Department of English Studies

Major: Linguistics

Research Project Module

Request Strategies in American English and Tamazight Language

Cross-cultural Comparison

A term paper submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the

requirement for the degree of License in English

Prepared by : HOSAYN Ibrahim Supervised by :Dr.Mohamed Hammani

Academic year

2022 /2023
Cadi Ayyad University Academic year: 2022/2023

Faculty of Letters and Human sciences Date: ………………

English Department

English Studies Filiere

Marrakech

Semester 6 Term paper Module

Marking Sheet

Student’s Name Hosayn Ibrahim

Registration Number 2006148

Read and approved by

Supervisor Dr. Mohamed Hammani

Second Reader …………………………………………………………………

Writing paper Evaluation Student’s Presentation Evaluation

Supervisor ……………/10 Supervisor…………./05 Second reader………../05

Final Mark HH20gh ………………../20

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2
DECLARATION

I declare that I am fully aware that plagiarism is not only morally wrong but is
legally penalized. Therefore, I declare that this research paper titled: Request Strategies
in American English and Tamazight language is the product of my own work, that it has
not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university, and
that all the sources I have used and quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by
means of complete references.

Signed: Hosayn Ibrahim

Date: 2023

3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my research supervisor, Dr.

Hammani Mohamed, for his valuable advice, constant encouragement, helpful

comments, and suggestions. His confidence in me motivated me to do my best.

I would like to thank all the professors of the English department of Cadi Ayyad
University and all the participants who helped collect the data for this study. Lastly, I
want to give a special thanks to my family, especially my parents, for their unwavering
love and support. Without them, none of this would have been possible.

4
 DEDICATION

To my beloved ones; Mohmmad Hosayn and Fatima benkhouya

Thank you for instilling in me a love of learning and for always pushing me to be my best. Your sacrifices and

dedication to my education have been a constant source of inspiration, and I am forever grateful for everything you

have done for me

To my distinguished supervisor, Dr. Hammani Mohamed, for His invaluable guidance, support and mentorship, his

knowledge, experience and encouragement have been instrumental in inspiring and motivating me through this

research journey

To all my teachers from primary school to university, who have nurtured and shaped my curiosity to learn. Their

patience and perseverance have laid the foundation that has made this work possible

To my friends and colleagues, for their help, critique and cheerleading. They have been my pillars of support

through all the ups and downs of this endeavor.

5
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................................... 4

DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

Introduction: ........................................................................................................................................................ 8

Statement of the problem :................................................................................................................................... 8

Research Rationale: ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Research questions: ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Research objectives: ............................................................................................................................................ 9

Research Hypotheses: ........................................................................................................................................ 10

PART I: REVIEW OF LITERTAURE ................................................................................................................. 11

1. Introduction: ................................................................................................................................................. 11

2. Speech act theory: ........................................................................................................................................ 11

3. Definition of request: ................................................................................................................................... 12

4. Request strategies:........................................................................................................................................ 12

a. Direct Request Strategies: ........................................................................................................................ 13

b. Conventionally indirect request strategies: .............................................................................................. 13

c. Non-conventionally indirect request strategies: ....................................................................................... 14

5. Previous studies on request strategies: ..................................................................................................... 15

PART II: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................ 17

6
 1. Research Design: ...................................................................................................................................... 17

2. Research Instrument ................................................................................................................................. 17

3. Research Participants : ............................................................................................................................. 18

4. Data Presentation ..................................................................................................................................... 18

5. Finding and discussions: .............................................................................................................................. 22

6. Conclusion: .............................................................................................................................................. 23

7. References: ................................................................................................................................................... 24

8. The appendix:............................................................................................................................................... 26

a. Samples of responses by American English native speakers in the DCT Questionnaire ........................ 26

b. Samples of responses by MTNS in the DCT Questionnaire: .................................................................... 27

7
 Introduction:

Language is a mean of communication that permits human beings to convey their thoughts and feelings to each

other including requests which are part of illocutionary acts whereby the addressee demand the hearer to perform

something for the first one's benefit . Because language is significant elements of culture, the way people employ and

interpret requests to others is also culture based. This study aims to give insight on request strategies in American

English native and Tamazight language based on data from both languages speakers.

