English Majors' Using Of Refusals In Chinese Context

This thesis aims to investigate whether Chinese English majors are influenced by their second language, when they use refusals in Chinese context. This study is based on the theory of language contact which holds that during the long period of contact, the two languages will influence each other, and therefore language changes will be caused. People who frequently use both languages tend to make language transfers. This language transfer can be both the one from the first language (L1) to the second language (L2), and the one from L2 to L1. And this study just focuses on the transfer from English to Chinese in English majors'using of refusal.To achieve this aim, the author reviews some contrastive studies on refusals made by some famous scholars between their native languages and English. These previous contrastive studies can help us grasp the pragmatic features of refusal in English and Chinese, and provide us with ways of how to conduct a contrastive study on refusals in different languages. Refusal is different from other speech acts, for it always threatens the hearer's face, and it will violate the Cooperative principle and the Politeness principle. But it is inevitable in our daily life. So how to achieve the purpose of refusing, while maintaining the cooperation and the politeness, and saving the hearer's"face"becomes a hot research topic for many scholars. Among these scholars, Beebe et. al summarize a series of refusal strategies, including both direct ones and indirect ones. And they also find the differences between Japanese and Americans when they adopt refusal strategies. Liao & Bresnahan conduct a similar research between students in Taiwan and the America, by which they conclude the common mode of polite refusal in Chinese and that in English. In addition, scholars in Chinese mainland have also achieved a lot in the contrastive study of refusal between Chinese and English. Ma Yuelan, Wang Aihua, and Yao Jun are the representatives.This research intends to answer the following three questions:1. Is there any difference between Chinese English majors and non-English majors in using refusal in Chinese context? 2. If there are differences, what are they?3. What causes the differences? Is that the influence of their second language?The author divides the study into two parts. One is a DCT questionnaire, the other one is a face-to-face interview. The subjects include 50 senior English majors, 50 non-English majors who graduated last year, and 20 Americans who study or work in Changchun.After analyzing all the collected data, the author finds that the English majors are really different from the non-English majors in some ways when they use refusal in Chinese. And these differences happen to be the similarities between the English majors and the American subjects. The author finds that the English majors are influenced by their second language in the following aspects:1. using direct refusal strategy2. expressing positive opinion and apology3. using vague promise4. understanding of"let interlocutor off the hook"5. using statement of empathy6. using self-denigration7. the attitude toward privacyThe author believes that the frequent language contact experienced by the English majors can explain why their first language is influenced by the second language. Language contact can lead to a pragmatic transfer and a change of language habits. Besides, the author also notices that some psychological factors contribute to this influence. For example, in order to avoid pragmatic failures, the English majors try not to use some polite expressions which only appear in Chinese, such as self-denigration. And they have accepted some values in English culture, such as the sensitivity to privacy.