A Study Of Chinese EFL Learners' Compliment Response Strategies

Brown & Levinson's Face theory, Leech's Politeness Principle and Chinese scholar Gu Yueguo's politeness maxims which are based on the Chinese culture provide the theoretical foundation for compliment response. The purpose of this research is to answer: (1) How do Chinese EFL learners respond to compliments? Which compliment response strategy is frequently used? Are there any changes in compliment response strategies? (2) Are there any differences in compliment response strategies among Chinese EFL learners with different English proficiency? Do the advanced learners use the Agreement strategy more frequently than the intermediate learners? The present study investigates 144 seniors who major in English and 118 students who have just entered the high school. They represent the advanced learners and the intermediate learners respectively. The DCT questionnaire is revised on the basis of Chen (1993)'s design. The method of observation is conducted by the subjects' classmates and friends. They compliment the subjects and observe their responses.The result shows that (1) in general, the Chinese students are more likely to employ the Agreement strategies when responding to compliment. Among the Agreement strategies, Appreciation Token is the strategy most frequently used. Although Indirect Rejection still is the main compliment response strategy, Explicit Acceptance has replaced it as the dominant response strategy. It reflects that with China open to the outside world and with more cross-cultural communication, Chinese students are becoming accustomed to the conventions in the Western world. And those conventions in English language have transferred to Chinese language. (2) it's the younger EFL learners, not the advanced learners who are more inclined to employ the Agreement strategies. It shows that the younger the EFL learners are, the more they are influenced by Western culture. (3) there aren't significant differences in compliment response among the EFL learners with different English proficiency. Even the advanced learners transfer their native culture to the target language. Because social culture and value systems are hidden in the inner minds of people, and it is just these cultural values that determine what people think, what people say and what people do, it's believed that when the cultural norms of the learners are quite different from those of the target language, the learners can be influenced by cultural transfer, for the deep-structure of culture determines people's thought. (4) modesty in Chinese traditional culture hasn't been replaced by Western cultural values, especially when Chinese students respond to the compliments relating to their intrinsic qualities. The present study also finds that when using English, the Chinese EFL learners can follow the conventions of English language and more accept the compliments; when, using Chinese, they comply with the conventions of Chinese language and less accept the compliments. From the perspective of compliment response, the strategies employed by Chinese students show the signs of both Western and Chinese traditional culture.The present research shows that English teaching in our country is fruitful. Chinese students know how to follow the conventions of English language when using English. The suggestions are that Chinese traditional culture is the treasure of Chinese people which shouldn't be taken the place of by the Western culture. The education of Chinese traditional culture should be reinforced to protect the treasure against the invasion of the Western cultural values.The present study is only a tentative one. Some proposals are put forward so as to offer a modest spur to trigger more valuable contributions in this field.