Statement of the problem:

Tamazight is the langue spoken north Africa, especially Morocco , Algeria ,Tunisia and lybia .English on the other

hand is the international language has its varieties that varies from one era to another . Request as defined as asking

someone to provide something. For example " Iṛbbi hat illa ɣuri yan usqsi is zdarɣ at init" ( excuse me i have a

question may i ask it? ). Various cultures have different ways of making, interpreting, and responding to request. There

are many studies that tackled request strategies in English ,however there is not much research in request strategies in

Tamazight , as well as there are few cross-cultural comparisons between the two language in requests strategies .

8
 Research Rationale:

The study of request strategies in Tamazight language and American English will help us to understand how

people from different cultures interpret requests differently, as well as it will help us find out the factors that influence

those differences., Moreover the lack of investigation on such topic and the suggestion of the professor made me tackle

this topic .

Research questions:

This study seeks to answer the following three questions:

 How do request strategies in American English and Tamazight language differ in terms of

politeness and directness?

 What cultural factors influence the use of request strategies in American English and Tamazight

language?

 Are there any similarities or differences in the types of request strategies used in American English

and Tamazight language across different social contexts?

 How do native speakers of American English and Tamazight language perceive and respond to

requests made using different request strategies?

Research objectives:

This research seeks for three main objectives .Firstly, To investigate how speakers of American English and

Tamazight language interpret and respond to requests made in the other language. Secondly, To compare the use of

request strategies in American English and Tamazight language, and identify any similarities or differences in their

use. Thirdly, to examine the cultural factors that influence request strategies in American English and Tamazight

language. Finally, this research seeks to identify and describe the different types of request strategies used in American

English and Tamazight language.

9
 Research Hypotheses:

These are three hypotheses that emanate from the research questions. First and foremost, there are differences in

the types of request strategies and request directness in American English and Tamazight language. Moreover, the

native speakers of both languages interpret and respond to request differently .second, Tamazight language employ

more direct strategies whilst American English employ more indirect strategies .Third, the social distance , social

power , and the degree of imposition has influence on request directness in both languages .

10
 PART I: REVIEW OF LITERTAURE

1. Introduction:

This section is devoted to explaining the concept of speech act theory, specifically the definition of request

and its various strategies. It will also aim to shed light on previous studies on requests to understand how people from

different cultures employ and interpret requests in different contexts using different languages.

2. Speech act theory:

Speech act theory is an important aspect of pragmatics because it provides a framework for understanding

how speakers use language to perform actions beyond the literal meaning of words. According to its pioneers Austin

and Searle (1969), language is beyond conveying information; it also serves to perform actions, which means that

when we talk, we often do something else such as requesting, apologizing, or complaining. Austin (1976) divided

speech acts into three categories: illocutionary acts, which are the actual utterance and its meaning; illocutionary acts,

which are the speaker’s intention; and perlocutionary acts, which are the effect the locution has on the listener. For

example, “Can I have your notebook?" The illocutionary act is a request, though the illocutionary act is asking whether

the speaker can have the hearer's notebook. The perlocutionary act is the effect that the request has on the addressee to

comply with the speaker’s intentions and wishes or not.

Searle (1976) divided illocutionary acts into their purposes’. There are five groups of illocutionary acts:

Representatives, Directives, commissives, Expressives, and Declarations. Representatives are speech acts that convey

the speaker's beliefs about the world, such as stating a fact or making a hypothesis. The second category, Directives,

are speech acts that express the speaker's desire for the hearer to perform a future action, such as making a request or

giving an order. The third category, Commissives, are speech acts that express the speaker's intention to do something

11
in the future, such as making a promise or a vow. Finally, Declarations are speech acts that change the reality of a

situation simply by being uttered, such as declaring someone married or pronouncing someone guilty.

