A Cross-Cultural Study of Apology Speech Act Realisations

Different cultural backgrounds may perform different semantic formulas. This study aimed to investigate the occurrences of apology speech acts in two dimensions of semantic formulas: frequency and pattern. The participants for this study were 32 English native speakers and 32 Thai EFL learners, making a total of 64 participants. The participants responded to 10 acts of apologising in a written discourse completion task (DCT) that simulated apology-provoking situations. The responses from the DCTs were coded according to the apology taxonomy. The data were then analysed according to the frequency and pattern of the semantic formulas used by the two different groups. The findings revealed that the three most frequently used semantic formulas of the two groups were “Expression of apology”, “Offering repair”/, and “Explanation”, respectively. Also, the three most used patterns of semantic formulas found in the two groups were “Expression of apology + Offering repair”, followed by “Expression of apology + Explanation”, and “Expression of apology + Offering repair + Showing concerns”, respectively. The findings suggest opportunities for building cross-cultural communications across continents. The results have implications for teaching and learning of English as an L2 in the crosscultural contexts.