REFUSAL STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH USED BY MALAY AND CHINESE UNDERGRADUATES

Abstract

Exchanges and encounters among people of different cultures have increased rapidly since the last decade due to factors such as globalization, tourism and academic exchanges. Such encounters are obvious especially in multi-cultural societies where the population is made up of different ethnic groups, like Malaysia. A refusal is a negative response to an offer, request, invitation and suggestion. Refusals are important because they take a central place in everyday communication. It is difficult to reject requests. It is even harder to refuse in a foreign language, where one risks offending the interlocutor. This study aimed to identify refusal strategies used by Malay and Chinese undergraduates towards a person of higher and equal status. The research used qualitative and quantitative approach as a research design. 10 Malay undergraduates and 10 Chinese undergraduates of engineering students from University Technical Malaysia Melaka participated in this study. Based on the refusal taxonomy adapted and adopted by Beebe et al. (1990), five situations on refusals to request and suggestion were analyzed. The usage of Indirect- Statement of Regret (IR) is only evident for interlocutor with higher power. They normally continue with indirect refusal, while Adjuncts- Pause Filler (APF), Indirect Attempt to dissuade the interlocutor (IDI) and Indirect- Provides Rhetorical Question (IRQ) are meant for interlocutor of equal power. This study is important in revealing how Malaysian students, especially Chinese and Malay uses English as their second language to refuse and add more insight the pragmatics research area of refusal strategies.