2014 - GJFLT - Refusal To Invitation

Global Journal of Foreign
Language Teaching

Volume 04, Issue 1, (2014) 01-19
www.awer-center.org/gjflt/

Iraqis and Malays refusal to invitations

Hiba Qusay Abdul Sattar*, Australian Technical Management College, Australia.
Maryam Farnia, Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Payame Noor University, Iran.

Suggested Citation:
Sattar, H., O, A., & Farnia, M. (2014). Iraqis and Malays refusal to invitations. Global Journal of Foreign
Language Teaching, 4(1), 01-19. Retrived on 3 May 2014 from http://www.world-education-
center.org/index.php/GJFLT/article/view/3188

Received 16 December, 2013; revised 13 April, 2014; accepted 28 April, 2014.
Selection and peer review under responsibility of Assist Prof Dr. Ali Rahimi, Bangkok University.
2014 SPROC LTD. Academic World Education & Research Center. All rights reserved.

Abstract

A speech act is an action performed by means of language. Speech acts are performed when we express
an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal. Empirical studies on speech
acts show that the same speech act is very likely to be realized quite differently across different cultures.
The purpose of this paper is to examine speech act of refusal to an invitation in English between university
students in Malaysia. To this end, sixty Iraqi and Malay postgraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia
were selected to participate for this study. The data were collected through an open ended questionnaire
in the form of discourse completion task consists of situations with variations in contextual variables (i.e.
social power and social distance). The data were then analysed based on Beebe, Takahashi and Uliss-
Weltzs taxonomy of refusal to investigate the preferred semantic formulas or the strategies used in
refusal to an invitation in terms of frequency, sequence and content. The findings indicate that the
respondents prefer to use more indirect strategies (e.g. excuse and regret) than the direct ones (e.g. No
and negative ability) in expressing refusal to an invitation. It is hoped that the findings have implications
for comparative cross-cultural and intercultural communication studies.

Keywords: Invitation, Iraq, Malaysia, Semantic

*ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Hiba Qusay Abdul Sattar, Australian Technical Management College, Australia,
E-mail address: hi baqusay@yahoo.com
Sattar, H., O, A., & Farnia, M. (2014). Iraqis and Malays refusal to invitations. Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching. 4(1), 01-
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1. Introduction
Cross-cultural and intercultural communication skills are needed whenever people from
different languages and cultures come into contact. Nowadays, the number of people who are
travelling for international business, tourism, or study abroad is increasing. Therefore, there is a
concern for better communication among different cultural groups.
Getting invited is a common act in peoples everyday life, but people do not often accept all
invitation they receive. However, refusing an invitation should also be expressed in a way not to
offend the inviter and it is practiced differently in different countries. For example, when an
Iraqi invites a person, he or she wishes that his or her invitation is accepted and appreciat ed. It
should be noted that the inviter as human being has the want and expectations to be respected
accepted and appreciated by others. Therefore, the invitee has to know what to say and has to
consider the inviters sincerity and good intention to invite him before refusing the invitation. If
the invitees refuse, they may threaten the inviters face, that is, his or her public self -image to
maintain approval from others. Therefore in order to refuse the risk of losing face in the part of
inviter, the invitees have to know the strategies to refuse the inviter. For instance, A invites B to
join him or her spend the weekends together, and simply B says, I cant without any further
explanations. How would A feel? He may be disappointed, shocked or even seri ously insulted by
B for he or she as human being has the want and expectations to be respected accepted and
appreciated by others.
Therefore, refusal is a language behaviour that can case misunderstanding. Beside, in many
cultures, how one says "no" is probably more important than the answer itself. Therefore,
sending and receiving a message of "no" is a task that needs special skill. The interlocutor must
know when to use the appropriate form and its function depending on the community and its
cultural- linguistic values (Al-Kahtani, 2005).
There are many Middle Eastern students including Iraqis studying in different majors at
colleges and universities in Malaysia. As English practiced as a foreign language in Iraq, when
Iraqis come to study at a university to obtain a degree in a specific field, it is very likely that they
do not focus on the pragmatic function of the English language, but on the use of that language
to access knowledge in their respective academic fields. However, these students might
encounter situations in which pragmatic competence comes into play where there is a great
chance of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and mismanagement due to some reasons
such as insufficient language competency and their different cultural background. Therefore,
more research is needed to study the cultural differences in the production of people from
diverse cultural background. This study is an attempt to explore the cultural differences or
similarities in refusal to an invitation among Iraqi students studying in Malaysia and Malay
university students for whom English is used mostly as a lingua franca in their daily interaction.