3. Definition of request:

The act of requesting, according to Searle, is part of the illocutionary act that belongs to directives. It is an

attempt by the speaker to get the hearer to do something, which means that requests are acts carried out by the speaker

to get the hearer to take some future action that benefits the speaker. Requests can be modest when the requester

invites the hearer to do something, yet they may be rude when insisting and forcing someone to do something (Searle,

1979:13). There are three linguistic realizations of request in the English language: imperative, interrogative, and

declarative. Therefore, when we attend to request information or services, we should know how to make it with less

face-threatening language as well as pick out the appropriate lexical and grammatical sources that suit the specific

context. Thus, to avoid the hearer’s negative face when receiving a request by restricting them and their freedom,

requests should be formulated Socio-pragmatically and culturally. To accomplish that, we take into account these three

significant variables:

Social power: the difference between requester and addressee.

Social distance: distance between the interlocutors (requester and the hearer)

Degree of embarrassment: is the utterance’s degree of imposition,( Hammani, 2019).

4. Request strategies:

Request strategies refer to the different approaches that individuals use to ask someone to do something for

them and they vary in terms of directness and politeness. According to Brown and Levinson (1987), requests can be

classified into various types based on the level of directness and politeness. The two authors point out that positive

politeness strategies are used to show closeness and solidarity with the listener, while negative politeness strategies aim

to minimize imposition on the listener's freedom of action. According to Blum-Kulka and Olshatain (1984), there are

12
three main levels of request strategies: the most direct or explicit level, the conventionally indirect level, and the non-

conventionally indirect level. These three levels are divided by the scholars into nine strategies, which are: Mood

Derivable, Performatives, Hedged Performatives, Obligation Statements, Suggestory Formulate, Query Preparatory,

Strong Hints, and Mild Hints.

a. Direct Request Strategies:

This category is characterized by a clear and explicit expression of the request and consists of five

request strategies. First, Mood Derivable or imperative, in this type, the Illocutionary force of a request

is determined by the grammatical mode of the verb of the utterance. For example, “Leave me alone” or

“Clean up the mess” (imperative mode indicating a request). Second, Explicit Performative, which is

an utterance whose Illocutionary force is explicitly named by a performative verb. For instance, “I am

asking you not to park your car here." Third, in Hedged Performative, the force of the utterance in this

type is modified and softened in some way by using modal verbs (would, could). For example, “I

would like you to give your lecture a week earlier.” Fourth, Obligatory Statement, in this strategy, the

utterance states an obligation on the hearer to carry out the act of request. For instance, “Madam, you’ll

have to move that car.” Finally, Want Statement, in this strategy, the speaker conveys his wishes and

desires using verbs such as “would like” and “I want,” which the hearer may perform

b. Conventionally indirect request strategies:

Conventionally indirect request strategies involve the use of conventional linguistic expressions in

making requests, often through expressions like “would” and “could.” In other words, conventionally

indirect requests are usually couched in terms of a question or a statement of possibility, and they often

rely on the use of hedges, such as “would you mind,” “could you possibly,” "it would be great if," and

so on. The success of a conventionally indirect request depends on the speaker's ability to use the

appropriate formulaic language, intonation, and body language that is considered polite and respectful

in a particular culture or speech community (Kulka, 1987, p. 166-167). Thus, according to Kulka

13
 (1987), conventionally indirect strategies can vary across cultures and languages . There are two types

of conventionally indirect request strategies. Primarily, Suggestory Formulate, in this type, the request

is formulated as a question or an offer. The speaker suggests an action that fulfills the needs, for the

hearer to perform. For example, instead of saying, “Can you give me your notebook?” the requester

may say, “It would be helpful if you gave me your notebook." Secondly, Question Preparatory is also a

subcategory of conventionally indirect requests. The request in this subcategory is formulated as a

question. The requester asks the requestee questions that imply the need or desire for a particular

course of action. In other words, the utterance contains a “reference to the preparatory conditions such

as ability, willingness, and the possibility of the act being performed, which are conventionalized in

any specific language” (Kulka, 1987, p. 166-167).

