Linguistics Journal Volume 2 Issue 1

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1ust Say ~Thank You: A Study of Compliment Responses
Hessa Al Falasi,
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Bio Data:
Hessa Ghanem Al Falasi is in her third year oI teaching. She is teaching Grade 6 and 7 in
Fujairah School Ior Basic Education, a government school in Fujairah. She is also
completing an MA in TESOL in the American University oI Sharjah. She is interested in
assessment and evaluation. Ms. Al Falasi is currently working on her thesis, which is a
textbook evaluation oI the new English national curriculum 'UAE English Skills.
Abstract
This study aims at Iinding out whether Arabic learners oI English (Emarati Females in
particular) produce target-like compliment responses in English and whether pragmatic
transIer can occur. Discourse completion tests (DCTs) and interviews were used to study
the strategies employed when responding to compliments by native speakers (NSs) and
Arabic non-native speakers (NNSs) oI English. Findings suggest that Arabic (L1)
expressions and strategies were sometimes transIerred to English (L2). This study also
indicates that Emarati Iemale learners oI English transIer some oI their L1 pragmatic
norms to L2 because they perceive these norms to be universal among languages rather
than being language speciIic. It also indicates that Arabic NNSs oI English have some
misconceptions about NSs that aIIect the way they respond to their compliments. Some
important cultural and pedagogical implications are discussed at the end oI the paper.
Key words: pragmatic transIer, compliment responses, raising cultural awareness in the
EFL/ESL classroom.
Introduction
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Communicating with speakers oI other languages is a complex behaviour that requires
both linguistic and pragmatic competence. Whether we speak in a Iirst or second
language, we are inIluenced by sociocultural norms and constraints that aIIect the way we
communicate. Rizk (2003) points out that what is considered appropriate in one language
might not be so in another. Praising a girl oI being Iat, Ior instance in a Western AIrican
community is considered a compliment; while in an American context it is perceived as
an insult.
Most oI the problems that EFL learners Iace in intercultural communication are mainly
pragmatic. Teachers oI EFL oIten choose not to stress pragmatic knowledge in their
classrooms, Iocusing instead on linguistic knowledge. Eslami-Rasekh (2004) warns that
this might result in pragmatic Iailure when EFL learners actually communicate with
native speakers (NSs), something that is attributed to some other cause, such as rudeness.
The only way to minimize pragmatic Iailure between NSs and NNSs is by acquiring
pragmatic competence, that is, 'the ability to use language eIIectively in order to
understand language in context (El Samaty 2005, p. 341). Emarati EFL students are not
exposed to the target community and culture and they Iind it extremely diIIicult to
produce or sometimes understand a speech act.
Compliment responses are one type oI speech acts that diIIers considerably Irom Arabic
to English. Native speakers oI English might consider the way Arabic speakers respond
to compliments oIIending or bizarre, because they understood only the words without the
cultural rules that govern them and vice versa. This study aims at Iinding out whether
Arabic learners oI English produce target-like compliment responses and whether
pragmatic transIer can occur. It examines how compliment responses are used in the
UAE culture and the diIIerences between them and the ones used in the American culture.
Despite the wealth oI empirical studies conducted about speech acts in general, Iew data-
based studies have ever Iocused on L1 transIer oI compliment responses. More research
is necessary in this area to better understand the relationship between L1 transIer and
compliment responses in L2 use. The present study contributes to the limited collection
oI research done on compliment responses in Arabic. This will be achieved by: (1)
reviewing studies on pragmatic transIer and compliment responses, (2) discussing the
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methodology and results oI the present study, and Iinally (3) suggesting some classroom
implications that could apply to EFL teaching in the UAE context.
Literature Review
Pragmatic Transfer
Intercultural miscommunication is oIten caused when learners Iall back on their L1
sociocultural norms in realizing speech acts in a target language. This is reIerred to as
pragmatic transIer. Rizk (2003) deIines pragmatic transIer as 'the inIluence oI learners`
pragmatic knowledge oI language and culture other than the target language on their
comprehension, production, and acquisition oI L2 pragmatic inIormation (p. 404).
