Refusal sequences in conversational discourse

This study investigated sequences of refusal realization strategies between Japanese speakers speaking Japanese (JJs) and North American English speaker speaking Japanese (AJs) in conversational discourse focusing on the differences and similarities between native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs) as well as those between males and females. I also investigated to what extent and in what way different initiation types affected the differences and similarities of refusal sequences in conversational discourse between the JJs and AJs.;Ten male JJs, ten female JJs, ten male AJs, and ten female AJs participated in this study in addition to coders and a requester. Forty separate telephone conversations with two different groups of participants were taped, one with JJ-JJ interactions, and the other with JJ-AJ interactions.;In analyzing the recorded data, each interaction was first transcribed, and then each transcribed conversation was divided into stages on the basis of the requester's initiation. Then request-refusal interactions were carefully examined and the requester's initiations were coded. This was followed by the coding of refusal realization strategies used at each stage. Finally, semantic formulas used for first and final responses in refusal sequences, patterns of relationship between the first and final responses, patterns of request-refusal interactions, and patterns of refusal sequences were identified and examined.;The results indicate that (a) the AJs used a wider variety of refusal realization strategies in their first responses to a request than did the JJs; (b) the JJs and AJs all used different varieties of refusal realization strategies in their final responses which made the requester stop negotiating; (c) the AJs employed twice as many patterns as did the JJs in the relationship between the first and final responses of refusal sequential organizations; (d) refusal sequential organizations were independent of different types of re-initiations; (e) the AJs employed a wider variety of refusal sequential organizations than did the JJs in conversational discourse; and (f) responses by males were often different from those of females regardless of first language in their entire sequences of refusal realization strategies.;To conclude, the study has raised many important issues in investigating refusal interactions.