c. Non-conventionally indirect request strategies:

At this level of request, the listener needs to rely on contextual clues and shared knowledge to interpret the

speaker's intention because requests are made in the form of hints. There are two types of hints. Firstly, mild hints in

which the utterance consists of a partial reference to the elements needed for the implementation of the act (directly

pragmatically implying the act) (Blum-Kulka et al., 1989). Secondly, strong hints are characterized by their direction

and ambiguity in implying a request. They make the requester's intention quiet and place a strong obligation on the

requestee to interpret the request. For example, “the kitchen floor isn’t going to mop itself, it’s cold in here”. In

addition to strong hints, Kulka stated another type of hints which are mild hints. The requests of this type are more

directive and phrased suggestively. According to Kulka (1989), mild hints have no reference that makes them sound

like a request; however, the hearer interprets them through the context as requests. For example, "it’s getting cold in

here” is an example of a mild hint request.

All in all, people use direct request strategies to communicate clearly and efficiently, conventionally indirect

request strategies to demonstrate respect, while non-conventionally indirect request strategies are used for the hearer’s

face-saving. (Hammani. 2019).

14
 5. Previous studies on request strategies:

There are numerous researchers that have tackled request strategies as one of the foundations of speech acts to

provide insight into differences and similarities among various languages and cultures in making requests.

Bartali,V. (2022) conducted a study on request realization strategies in Italian and the influence of socio

pragmatic factors on strategy choice. The author used an open-ended role-play consisting of different types of requests,

and the data was analyzed through Blum-Kulka & Ulshtain's scheme. The findings of this study illustrate that Italian

speakers are influenced by the social distance that changes the choice of request perspective. Thus, Italians tend to use

the hearer's orientation, which demonstrates the verb conjugation in Head acts because this perspective permits them to

obtain a relational work with the addressee.

Tawalbeh, A., & Al-Oqaily, E. (2012) made a cross-cultural comparison between Saudi Arabic and American

English requests in the level of indirectness and politeness. The study consists of 30 Saudi and American

undergraduate students who were given a DCT (discourse completion test) that consists of twelve written context

situations. The results show that conventionally indirect strategies are used by American students. On the other hand,

Saudi students varied their requests according to social power and distance. Moreover, the findings revealed that there

are cross-cultural differences between the two groups at the level of directness. American students use direct request

strategies when addressing the condition that the request is weighty. However, directness is preferred by Saudi

students, especially in intimate situations, where directness is interpreted as an expression of affiliation, closeness, and

group connectedness, rather than impoliteness.

AlMujaibel, Y. B., & Gomaa, Y. A. (2019) conducted a cross-cultural study in request strategies of British

English and Kuwaiti Arabic. The two researchers collected data from five hundred participants, two hundred and fifty

British English native speakers, and the other two hundred and fifty Kuwaiti Arabic native speakers. The data were

analyzed using DCT and semi-structured interviews, and the results revealed that the two groups are similar in using

conventionally indirect requests in the form preparatory in most situations. It also revealed that socio-pragmatic factors

such as social power influenced the two groups, so they overuse requests through conversations, and both participants

tend to use direct request strategies when interacting with a high social status speaker.

Alfghe, A., & Mohammadzadeh, B. (2021) conducted a study in the realization of speech

15
 act of request, suggest, and apology among Libyan EFL learners . The study involved 37 Arab and Amazigh

undergraduate students, to test their pragmatic competency in making such strategies. Two instruments are utilized in

this study which are rating scale and DCT, both involved situations in which the participants asked to respond to or

make each strategy. The findings revealed the various similarities between Libyan Arab and Amazigh in making

request, suggest, and apology. Both groups are more competent in functioning than structuring such speech act

strategies.

Amraoui , k, (2012) investigated a study in the use of politeness strategies request by Chaoui Berber ( a

variety of Tamazight language ) . The study involved two groups of participants both are Chaoui speakers as well as it

the study contained two instruments to collect data. The first groups were seven requests situation to respond. The

second group were given were given a recorded commercial situations to figure the structure used in making requests.

