Favor Asking in Saudi Arabic

Abstract

This study investigated the speech act of asking for a favor in Saudi Arabic, in terms of both core strategy and modification. It examined whether degree of imposition, social distance, and power have an influence on the shape of the act. It also compared and contrasted favor asking in Saudi Arabic, Kuwaiti Arabic, and American English. Data were collected using a written discourse completion test (DCT) in which 60 female native speakers of Saudi Arabic were asked to request a favor in 12 situations that varied the degree of imposition, social distance, and power. The findings revealed that favor asking was mostly direct and conventionally indirect in Saudi Arabic, although the participants slightly preferred more direct strategies. Nonconventional favor asking (i.e., hinting) was strongly disliked by the participants. It was found that core strategy use in favor asking in Saudi Arabic was significantly influenced by degree of imposition and social power, but not by social distance. Modification use was significantly influenced by degree of imposition, social distance, and social power. Favor asking in Saudi Arabic was found to be more similar to that in Kuwaiti Arabic than that in American English.