2. Literature Review
In this section, an introduction to invitation in Iraqi and Malaysian community, a theoretical
background to the study and selected studies on refusal to invitations are discussed.

2.1. Aspects of invitations in Iraqi and Malay societies
Relatedness and group consciousness are central aspects of Iraqi culture. Socially, the
conventional expectations of Iraqi society are that brothers, sisters, relatives, friends and even
neighbors will remain in contact with each other, and be mutually loyal and helpful. One way
through which Iraqis tend to express their feelings toward each other is by inviting one another.
Arabs are renowned of their hospitality. Hospitality is a cherished Islamic tradition, and anyone
who has lived in an Islamic country for any length of time has a store of personal experiences of
hospitality extended freely and lovingly, without any expectation of return. It has been indicated
that the importance of hospitality in the Arab World is proverbial and commemorated in
Arabian history in the deeds of those such as Haatim al -Taai, whose name became a byword for
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generosity when he gave away the camels that he was herding for his father to a passing
caravan. Arabs are generous and value generosity in others. Hospitality toward guests is
essential for a good reputation. Iraqi Arabs assume the role of host readily, regardless of the
setting. Therefore the act of inviting is a very common social activity in an Iraqi society. Iraqi
society has a special pattern of inviting. For an Iraqi family everyone is welcomed at any time
and thus the issue of general invitation is common by the people. However, for some other
cultures this might not be the case. A typical example is that an Iraqi family living in the US
might issue a general invitation, not realizing that they must pin down a specific time and place,
then sit at home socially isolated and lonely (Ghareeb, Ranard & Tutunji, 2008).
Another mark of Iraqi culture is that they expect to be received with hospitality when they
are guests. The use of expressions complimenting and thanking the inviter is a typical Arab
tradition. Moreover, Iraqi Arabs judge others on how well they host their guests. In other words,
how well one treats his guest, what type of food and how much he offers to his guests is a
typical Arab tradition, and seen as a direct measurement of what kind of a person he is (Hasan,
1999). However, hospitality is not confined only to the home. So, when two friends or
acquaintances, for example, go to a coffee-shop, as a matter of courtesy, each one of them feels
obliged to compete for paying for the drink. A typical example is evident in the behavior of some
Iraqi refugees in US as it has been reported that Iraqis might insist on paying in restaurants and
on other occasions, to the point of spending more than they can afford (Ghareeb, Ranard &
Tutunji, 2008). According to Al -Khatib (2006), when two people engage in an encounter in a
Jordanian society, the one who offers should insist on offering and the one who is being invited
should bashfully reject the offer- but in reality intends to accept it later.
In Malaysia and among the Malay ethnicity, the act of inviting is also a common social
activity. Society interactions at informal gathering such as dinners are common to occur. Malay
behavior and action is very much dominated by Islamic culture, which is mainly dominated by
the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of Mohammad, which calls for accepting an invitation or a
gift. In a Malay home, the role of the host appeared to be persuasive (Gaudart, 2008). The host
prompted, cajoled and even insisted that the guest had more food than he or she could manage.
A refusal by the guest was interpreted as shyness on the part of the guest, and the host sought
to overcome that shyness and make the guest feel welcome by insisting that the guest eats
more. Gaudart (2008, p.49) provided an example where participants A and B are the hosts, and
C is the guest:
A: Come. Please come. Come to the table.
C: I mustnt be the first.
A & B: Come on.
C: You, B?
B: Yeah.
B: Come, C. Just take a plate and help yourself.
C: I know. I feel so bad. Im the first one to ehcarry on.
B: If nobody begins then theyll all stand on ceremony.
Malays are expected to communicate good manners, breeding and sensitivity to those with
whom they interact on a more formal basis. Those who do not conform to these cultural rules
are usually looked down on as unrefined or, in the Mal ay term, tak tahu bahasa (Teo, 1996,
cited in Maros, 2006). Therefore, when refusing an invitation, it is expected to be done
indirectly. Malays value indirectness in speaking in order to save the face of others and
maintain good relationships between interlocutors and within society as whole (Maros, 2006). In
other words, being cultured and refined is part of the Malays effort to preserve face, which is
important in establishing good relationships and maintaining social harmony. In the Malay
context, face means maintaining a persons dignity by not embarrassing him or her as an
individual (Abdullah, 1996; cited in Moras, 2006). Maros ( 2006) reported that they are very
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cautious about the arrangement of words, as well as not to hurt their friends feeling or to make
him/her sad. The friends responses and reactions were described as also being important to
them.
With all the above description of both Iraqi and Malay behaviour within the context of
invitations, it should be noted that both societies are dominated by Islamic culture. Therefore,
the researchers assume that both cultures are expected to show hospitality and act good
manners toward guests. One would wonder how refusing an invitation is then manifes ted by
Iraqis and Malays.