The findings showed that Chaoui people tend to use different strategies in different contexts. Furthermore, gender

plays significant role in making, requests differs between female to male and female to female.

16
 PART II: METHODOLOGY

1. Research Design:
There two main research designs used by most of researchers, qualitative and quantitative. The first

one is concerned with analyzing the Non-numerical data and the second one is totally the opposite.

This study requires a qualitative design because it’s the most used in Socio-pragmatic discipline to

understand how people from different cultures employ language in various context using different languages.

2. Research Instrument

The data of this research was gathered through a questionnaire using discourse

completion test (DCT) which was developed by Blum-kulka for the first time to study speech

act realization between two languages comparatively (Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper. 1989).

The DCT consist of ten situations in which participants required to answer in form of request

as well as they were provided a scale from 1till 5 to chose provide the degree of imposition

they made while making the request and they also required to tell who has the degree of

imposition they (requestee )or the hearer while making a request . The scenarios were well

formed in two versions English and Tamazight language in order to suit the target categories.

17
 3. Research Participants :

The participants of this study are two groups American English native speaker and Tamazight

language native speakers. The first group contains male and female Moroccan Tamazight native

speaker from different cities and regions. The total is 26 the majority are students from different

universities in Morocco. The second ones are few American English native speakers from different

social different ages and social classes. Both groups were given the questionnaire online in their

mother tongue to make this study more credible.

4. Data Presentation

 Figure 1: Distribution of who have the social power between the requester and thehearer

in Tamazight language and American English

Situations Requester Hearer Equal

S1 56.7% 40 % 4%

S2 53.3% 46,7% 0%

S3 36.7% 63.3% 0%

S4 33.3 66.7 0%

S5 40% 60% 0%

S6 63,3% 33,3% 3.4

S7 63.3 36.7% 0%

S8 73% 23,3% 0%

S9 46,7% 50% 4%

S10 40% 60% 0%

18
 Figure1 indicates the percentage of social power between the requestee and the hearer in both

American English and Tamazight language .It also illustrate that the percentage differs from

situation to another due to the circumstances whereby the request is made.

 Figure2: Distribution of degree of imposition made by American English native speakers and
Tamazight language native speakers.

Situation 1 2 3 4 5
S1 8(26.7%) 8(26,7) 4(10%) 6(23%) 4(13.3)
S2 8(26.7) 10(33.3%) 6(20%) 4(13.3,%)
S3 10(33.3%) 5(16.7%) 5(16.7%) 4(10%) 6(26.3%)
S4 11(36.7%) 7(23.3) 6(20%) 6(20%)
S5 10(33.3%) 6(20%) 5(16.7%) 5(16.7%) 4(13.3%)
S6 7(23.3) 8(26.7%) 7(23.3%) 7(23.3%) ,2(6.7)%
S7 7(23.3%) 7(23.3%) 8(26.7%) 6(20%) 2(6.7%)
S8 9(30%) 7(23.3%) 9(30%) 5(16.7%) 0%
S9 8(26.7%) 6(20%) 10(33.3%) 6(20%) 0%
S10 11(36.7%) 5(16.7) 6(20%) 4(13.3) 4(13.3)
The figure 2 represents the degree of imposition that Tamazight native

speakers and American English native speakers made while making requests; and it

seems that degree of imposition as the case with social power differs from one

situation to another situation.

19
  FIGURE 3 : Distribution Of Request Strategies Types In Across Tamazight Language And
American English

NON-CONVENTIONALLY INDIRECT REQUEST

STRATEGIES 4,64%

CONVENTIONALLY INDIECT REQUEST STRATEGIES 61,11%

50,76%

DIRECT REQUEST STRATEGIES 38,89%

44,60%

0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00%

AMERICAN ENGLISH TAMAZIGHT LANGUAGE

The figure above illustrates that Tamazight language have employed more direct request strategies 44,60%)

,while American English speakers have employed less direct request strategies (38,89%) . On the other hand, American

English speakers have utilized use more conventionally direct request strategies (61,11%) whereas Tamazight speakers

used less (50,76%). Moreover, the graph shows that Tamazight native speakers utilized few hints (4,64%) while

American English speakers did not use any hints while answering the questionnaire.

