Refusals in Egyptian Arabic and American English

This study investigated how native speakers of Egyptian Arabic and native speakers of American English realized the speech act of refusal in equal and unequal status situations. Ten native speakers of Egyptian Arabic and 10 native speakers of American English participated in the study. Data were elicited using context-enhanced role plays consisting of six refusal situations eliciting refusals of requests and offers. Results showed marked quantitative and qualitative differences between the two groups. For example, the Egyptians produced more words and turns than their American counterparts. The Egyptians also tended to be particularly verbose and indirect when interacting with someone higher in status. Results also showed that while the Egyptians preferred family oriented reasons to support their refusals, the Americans tended to use personal reasons. With regard to the use of individual refusal strategies, the Americans showed a preference for expressions of regret and gratitude whereas the Egyptians tended to use religious expressions (e.g., invoking the name of God) and proverbs. Discourse-level differences were also observed and were found to be more pronounced in interactions with someone higher in status.