Pragmatic transIer can be either positive, which is considered an evidence oI
sociocultural and pragmatic universality among languages, or negative, which indicates
inappropriate transIer oI L1 sociolinguistic norms into L2. This oIten results in pragmatic
Iailure, or being unable to understand the meaning oI an utterance in the target language.
(Liu, 1997). Negative pragmatic transIer, as Rizk (2003) explains, takes the Iorm oI
translating some 'Iormulaic expressions/ phrases Iunctioning to express diIIerent speech
acts in (L1) to express the equivalent speech act in L2. (p.405). El Samaty (2005)
mentions one Iactor that might inIluence pragmatic transIer and that is learners`
perception oI 'what constitutes a language speciIic or a universal issue (p.342). Learners
would not transIer an L1 pragmatic Ieature to L2 iI they know that it is language speciIic.
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Pragmatic studies dealing with diIIerent speech acts have been conducted since the early
1980s. These studies Iocused on L1 in most cases, but later, L2 and cross-cultural
variations have been introduced. The L2 pragmatic transIer studies have shown that
despite being linguistically competent in a second language, learners are likely to transIer
L1 pragmatic rules in their L2 production (El Samaty, 2005). Takahashi and Beebe (1987)
hypothesized that there is a positive correlation between L2 proIiciency and pragmatic
transIer. They argued that more proIicient learners tend to transIer L1 socio-cultural
norms more than less proIicient learners because they have enough control over L2 to
express L1 sentiments at the pragmatic level. Eslami-Rasekh (2004) supports this claim
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by stating that linguistically competent learners do not necessarily possess comparable
pragmatic competence. 'Even grammatically advanced learners may use language
inappropriately and show diIIerences Irom target-language pragmatic norms.
In 1986, Blum-kulka and Olshtain used discourse completion tests to analyze the
utterance length oI requesting strategies in Hebrew. They collected the data Irom non-
native speakers oI Hebrew at three proIiciency level, and they Iound out that high-
intermediate learners produced utterances longer than the utterances oI low-intermediate
and advanced learners, which was considered by the researchers as pragmatic Iailure
( Ghawi 1993, p.39).
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A compliment is one Iorm oI speech acts and it can be deIined as 'an utterance
containing a positive evaluation by the speaker to the addressee (Liu,1997). There is an
inIinite number oI words that could be chosen to compliment, but the set oI lexical items
and grammatical patterns we use in our daily interaction when complimenting and have
high Irequency in our daily discourse are very restricted. According to WolIson (1986),
two-thirds oI English compliments use the adjectives "nice, good, beautiIul, pretty, great",
and 90 make use oI just two verbs "like and love (p.116). The lack oI creativity in the
Iorm and content oI English compliments is related to their Iunction in discourse. Herbert
(1986) demonstrates that compliments are used to 'negotiate solidarity with the
addressee (p.76). Their aim is to make the addressee Ieel good and their Iormulaic
nature minimizes the chance that they will be misinterpreted by the addressee.
On the surIace level, there is not much diIIerence between Arabic and English cultures
in the use oI compliments. However, iI we look at compliment responses, diIIerences
arise. When communicating with native speakers oI English, Arabs may sometimes
sound bizarre or oIIending. This is duo to some diIIerences in the way the two cultures
use compliment responses. In the Arab society, it is a deeply-rooted religious belieI that
humility is a virtue. Even when accepting a compliment, Arabs tend to return the
compliment (which might sound insincere to NSs), or insist on oIIering the object oI the
compliment to the speaker (something that might be embarrassing to the NSs who did not
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expect this behavior). ThereIore, diIIerences may result in serious communicative
interIerence in cross Arabic and English culture communication.