 FIGURE 4: Distribution of direct request strategies in Tamazight language and American English

Mode derivable 57,15%

82,75%

explicit peromative 20%

hedged performative 22,85% American English

17,25%
Tamazight language
obigatory statement

Want statement

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

20
 The graph above demonstrates that mode derivable is favorable by both groups while making requests. TLNs

used (82,75 %) more AENs (57,15%). Concerning Hedged performative AENs employed (22,85) more than TLNs

who made (17,25%) . Another indication that the graph depicts is that AENs utilized explicit performative requests

type whereas TLNs didn’t use any. Both groups did not utilize neither obligatory statement nor want statements

request strategies while filling the questionnaire.

 FIGURE 5 : Distribution of conventionally indirect request strategies

American Englih
Question 29,09%
preparatory 16,60% Tamazight language

Suggestory 70,90%
formulate 83,30%

0,00% 50,00% 100,00%

The graph above points out that the two groups used conventionally indirect request strategies approximately

with slight differences. TLNs employed (16.60%) concerning questions preparatory type, while AENs utilized

(29.09%);but in suggestory formulate TLNs employed more requests (83,3%), whereas AENs used (70,90%).

 Figure 6 : Distribution of Non-conventionally indirect request strategies

American English
Tamazight language
mild hints
66,60%

strong hints
33,40%

0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00%

21
 The figure above indicates that Tamazight language speakers employed more hints with percentage of (66,60%)

mild hints and (33,40%) strong hints ,while American English speakers didn’t employ any hints when filling the

questionnaire.

5. Finding and discussions:

The statistical data above reveals that there are numerous differences between American English and Tamazight

language.

The figure 1 and figure 2 shows that socio-pragmatics variable social power and degree of imposition play

significant role in request directness. The figure 1 shows that social varies through situations depending on the

relationship between the requestee and the hearer. In some situations as it’s shown in the appendix, where the

participants asked to make request to a friend or a member of family they decided the requestee (they) has more social

power above the hearer, like in the situation 8, figure 1 most of participants claimed that with percentage of 73% that

the requestee had more social power over the hearer. Moreover, the figure 2 shows that the participants made semi and

high degree depending on the social power between the hearer and the requestee and the circumstances whereby the

request was made. as it is shown the situation 7 in the figure2 , participants made 33% degree of imposition and the

requestee has more social power (63%) over the hearer , therefore the social power influence the degree of imposition

the participants made and both influence the request directness.

Another difference depicted in the data above is shown in the distribution of request strategies types .the

graph revealed that TLNs used conventionally more direct request strategies, while AENs use more conventionally

indirect request strategies; However TLNs utilized Hints while filling the questionnaire while AENs didn’t performed

none. In the distribution of direct request strategies the data above showed the mode derivable was dominated by both

groups , however Tamazight language speakers employed derivable request types more than American English

speakers who preformed more request in explicit performative and hedged performative . the two groups didn’t

employ neither obligatory statement nor want statement while responding to the questionnaire . Concerning the

distribution of conventionally indirect request strategies as shown in the figure 5, AENS made more requests in form

of questions more than TLNs while the last ones made more in form of suggestions. Furthermore, TlNs employed

request in form hints, whilst AENs didn’t perform any hints.

22
 The emergence of the difference discussed before is due to the aspect of culture , considering the language as

being a significant element of culture the questionnaire revealed( as it’s shown in the appendix ) that TLNs tend to use

religious words like “Irbbi” (by Allah ) and” ak yadj rebbi” (may Allah keep you ) , while AENs tend to use modal

verbs like “could you, would you like and may “ to demonstrate politeness and keep the hearer’s face .

6. Conclusion:

To sum up , This study was aimed to figure out the similarities and dissimilarities between Tamazight

language as North African language and the America English in the level of request ,as well as to figure out the factors

that influences such differences .

