A Study of Gender Differences in Compliments and Responses

[Pages:98]A STUDY OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COMPLIMENTS AND RESPONSES OF CHINESE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

ZHAO JIAN XIANG

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR 2013

A STUDY OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COMPLIMENTS AND RESPONSES OF CHINESE

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

ZHAO JIAN XIANG

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA, IN PARTIAL

FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE 2013

UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA

ORIGINAL LITERARY WORK DECLARATION

Name of Candidate: Zhao Jianxiang

(I.C/Passport No: G30851993)

Registration/Matric No: TGB100026

Name of Degree: Master of English as a Second Language

Title of Project Paper/ Research Report/ Dissertation/ Thesis ("this work"):

A Study of Gender Differences in Compliments and Responses of Chinese International Students

Field of Study: Sociolinguistics

I do solemnly and sincerely declare that:

(1) I am the sole author/writer of this Work;

(2) This Work is original;

(3) Any use of any work in which copyright exists was done by way of fair dealing and for permitted purposes and any excerpt or extract from, or reference to or reproduction of any copyright work has been disclosed expressly and sufficiently and the title of the Work and its authorship have been acknowledged in this Work;

(4) I do not have any actual knowledge nor do I ought reasonably to know that the making of this work constitutes an infringement of any copyright work;

(5) I hereby assign all and every rights in the copyright to this Work to the University of Malaya ("UM"), who henceforth shall be owner of the copyright in this Work and that any reproduction or use in any form or by any means whatsoever is prohibited without the written consent of UM having been first had and obtained;

(6) I am fully aware that if in the course of making this Work I have infringed any copyright whether intentionally or otherwise, I may be subject to legal action or any other action as may be determined by UM.

Candidate's Signature Subscribed and solemnly declared before,

Date:

Witness's Signature Name: Dr. Wang Xiaomei Designation: Supervisor

Date: ii

ABSTRACT

As a positive speech act, compliments and compliment responses play an important role as a polite speech act in activities of daily verbal communication. Incorporating the questionnaires survey and theories in pragmatics and sociolinguistic views of gender differences in language, this study investigated the gender differences in compliments and compliment responses. Twelve situations were set in the questionnaire to investigate the gender differences in compliments and compliment responses used by Chinese international male and female students in University of Malaya (UM). Among them, six situations are about compliments, and six situations are about compliment responses.

The study was carried out through the use of questionnaire which was adapted from Lorenzo-Dus' (2001). This study obtained 269 compliments and 360 compliment responses which were given by 60 Chinese international students (30 males and 30 females) who were selected from different faculties in University of Malaya (UM). The findings are as follows: (1) In terms of making compliments, Chinese international students tend to give compliment to others and females use more explicit compliments than males, while males use more implicit, non-compliment and no response strategy. (2) In terms of responding compliments from the others, Chinese international students prefer acceptance strategy to rejection strategy. Females use acceptance and combination strategy more than males, while males use more non-acceptance, acceptance with amendment, and no response strategy than females. Under the guidance of pragmatics and sociolinguistics, compliment and compliment response strategies are discussed in terms of Politeness Principle, Face

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Theory, and Sociolinguistic views of gender differences in language. It is concluded that the western culture influences Chinese international students' employment of pragmatic strategies, which are mostly a compromise under the guidance by Universal Politeness Theories and Chinese socio-cultural context. The gender differences in compliments and compliment responses among Chinese international students not only reflect Chinese traditional culture and different roles males and females play in the societies, but also show the different viewpoints about the function of compliment behavior.

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ABSTRAK

Sebagai lakuan bahasa yang positif, pujian dan tindak balas pujian memainkan peranan yang penting sebagai lakuan bahasa yang sopan dalam aktiviti komunikasi verbal seharian. Dengan menggunakan tinjauan soal selidik, teori pragmatik dan pandangan sosiolinguistik tentang perbezaan gender dalam penggunaan bahasa, kajian ini meninjau perbezaan gender dalam penggunaan pujian dan tindak balas pujian. Sebanyak 12 situasi telah ditetapkan dalam borang soal selidik untuk meninjau perbezaan gender dalam penggunaan pujian dan tindak balas pujian dalam kalangan pelajar antarabangsa lelaki dan perempuan dari China di Universiti Malaya(UM). Di antara institusi tasebut, ennam institusi adalah berhaitan dengan pujian, dan enam institusi berkaitan dengan tindakbalas pujian.

Kajian ini telah dijalankan dengan menggunakan borang soal selidik yang diadaptasikan daripada Lorenzo-Dus'(2001). Kajian ini telah mengumpulkan 269 pujian dan 360 tindak balas pujian daripada 60 orang pelajar antarabangsa dari China (30 lelaki dan 30 perempuan) yang dipilih daripada fakulti yang berbeza di Universiti Malaya(UM). Dapatan kajian adalah seperti berikut: (1) Daripada segi memberi pujian, pelajar antarabangsa dari China berkecenderungan memberi pujian kepada orang lain; pelajar perempuan menggunakan lebih banyak pujian eksplisit berbanding pelajar lelaki sementara pelajar lelaki menggunakan lebih banyak strategi implisit, strategi bukan pujian dan strategi tiada tindak balas. (2) Daripada segi tindak balas kepada pujian, pelajar antarabangsa dari China lebih suka strategi penerimaan berbanding strategi penolakan. Pelajar perempuan menggunakan lebih banyak strategi penerimaan dan strategi kombinasi berbanding pelajar

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lelaki sementara pelajar lelaki menggunakan lebih banyak strategi bukan penerimaan, strategi penerimaan dengan pembetulan, dan strategi tiada tindak balas berbanding pelajar perempuan. Berpandukan bidang pragmatik dan sosiolinguistik, strategi pujian dan strategi tindak balas pujian dibincangkan daripada segi Prinsip Kesopanan, Teori Muka, dan pandangan sosiolinguistik tentang perbezaan gender dalam penggunaan bahasa. Dapat disimpulkan bahawa budaya barat telah mempengaruhi penggunaan strategi pragmatik dalam kalangan pelajar antarabangsa dari China, ia merupakan satu kompromi berpandukan teori-teori kesopanan universal dan konteks sosiobudaya orang Cina.

Perbezaan gender dalam penggunaan pujian dan tindak balas pujian dalam kalangan pelajar antarabangsa dari China bukan saja menggambarkan budaya tradisional orang Cina dan perbezaan peranan yang dimainkan orang lelaki dan perempuan dalam masyarakat, ia juga menunjukkan perbezaan pandangan tentang fungsi penggunaan pujian.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to my respectable supervisor Dr. Wang Xiaomei, for her judicious guidance, insightful suggestions, kind patience and unfailing encouragement. During the process of writing this paper, it is she who provided me immeasurable help on all the matters, such as modifying my research report carefully, spending time discussing paper issues together, lending me useful references, etc. Her comments, as always, have been invaluable, and any remaining errors and shortcomings are entirely mine.

Secondly, I am sincerely grateful to my beloved family members for their consistent encouragement and various support during my postgraduate phase in University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia. Studying abroad for two years would attribute to their trust and open mind, which is also a paramount and unforgettable experience in my whole life.

Thirdly, I appreciate those Chinese internatioal students participating in the study and help me to collecte data.

Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all my best friends and classmates for their selfless help and lasting support.They are Den Yun, Li Yongqing and Ng Peifang.

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