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The Iirst researcher who discussed compliment responses Irom a pragmatic perspective
was Pomerantz in 1978. She claimed that Americans Iace two dilemmas when responding
to compliments: (A) they have to agree with the speaker, and (B) they have to avoid selI-
praise. Urano (1998), Iurther explains this dilemma by stating that when a recipient oI a
compliment responds by agreeing with the speaker (Condition A), it violates Condition B
as this response goes against the sociolinguistic expectations oI the speaker. On the other
hand, iI the speaker doesn`t accept the compliment to avoid selI-praise, the response will
be Iace-threatening since it violates Condition A. To mediate this conIlict, recipients oI
compliments resolve to a variety oI solutions: (1) Acceptance, (2) Rejection, and (3) SelI-
praise avoidance.
Herbert (1986) revised Pomerantz`s taxonomy by analyzing American English
speakers` compliment responses. He collected more than a thousand samples oI
compliment responses Irom American college students in a three-years period project.
Surprisingly, only 36.35 compliment responses were accounted Ior by acceptance.
Herbert ended up with a three-category, twelve-type taxonomy oI compliment responses.
(Table 1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Response Type Example
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Agreement
I. Acceptances
1. Appreciation Token Thanks; thank you; (smile)
2. Comment Acceptance Thanks; it`s my Iavourite too.
3. Praise Upgrade Really brings out the blue in my eyes, doesn`t it?
II. Comment History I bought it Ior the trip to Arizona.
III. TransIers
1. Reassignment My brother gave it to me.
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2. Return So`s yours.
B. Nonagreement
I. Scale Down It`s really quite old.
II. Question Do you really think so?
III. Nonacceptances
1. Disagreement I hate it.
2. QualiIication It`s alright, but Len`s is nicer.
IV. No Acknowledgment (silence)
C. Other Interpretations
I. Request You wanna borrow this one too?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 1. Herbert`s Taxonomy oI Compliment responses (Herbert 1986, p. 79)
Since then, a number oI contrastive studies have been conducted to compare
compliment responses in diIIerent languages and language varieties. Arabic and South
AIrican English speakers were Iound to preIer accepting compliments rather than reject
them. Speakers oI Asian languages, on the other hand, were likely to reject compliments
(Urano, 1998). In 1989, WolIson collected observational data on compliments Irom
authentic interaction between native and non-native speakers over a period oI two years.
She Iound out that L2 speakers did understand the Iunction oI compliments as 'a social
lubricant in the American culture. They had diIIiculty in responding appropriately to
compliments (Ghawi 1993, p.40). In another contrastive study oI compliment responses
between Chinese learners oI English and American NSs oI English, Chen (1993), Iound
out that the majority oI Chinese NNSs oI English rejected compliments, compared to the
American NSs who accepted and appreciated those compliments.
More recently, Cedar`s (2006) contrastive study oI compliment responses used by Thai
NNSs oI English and American NSs oI English revealed signiIicant diIIerences in
responses to English compliments between the two groups. While Americans tended to
accept compliments and elaborate positively in their responses, Thai NNSs oI English
reIrained Irom elaborating and used Iormulaic expressions in their responses. Cedar
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explained this by stating that 'the English conversational competence oI Thai subjects
was not developed enough to express their Ieelings oI positive elaboration (p.15).
Despite the above reviewed studies on compliments and compliment responses, the lack
oI studies on Arabic learners oI English in this area is obvious.
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As mentioned earlier, the purpose oI this study is to examine pragmatic transIer in
compliment responses by Arabic learners oI English. Three related research questions
emerged:
1. What are the similarities and diIIerences in compliment responses between Iemale
NSs and Emarati Iemale NNSs oI English?
2. When speaking in English, will Emarati Iemales` compliment responses be closer
to Arabic or English?
3. Does language proIiciency play a role in their use oI compliment responses?
In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to Iirst examine the patterns oI
compliment responses by Americans and Emarati Iemales in their L1, and second to
observe compliment responses by Emarati Iemales in their L2 (English).