To reach such aim the study involved a DCT questionnaire to gather data, which consist of multiple scenarios

whereby the participants of each language required to make a request according to the situation’s circumstances

.Moreover, the data was transmitted to statistical analysis which revealed the difference between the two language in

term of numbers . the findings demonstrated that indeed there are differences between the two groups , thus AENs

tend to use conventionally indirect requests strategies while TLNS tend to use direct and hints while making request

though the two groups contributed in each type as it is shown in the graphs above . The finding concluded also that

culture and socio-pragmatics variables influence the difference and similarities between the two groups in making

requests.

23
 7. References:

Amraoui, K. (2017). Politeness Strategies in Requests in Chaoui Berber in Algeria (Unpublished

undergraduate dissertation).Yarmouk University, Faculty of Arts,

Department of English Language and Literature.

AlMujaibel, Y. B., & Gomaa, Y. A. (2019). Request strategies in Kuwaiti Arabic and

British English: A cross-cultural pragmatic study

. Journal of Pragmatics, P148, 60-76.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2019.04.006

Alfghe, A., & Mohammadzadeh, B. (2021). Realisationof the Speech Act of Request, Suggest

, and Apology by Libyan EFL Learners.

SAGEOpen,11(4), 215824402110503.

https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211050378

Austin, J, L (1976). How to do things with words. Harvard University, 1955

Brown, P. Levinson, C(1987). Politeness:

Some universals of language usage. P,16.

Cambridge university pres

Bartali, V. (2022). Request realization strategies in Italian: The influence of the variables

of distance and weight of imposition on strategy choic

. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics, 18(1), 55–90.

https://doi.org/10.1515/lpp-2022-0003

Blum-Kulka & Olshtain.(1984). Requests Strategies and Apologies: A Cross-Cultural

24
 Study of Speech act realization patterns. Applied linguistics, 5,(3)

Blum-Kulka, S., & Olshtain, E. (1984). Requests and apologies: A cross-cultural study

of speech act realization patterns (CCSARP).

Applied linguistics, 5(3), 196-213.

Tawalbeh, A., & Al-Oqaily, E. (2012). In-directness and politeness in American English

and Saudi Arabic Requests: A Cross-Cultural Comparison.

International Journal of English b, 8(3), 1-14.

https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n3p1

Hammani, M. (2019). Request Strategies and Level of Request Directness in Moroccan

Arabic and American English

IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science

(IOSR-JHSS), 24 (8), 10-20 (IOSR-JHSS), 24 (8), 10-20

Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Searle, J. R. (1975). Expression and Mean Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts.

Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts.

25
 8. The appendix:

a. Samples of responses by American English native speakers in the DCT

Questionnaire

1. You’re at a museum and you want to know where the restrooms are located. What would

you say ?(Tllid ɣ yat tsnniɣt tirid a tisind maɣ illa ujmir. Mas trid at tinid?

-Excuse me, where is the bathroom ?

2. You’re in a meeting and want to ask a question. What would you say? (Tllid ɣ yan ugraw

tirid ad tsqsad yan usqsi. Mas trid at tinid?)

-May I ask a question

3. You are trying to study in your room, and your brother is listening to music loudly in the

next room .You decide to ask him to turn the music down. What would you say? (Ar

taqqrad ɣ uḥannu nnk, mak gmak ar isflid I uẓawan s umattay. Trid at tsaqsad ad ifnnẓ I

uẓagu mas trid ad ast tinid?)

-Please can you turn down music I need to study

4. You’re in a restaurant and you want to ask the waiter or waitress for the bill . What would

you say ?(Tllid ɣ tsirmt, trid ad tsqsad atrbi/tatrbit (asrbay) xf tfaturt. Mas trid ad ast

tinid?)

-Excuse me, may I have the bill please

5. You’re at a fast food restaurant and you want to request some ketchup. What would you say

? (Tllid ɣ tsirmt tirid ad tamẓd imiḥ n lkitcub. Mas trid ad ast tinid?

