Cross-cultural Study of Terminating Conversation Strategies Used by Persian and English Speaking Students

In every interaction we need to use strategies to terminate our conversation and there are possible differences among people. This study had insight to terminate the conversation and the way native English-speaking students and native Persian-speaking students end their conversation and also investigate and compare what strategies they use in ending their conversations. This study also examined the role of power and solidarity in ending conversations as well as the role of gender in the use of these strategies. To collect the data, 50 garduate native Persian-speaking students were randomly selected from Islamic Azad University of Najafabad, Isfahan University of Technology and Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan and 27 graduate native English-speaking students were randomly selected from UCL University and Kings college University of London. Students were asked to complete a discourse completion test (DCT) designed by the researchers. They were supposed to read nine scenarios and reply the questions naturally. The data analyzed based on Liddicoats’ (2007) taxonomy. The results revealed that graduate native English-speaking used announcing closure and arrangements more than graduate Persian students before terminating their conversations, male and female students used these strategies for terminating the same. Also results showed that power, especially for the higher status, played an important role in choosing these strategies.