Cross-Cultural Analysis on Apologies

hwsy@overseaen.comISSN 1009- -5039htp://ww.overseaen.conOverseas English海外英语Tel:+86-551-65690811 65690812Cross-Cultural Analysis on ApologiesLIU Heng, FAN Ming, CAO ji-bim(Bejing University of Agriculure, Beijing 102206, China)Abstract: Nativized varieties of English must reflect native pragmatic norms and cultural conventions. Apology, as a polite socialbehavior, was analyzed from the perspective of ChineseEnglish speaker and American English speaker to emphasize the impor-tance of the cross -cultural differences in pragmatic uses.Key words: Apology; American English speaker; Chinese English speaker中图分类号:H0文献标识码:A文 章编号: 1009- 5039(2013)07-0240- -02Apology is a polite social behavior to maintain harmonious re-A: (To the boss) I beg your pardon, sir, but it is time to go.lationship between speakers, especially to save the face of the lis-B: oh, is it? All right.tener. It is offered by the speaker who publicly acknowledges thathe or she has done what he or she is forbidden or he or she has not Chinese students are usually confused with the use of the apologiz-done what is supposed to do. Politeness, in an interaction, can be ing words as they do not know which one can be used in the appro-defined as the means employed to show awareness of another per- priate situation. They usually made some mistakes due to inade-son’ s face, which means the public self- - image of a person and re-quate knowledge of and insufficient exposure to the target lan-fers to the emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and guage.expects everyone else to recognize. Politeness can be accomplished“Excuse me, Mr. Buckingham, but can I talk to you for a min-in situations of social distance or closeness. Showing awareness forute?" Chinese students would often think that apology belongs toanother person’s face when that other seems socially distant is of- the politeness type. However, “Excuse me”is more of an attentionten described in terms of respect or deference. Showing the equiva- getter to an English native. Chinese students interpreted “Excuselent awareness when the other is socially close is often describedin me” the same way as“I am sorry”because most translations forterms of friendliness, camaraderie, or solidarity.the two phrases were mostly the same without considering the dif-In American English apologies can be divided into two ference in their pragmatic use.types- -implicit apology and explicit apology. “I apologize", “Ex-Chinese English speaker usually can not distinguish betweencuse me",“I' m sorry”and“Forgive me”are all considered to be“Excuse me”and“I' m sorry”. When a Chinese English speakerexplicit apologies as they can be recognized directly while “Ideclines and invitation to the birthday party, it is wrong to say“Ex-wasn’t thinking",“I did not mean to", and“I promise it will not cuse me, I'd like to go but I have a date with Mary at that time".happen a gain" are implicit or indirect apologizing speech act. Chi- When a Chinese English learner reminds his teacher that classnese English speaker can make out the explicit apology and react time is up, he made another mistake by saying“I m sorry, but it is .to it inmediately but will be slow in understanding these implicittime to finish”speech acts as there are no equivalent apologizing words except“sorry” in Chinese. The following are examples of different waysof as remedies for one”s inappropriate speech act in conversations.apologizing in American English:"Excuse me”would be more appropriate than“I' m sorry" when1)Interruption.the speaker is focusing on his or her violation of social norms andA: Excuse me, could I cut in with just a word?principles.“I' m sorry”becomes more suitable when the speaker isB: Sure, go ahead.focusing on the damage that the speaker has brought or might bring2)Forgetting something.to the listener. Chinese English learmers tend to ignore these differ-A: Got the book I wanted?ences and take it for granted that basic matters in culture are uni-B: Sorry. I forgot it completely.versal. Therefore, they pick up any words that come to their mind3)pilling on someone’s shoes.and made the mistake.A: oh, I' m sorry (I beg your pardon)! I didn' I mean to. I's soChinese English learners would follow their own“logical”careless of me.ways in situations where there is no equivalent in Chinese cultureB: Well, never mind, it does not matter. I have bought new and the transfer can not happen. In Chinese English“It does notshoes anyway.matter”is usually used to accept apology from other people, which4)Saying to one’s superior.is a common mistake for Chinese English learners. In fact, only中国煤化工MYHCNMHG收稿日期:2013-12-11修回日期:2014-01-18作者简介:刘恒(1976-),女,北京农学院讲师,硕士,研究方向为语言学;范明(1981-),女,北京农学院讲师,硕士,研究方向为传播学。240 /0研7本栏目责任编辑:谢媛媛2014年04月.Overseas English海外英语“That's all right".“That's Ok" or“No Problem”are used as ac- tions.ceptance of apology. Chinese English learner has transferred direct-ly from their first language“ mei guan xi" to their second language flect native pragmatic norms and cultural conventions. Chinese cul-without considering diferent cultural background and pragmatic ture differs greatly from American culture. In English learning andnorms.teaching two languages and indeed two cultures come into contacts.what is appropriate for particular situations, and that these differ teacher and the leaner. English teachers have the responsibility togreatly across culture. American English speaker like to apologize help students improve their cultural awareness while it is highly ex-for even slight inconvenience they have brought to the others. For pected that the teacher themselves are bicultural experts. Theyexample, they are walking too close to a person or cough. Chinese should familiarize the students with the cultural values and prag-English speaker would be shy in saying “I' m sorry" unless they matic norms in target language by selecting materials which havehave made a rather big mistake or they have caused trouble for oth- an intercultural point of view. Students should be encouraged toer people.find dfferences in pragmatic norms and cultural conventions andAmerican English speaker are extrovert and would apologize develop their intercultural awareness and communicative skills into anyone including their family members while Chinese English classroom and after class activities.speakers are introvert and it is an unusual phenomenon that the oldReferences:apologize to the young or a father apologizes to his son for onlyslight mistakes. Chinese people are usually shy and obedient to the[1] Ellis, Donald G. From Language To Communication [M].Hills-authority because china has a feudalist history for five thousandlale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Association, Ine, 1992.years. Confucius, one of the greatest thinkers in Chinese history,[2] Honna,Nobuyuki, ed..A Close look at Chinese Cultural Infu-has great infuence on Chinese thoughts and has left in Chinese cul-ence on Students’ Learning Styles and Strategies[J]. 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