Spanish speakers apologizing in English

Abstract

Abstract This paper investigates the speech act of apologizing in English between Chileans and Australians. It examines the frequency, distribution and function of apology-strategies used by both groups in a situation of having missed an important appointment with ‘a boss’. Results indicate that L2 Chileans and Australians do not differ significantly in the frequency of using some apology-strategies, nevertheless striking divergences emerged from the modification attached to them (Blum-Kulka et al. 1989). This finding may indicate that each group of speakers coined a different weight to the apology-strategies. Thus while ‘remedial work’ (Goffman 1971) in Spanish is accomplished by the use of positive politeness strategies (Brown and Levinson 1987), Australians appear not to favour them. These differences may anticipate some communication problems which may lead to ‘sociopragmatic failure’ (Thomas 1983) between both groups. Moreover the sex of the apologizer and the recipient is an important factor which determines the speaker’s performance in the act of apologizing.

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