Suggestions in Kuwaiti Arabic and British English

Abstract

The present study sought to investigate the similarities and differences in the use of suggestion strategies between Kuwaiti speakers of Arabic and British speakers of English, in terms of the use of strategy types, the use of linguistic formulas and the effect of the interlocutor's status. Thirty-six participants took part in this study, eighteen Kuwaiti and eighteen British speakers, resulting in 216 suggestions. To collect data, participants were asked to complete a written Discourse Completion Task (DCT) consisting of six hypothetical situations where their responses were analysed. Martinez-Flor's (2005) taxonomy was used to code the data in which suggestion strategies were divided into three types: direct, conventionalised forms and indirect. The findings revealed that there were more similarities than there were differences between the two groups when making suggestion. the two groups preferred to employ more direct strategies than indirect strategies and conventionalised strategies. Moreover, the two groups resembled each other in the use of linguistic formulas, as hints and imperatives were utilised more frequently than other linguistic formulas. However, evidence of differences was found between the two groups regarding the effect of the interlocutor's status, where the Kuwaiti group employed more direct strategies with people of high status, whereas the British group performed more indirect strategies with people of high status.