Methodology
For validity and reliability, I used triangulation by not concentrating on just one source oI
inIormation. I approached the topic Irom diIIerent points oI view by combining
quantitative data Irom discourse completion tasks (DCTs) and qualitative data Irom
interviews. I also used theories and background knowledge Irom books and journals
articles that guided me to approach my topic in the right way.
Participants
The subjects oI the study were all Iemale participants divided into three main
groups:
Group1: American NSs oI English 10 ( HCT teaching staII)
Group2: Emarati NNs English majors 10. All oI them are English Teachers
at the Fujairah Elementary School Ior Girls.
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Group3: Emarati NNs non-English majors 6. 2 Housewives 4 Math teachers
at the Fujairah Elementary School Ior Girls.
The reason why Iemales were chosen Ior this study is because they tend to use
politeness strategies more than men do. According to Guodong & Jing (2005), many
research studies support this claim. They explain that studies on the relation oI gender
and language have Iound out that women are more sensitive than men to being polite.
Studies conducted by Liao & Breneham and Brown in1996 and 1998 also Iound that
women are more status sensitive than men. ThereIore, it is predictable that women will
use more politeness strategies than men do. What is also important to note, as Liu (1997)
explains, is that women are traditionally assumed in both cultures to be more concerned
than men with personal topics such as physical appearance, clothing, Iood and diet.
7RROV
1. Discourse Completion Test :
The Discourse Completion Test (DCT) consists oI six scenarios, in which participants are
expected to respond to compliments. These scenarios were designed to meet the purpose
oI this study and to elicit data on compliment responses Irom both NSs and NNSs oI
English. The Iinal version in English was translated by the researcher to Arabic. Groups 1
and 2 took the English version, and group 3 took the Arabic version.
2. Interviews :
This tool was used to account Ior the reasons oI the participants` responses and minimize
the researcher`s bias when interpreting the data.
Findings
The data collected Irom the three groups through the discourse completion test will be
presently analyzed Ior the six scenarios. The analysis will be based on Herbert`s
taxonomy oI compliment responses to examine the similarities and diIIerences between
native and non-native speakers oI English.
Scenario 1:
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You have just Iinished presenting your research paper. At the end oI the class (when you
were just leaving the classroom), one oI your classmates say: 'You did an excellent job! I
really enjoyed your presentation. You answer:
Almost all oI the NSs responses to this scenario were agreement. Their responses varied
between appreciation token 'oh, thank you!, to comment acceptance 'thanks! I`m glad
you enjoyed it, and praise upgrade 'you have no idea how hard I worked Ior that!. Only
one NS responded by disagreeing and questioning 'Really? I thought it was just ok. On
the other hand, almost all oI the native speakers oI Arabic (NSAs), have responded by
either transIer (returning the compliment) 'oh, your presentation was much better, or
interpreting it as a request 'do you want me to help you with your presentation? Only
one oI the NSAs responded with a simple 'thank you. The responses oI NNSs who took
the English version oI the DCT showed more use oI the agreement responses like
'thanks! and 'It`s nice oI you to say so. However, they also showed literal translation
oI Arabic Iormulaic expressions used as compliment responses. These translations
included 'I`m your pupil, which is a scale down expression that means the speaker is
much better than the addressee, and 'I`m ashamed which might strike a NS as extremely
out oI place, but is literally translated Irom the widely used Arabic Iormulaic expression
( ) akhfaltom tawaaaona.
Scenario 2:
You have some Iriends and relatives over Ior coIIee and cake that you baked. Someone
says: 'Tastes Yummy!. You answer:
Eight oI the ten NSs responded with 'thanks and then oIIering to give the speaker the
recipe 'would you like the recipe?. The other two responded by giving inIormation or
history, 'it`s a Iamily recipe. NNSs who answered in Arabic used questions 'really? Did
you really like it?, disagreement 'no it`s not, you`re just complimenting me!, and
reassignment 'my mom gave me the recipe. NSAs who answered in English did not use
those two strategies in their responses. Instead, they resolved again to literally translating
Arabic Iormulaic expressions like 'Your taste is yummy, and 'I added my magic to it /
that`s because I dipped my sweet Iinger in it. Only one person responded with 'thank
you.
