted L1-Korean speakers of English as the nonnative group. Data were collected by means of Discourse Completion Tasks from 40 participants–20 native speakers of American English (AE) and 20 native speakers of Korean (KE). Results showed that the two groups employed different pragmatic strategies in responding to rudeness. For example, the English speakers used more ‘Insult’ strategies in responding to rudeness than the Korean speakers who preferred to employ ‘Challenge’ strategies. It was also found that male and female participants responded differently to rudeness in the AE group, but not in the KE group. Differences between the two L1 groups in their use of pragmatic strategies and linguistic devices are discussed along with implications for teaching pragmatic strategies in ESL/EFL classrooms.

키워드