-Please can you bring us ketchup

6. You need someone to help you move a heavy object. What would you say? (Trid makk

itawsn ad tsmutid yan uskkin iẓẓayn. Mas trid ad tinid)

26
 -Can you please help me

7. You are walking around a city and you realize that you are lost. You need to ask for

directions to get back to your hotel. What would you say ? (Ar tfettud ɣ tmdint, imiq tzld.

Tnurzd ad tsqsad xf ubrid s usnsu nnk. Mas trid ad tinid?)

-Can you please help me find this address

8. You missed a lecture or class and you need to borrow a classmate’s notebook to catch up

on what you missed .What would you say? (Tnḍuk tinawt nɣd tawala , trid ad tǝttrd alug I

umddakʷl nnk , acku trid ad turud mak inḍun Mad trid as tinind ?)

-Please, can you share yesterdays lecture with me

9. You’re at a friend’s house and you need to use the restroom. What would you say ?(Tllid ɣ

tgmmi n umddakkʷl nnk tirid ad tkd ajmir. Mas trid ad tinid?)

-Where is the bathroom

10. You are a guest In your friend‘s house and it turns out that the weather is so cold and you

want to ask him to close the windows . What would you say ?((Tgid anbgi ɣ tgmmi n

umddakkʷl nnk,iqrf lḥal tirid ad as tinid ayrgl asrẓm. Mas trid ad tinid?)

-Its getting so cold. Can you kindly close a window

b. Samples of responses by MTNS in the DCT Questionnaire:

1. Tllid ɣ yan ugraw tirid ad tsqsad yan usqsi. Mas trid at tinid?)

-Iṛbbi hat illa ɣuri yan usqsi is zdarɣ at iniɣ (I have a question may i ask it please )

2. Tllid ɣ yat tsnniɣt tirid a tisind maɣ illa ujmir. Mas trid at tinid?

-Mani gd yusa ujmir iṛbbi ?(Where is the restroom please ?

3. Ar taqqrad ɣ uḥannu nnk, mak gmak ar isflid I uẓawan s umattay. Trid at tsaqsad ad ifnnẓ I

uẓagu mas trid ad ast tinid?

27
 hat ar qraɣ mk tufid aɣ tgt asfld (couldn’t you see that im studying , turn that

down )

4. Tllid ɣ tsirmt, trid ad tsqsad atrbi/tatrbit (asrbay) xf tfaturt. Mas trid ad ast tinid?

-Mcta ad ɣuri iṛbbi ?(the bill please )

5. Tllid ɣ tsirmt tirid ad tamẓd imiḥ n lkitcub. Mas trid ad ast tinid?

-Awyid kan lkitcub mk as tufit (could you bring me some ketchup please ?)

6. Trid makk itawsn ad tsmutid yan uskkin iẓẓayn. Mas trid ad tinid?

-Gd afus i ṛbbi nk anssity wa ( help me with this please !)

7. Ar tfettud ɣ tmdint, imiq tzld. Tnurzd ad tsqsad xf ubrid s usnsu nnk. Mas trid ad tinid?

-Iṛbbi mani abrid s usnsu hat uras ttuɣt (please could you show me the way to the

hotel )

8. Tnḍuk tinawt nɣd tawala , trid ad tǝttrd alug I umddakʷl nnk , acku trid ad turud mak inḍun

Mad trid as tinind ?

-Iṛbbi ki allug nnk ad uruɣ a illiɣ i inḍun ɣ twala lli izrin (by Allah give me your

notebook i previous the last lecture )

9. Tllid ɣ tgmmi n umddakkʷl nnk tirid ad tkd ajmir. Mas trid ad tinid?

-Mani ajmir ṣaḥa ? (Where is the restroom please )

10. Tgid anbgi ɣ tgmmi n umddakkʷl nnk,iqrf lḥal tirid ad as tinid ayrgl asrẓm. Mas trid ad

tinid?)

-Arebbi qqen aghrab nagh hat arntrgigi susmid (it’s cold in here close the window , im

freezing )

28