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Scenario 3:
You were shopping Ior a skirt and a stranger (male) approaches you and says: 'This
would look amazing on you! You answer:
NSs all responded with either no acknowledgment, or by not accepting the compliment
'what`s it got to do with you?. NNSs who answered in Arabic and English also
responded with no acknowledgment, or by oIIending the man.
Scenario 4:
You were shopping Ior a skirt and a stranger (Iemale) approaches you and says: 'This
would look amazing on you! You answer:
NSs responded with either a question 'really?/ oh, so do you think I should buy it? or an
appreciation token 'thanks / thank you. NNSs who responded in Arabic used Iormulaic
expressions like 'May Allah bliss you fa:aaki allah khair, 'May Allah make all your
days beautiIul Allah yhalli ayyamek. NNSs who answered in English used tokens oI
appreciation 'thanks/ how sweet oI you to say so, or returned the compliment by
translating Arabic Iormulaic expressions 'Your eyes are beautiIul oyoonech el helwa.
Scenario 5:
Some Iriends are over at your house. One oI them looks at a clock hanging on the wall
and says: 'I love your clock. It looks great in your living room!. You answer:
NSs responded with comment history 'It was a present Irom my daughter/ I bought it in
Harrods, or acceptance 'yes, I loved it when I bought it. NNSs who answered in Arabic
interpreted this compliment as a request and responded with oIIering the clock to the
speaker and insisting that they take it. NNSs answering in English also insisted that the
speaker take the watch 'you must take it! I swear, you must!. Only one NNS answered
with an appreciation token 'you like it! Thank you!.
Scenario 6:
You`re wearing a new shirt and a colleague looks at you and says: 'This shirt looks great
on you! Blue is a great color Ior you. You answer:
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NSs responded with appreciation tokens 'thanks/ you made my day!, questions 'is it
really?/ do you think so?, disagreement 'I dunno, I preIer pink, and comment
acceptance 'oh, it`s my Iavorite color. Thanks. NNSs who answered in Arabic
responded with returning the compliment 'you`re more beautiIul/ this is because you
have a good taste, disagreement 'thanks, but I know this is only a compliment, and
questions 'really? Swear!!. NNSs who answered in English returned the compliment by
translating Arabic Iormulaic expressions 'your eyes are beautiIul and they see everything
beautiIul, disagreement 'please don`t say that, you`re embarrassing me!, scale down
'oh, it`s so cheap! I bought it in the sales, and comment acceptance 'thanks, I like it
too.
Discussion
It was clear Irom the above analysis that in most cases, Iemale Emarati learners oI
English did not produce target-like compliment responses. They unconsciously brought
about some L1 expressions and strategies which might result in communicative
breakdown. For instance, they literally translated Arabic Iormulaic expressions used in
compliment responses and these expressions were not always suitable Ior the compliment
given in English. They intended their responses to be polite but they were not appropriate.
For example, the expression 'I`m ashamed would be more appropriate when an oIIence
is committed, rather than to show gratitude and appreciation. These strategies were used
both by English and non-English majors, which means that communicating with NSs
might slightly aIIect their use oI compliment responses, but does not have changed it
completely to a target-like response.
Another important issue that rises Irom the Iindings is that NNSs had some
misconceptions about the way NSs responded to compliments. These misconceptions
have aIIected the way NNSs would deal with NSs considering compliment responses.
This was illustrated through scenario 3 (see above). In the UAE culture, compliments
Irom men are generally not accepted unless the man is a member oI the Iamily. However,
iI they happen, the appropriate response Irom the Iemale would be to simply ignore the
man. Responses to other compliments are normally answered based on the real
circumstance or position the addressee is in at the moment he/she is greeted.
