Can you complain? Cross-cultural comparison of indirect complaints in Russian and American English

Abstract

This paper investigates the structure and cultural styles of indirect complaints in Russian and American English, and politeness strategies used by native speakers of these languages when complaining. It has been found that although indirect complaints in these languages are structured similarly, in some instances Russian complaints lack the problem solution component and optimistic attitude towards the resolution of the problem in the centre of the complaints. Humorous complaints in American English and laments in Russian reflect different styles of expressing indirect complaints in these cultures. The politeness strategies used by native speakers of Russian and American English demonstrate that Russians prefer positive politeness, whereas Americans favour negative politeness in the realisation of indirect complaints. Fourteen Russian native speakers and 21 native speakers of American English participated in this study. The data were collected by tape-recording natural conversations through participant-observation. Learners both of Russian and of American English will benefit from classroom instruction on the differences of structural and stylistic features of indirect complaints and politeness strategies when communicating in the target language. Awareness of the cultural differences of indirect complaints will help learners to avoid intercultural miscommunication.

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