A Comparative Study Of Apology Strategies And Influencing Factors Between Americans And Chinese

The present study is based on several theories including speech act theory,politeness principle,face theory,Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Hall’s high-context and low-context culture.The author takes the apologetic conversations in the two soap operas of Devious Maids Season One in America and Quarrelsome Lovers in China as data,making a comparative study of apology strategies and their influencing factors between Americans and Chinese by using the quantitative analysis method,qualitative analysis method and comparative analysis method.The study focuses on the following questions:What are the similarities and differences of the choice of apology strategies between Americans and Chinese?What are the differences in the frequency of using the speech act of apology between Americans and Chinese?What are the main factors affecting the choice of apology strategies?Comparing with the previous studies,are there any new findings or changes in the use of apology strategies for both Americans and Chinese?The study result shows that there are some similarities in apology strategies between Americans and Chinese.Americans and Chinese prefer to adopt a combination of several strategies at one time instead of a single strategy.Both Chinese and Americans employ all the seven apology strategies.The strategy of Explicit Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices(IFIDs)is the most frequent one used by both Americans and Chinese.The strategy of Explanation or Account is the second one most frequent used by the people from the two countries.Americans and Chinese nearly share the same percentage in the strategies of Showing Concern and Minimizing the Degree of Offense.Women adopt more apology strategies than men.But some significant differences can be found in many aspects due to different values and cultures.Americans employ much more apology strategies than Chinese.Although the first two strategies enjoy the most popularity in two languages,the percentage of strategy is different from each other.Chinese show more preference for Taking Responsibility and Promise of Forbearance than Americans.Women in carried out much more apologies than those in Quarrelsome Lovers.The percentages of apology strategies used by women and men in Quarrelsome Lovers are very close.The senior and the superior in Devious Maids adopt much more apology to the junior and the inferior than those in Quarrelsome Lovers.The junior and inferior apologize much more than the senior and superior in Quarrelsome Lovers.These similarities and differences result from the influencing factors such as cultural differences,power distance,gender difference and severity of offense.Among them,the cultural differences and power distance are the most important factors for the two cultures.Owing to the rise of Chinese women’s status in society and their increase in self-awareness,there is no obvious difference in the percentages of apology strategies between women and men in Quarrelsome Lovers.So the choice of apology strategies is not deeply affected by the factors of gender.In China,the senior express their apology to the juniors,which means some changes comparing with the situation in the past.The above are the new findings of the study.The present study boasts some theoretical significance because it focuses on the similarities and differences of the choice of apology strategies between Americans and Chinese by getting the research data from the latest operas which highlight the daily life,by the present study the previous findings and theory on apology can be confirmed and furthered to some degree.Secondly,the study can provide some implications for Chinese EFL teaching and learning,offers the reform of it some instructions in China.Thirdly,the practical significance can be got from the study.International cooperation needs people with intercultural communicative competence,and the study can help people learn the different cultures and learn how to adopt the appropriate means of expressing apology better in order to gain effective communication.