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Scenario 3 illustrates a situation that many Iemales in the UAE are likely to Iind
themselves in while shopping. The responses oI the NNSs were analysed above and they
ranged Irom no acknowledgement, to oIIending the male. AIter groups 2, and 3 Iinished
their DCTs, I asked them the Iollowing question 'how do you think a Iemale NS would
respond in this situation? All oI the NNSs answered that a NS would be happy to get this
compliment, would highly appreciate it, and would thank the man. While, as obvious
Irom the data analysis above, all but one NS answered that they would either ignore the
man or tell him to mind his own business. When I asked the NNSs how this idea they
have oI NSs aIIected them, halI oI them stated that it does not aIIect them in any way; the
other halI, however, explained that an American male would expect the Iemale to be
happy when complimented while a local male would know that this Iemale would be
insulted. 'II the man who complimented me was a Ioreigner, I would accept the
compliment and thank him, iI it was a local guy, said one oI the interviewee, 'I would
certainly ignore him.
Another issue is the way NSs and NNSs view compliments. Compliments in the UAE
had turned into a routine and they are perceived to be insincere most oI the time. There
are several Iactors that aIIect the use oI compliments in the UAE, like social distance, age,
gender, and social status. Some oI the reasons why people in the UAE use compliments
are, as Boyle (2005) explained, '1) to avoid hurting other people`s Ieelings; 2) to give
people some hope and encouragement; 3) to protect one selI Irom more powerIul people;
4) because they want other people to compliment them too; 5) it`s encouraging (p.356).
For these reasons, many people use compliments even iI they were insincere, as a means
oI making people Ieel good. That`s why it was Iound in NNSs responses expressions like
'oh, this is not true, you`re only complimenting me! and 'Really? Or is it just a
compliment?
It was obvious also that language proIiciency did not play a role in producing target-
like compliment responses. Both English majors and non majors produced the same
compliment responses. The only diIIerence is that group 2 translated those responses
literally to English.
Other deviations Irom the native norms are the Iollowing: (1) NNSs used longer
compliment responses because there is a general understanding that the longer the
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40
response to compliments, the more sincere it is, (2) NNSs, sometimes, responded to
compliments with a joke that might be misunderstood by speakers oI other languages, (3)
because oI their strong ties with their religion, Emarati NNSs have their Iaith in (Allah)
God deeply embedded within their speech acts. That`s why most oI the compliment
responses are in the Iorm oI a small prayer that the speaker be blessed Irom Allah, and
he/she gets whatever they want with the help oI Allah allah eykhaleech, allah ysallemch.
Conclusion
The present study explored pragmatic transIer oI compliment responses in Arabic
learners oI English in comparison with the data Irom native speakers oI American
English. The Iindings oI the study show that Arabic learners did not produce target-like
responses to compliments. This suggests that it`s not enough to build learners` linguistic
competence and that it might be necessary to also develop their sociocultural, which will
in turn develop their understanding oI the Irames oI interaction and rules oI politeness
within the target culture. It is also important to provide learners with knowledge oI the
linguistic Iorms or stylistic strategies appropriate to convey the intended meaning in
diIIerent contexts or situations.
The study oIIers two pedagogical implications, one Ior syllabus designers and the other
Ior instruction. First, when designing textbooks, syllabus designers should examine
learners` needs considering the understanding and production oI speech acts in the target
language and which oI these speech acts they are likely to come across. Learners should
be made aware oI NSs usage oI the variety oI expressions to realize a certain Iunction,
depending on the situation where they are used. This could be accomplished by eliciting
compliment responses Irom their own culture, and presenting the target culture`s way oI
responding to compliments to raise their awareness.
Second, Emarati EFL learners have no contact with NSs oI English, and that calls Ior
more communication in the classroom, as it contributes to interlanguage development.
This could be achieved through: (a) using authentic materials Irom the target language
that will help learners understand as many native and non-native varieties and
communicative styles as they can be expected to come across, (b) Iocusing on learner-
centred activities like role plays and real discussions to develop eIIicient strategies oI the
Linguistics Journal Volume 2 Issue 1
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target language, (c) team-teaching with NSs to give the students a chance to interact and
learn English under the supervision oI a NS.
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