| Scope and method of study. More than any aspect of language, speech acts are probably the most culture specific. Apologizing is not an easy matter in one's own language, and having to do it in a second or foreign language is even more complicated. That is why studying the way people apologize in different languages is important in order to understand the intricacies of language. The aim of the present study is to examine the types of categories that Romanian speakers use to apologize in situations that require interaction among friends, as well as how these categories combine to form apology strategies. A survey containing ten situations taken from the TV show "Friends" that required an apology was administered to 158 English major students studying at a university in Romania. The data thus collected was analyzed both a quantitatively and qualitatively.; Some findings are consistent with the findings of previous studies on different languages, such as Akan, English, German, and Japanese, other aspects of apologizing in Romanian are different from some languages, such as German, Lombok, and New Zealand English. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
