Cross cultural Pragmatics: A study of Apology Speech Acts by Turkish speakers, American English Speakers and Advance Nonnative Speakers of English in Turkey

The study aims to identify and compare apology strategies used in Turkish, American English, and advanced non-native speakers of English in Turkey. In order to identify and compare the norms of apologizing in Turkish, English, and non-native English speakers in Turkey, apologies given to the same situations from these three different groups of participants were analyzed. The results from the Native Speakers of Turkish (NST) and Native Speakers of English (NSE) groups were used to identify the norms of apologies in these languages. Then, NNSE participants' responses were compared to the norms to be able to identify transfers from L1 to L2. Data were collected via a discourse completion test (DCT) from 29 native speakers of English, 30 native speakers of Turkish, and 15 nonnative speakers of English in Turkey. The DCT was administered in Turkish for the NST participants and in English for the NNSE and NSE participants. Results of the study revealed that advanced nonnative speakers showed similarities in their apologies in terms of general strategies, although in their modification of strategies they showed usage of L1 forms.