Utilization of Request Mitigators by Omani Learners of English and Native Speakers: A Comparative Study
Volume 1, Issue 4 ABDUL RAHMAN, ZUHAIR, ABDUL AMIR
Published online: 05 December 2015
Article Views: 59
Abstract
This study examines Omani learners of English for proper use of syntactic, lexical/phrasal, and discoursal request mitigators when issuing their requests. To achieve the purpose of the study, a discourse completion test that contains nine scenarios was distributed to three groups: 50 level 1 students, 50 level 4 students, and 30 native speakers. Fisher‘s exact test was used to point out statistically whether there are any significant differences in the frequency and types of request mitigators used by the three groups. The results from the Fisher‘s exact test show that native speakers differ significantly from Omani learners of English because Omani learners of English restrict their use of mitigators to syntactic ones, especially modals, and rarely use lexical and discoursal ones, while native speakers use a wider range of all types. From the results of the study, a number of pedagogical recommendations were provided.
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To Cite this article
Abdul Amir, A. R. Z. (2015). Utilization of request mitigators by Omani learners of English and native speakers: A comparative study. International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 1(4), 156-172.