The speech act realisation of requests and greetings by non-native and native speakers of siSwati : communication challenges faced by American Peace Corps Volunteers in their interaction with Swazi people

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the differences in the communication styles of siSwati and AmericanEnglish speakers. Specifically, it investigates the realization patterns of the speech acts of requestand greeting in siSwati, by native and non-native speakers of siSwati. It also investigates howthese same speech acts are realised by the non-native speakers of siSwati in their first language,English. The participants were 10 Swazis and 10 American Peace Corps volunteers living inSwaziland, Southern Africa at the time this study was conducted. The data were collected bymeans of a questionnaire followed up with a semi-structured interview. The data were analysedusing the framework of the Cross-cultural Speech Act Realization Project as developed by Blum-Kulka (1989). Common trends were noted in the realization of the two speech acts by nativespeakers and non-native speakers and conclusions were made based on the similarities anddifferences observed. Overall, the results suggest (i) that there are marked differences in the wayin which American English speakers and Swazi people perform and interpret greetings andrequests, and (ii) that such differences emanate from the different cultural orientation of the twogroups of people. Since such differences sometimes lead to misunderstandings, there is evidentneed to make people aware of cultural differences in order for understanding and tolerance toprevail in cross-cultural interactions.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University