2.2. Theoretical background
Invitations are a common occurrence in everyday life, particularly in the maintenance of good
relationships. They usually aim to address the invitee's face. An invitation can be defined as the
act of asking a person to come to a party or special event. According to Nelson, Al Batal and
Bakary (2002), Invitations are types of requests (e.g., asking someone to come to dinner);
however, instead of asking a favor, the inviter is usually attempting to be thoughtful and kind.
(p.45)
As a polite and constructive type of behavior, an invitation can be seen as a social act.
According to Searle (1969), speech act theory is developed based on the assumption that
language is a form of behavior, and it is conditioned by a set of rules. The idea that language is
behavior is the basic element that helps one to understand how language functions in a social
context (Al Khatib, 2006). Previous research (e.g. Tanck, 2003; Brown & Levinson, 1987) on
politeness formulas shows that social norms vary from culture to culture. Therefore, what can
be seen as a polite behavior in one culture may not be seen so in another. However, in all
speech communities, an invitation can be seen socially as an acceptable humanitarian polite
behavior. Within the preset study, an attempt is made to investigate the speech act of declining
an invitation. It is theoretically based on Beebe et al. (1990) model of refusal strategies used in
refusal to offers, suggestions, invitations, and requests. In this model, Beebe divided refusal
strategies into three main types: Direct refusals refer to the situations in which the speaker
expresses his/her inability to conform using negative propositions (e.g. no, I cant), indirect
refusals (e.g. regret, wish, excuse/reason, statement of alternatives, etc.) and adjuncts to
refusals which include four strategies: positive opinion/feeling or agreement, statement of
empathy, gratitude/appreciation, and pause fillers.
The speech act of refusal takes place when a speaker reacts with displeasure or disapproval.
Just as one can accept invitations, so they can refuse or reject one. Many people think that
refusing an invitation is a normal language behaviour that they experience in their daily lives.
People might think there is nothing wrong with uttering an explicit No. However, it is not as
simple as it is thought to be. This is due to the fact that not all languages or cultures refuse in
the same way nor do they feel comfortable refusing the same invitation. Refusal s have been
viewed as a face-threatening speech act (Brown & Levinson, 1987). As Spencer-Oatey (2008)
puts it, Every language provides a very wide range of linguistics options that can be used for
managing face and sociality rights, and hence for managing rapport (p. 21). One of these ways
in terms of the illocutionary domain can be seen in the use of strategies or semantic formulas
within the scope of speech act realization. For example, in refusing invitations, offers and
suggestions, gratitude strategy was regularly expressed by American English speakers, but it was
rarely by Egyptian Arabic speakers (Nelson, Al-batal & Echols, 1996). On the other hand,
acceptance or agreement strategies tend to be used in direct language without much delay,
mitigation, or explanation.

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2.3. Selected studies on refusal to an invitation
Many researchers looked at refusals across cultural groups and found that while the refusal
strategies are universal, the frequency of the refusal strategies used and the content of the
strategies are culture specific or language such as most of them deal with either English or
Japanese (e.g., Beebe et al. 1990; Morrow 1995; Gass & Houck, 1999). The speech act of refusal
has been investigated in other languages such as Spanish (Flix-Brasdefer, 2002, 2003, 2006,
2008), Persian and Kurdish (Aliakbari & Changizi, 2012), (Allami & Naeimi, 2011; Sadeghi &
Savojbolaghchilar, 2011), Chinese (Chang, 2009; Chen, 1996, 2006), Korean (Kwon, 2004).
Some investigations have been conducted on native speakers of Arabic such as Saudi Arabs
(Al-Kahtani, 2005) and Yemenis (Al -Eryani, 2007). Al-Kahtani (2005) for example, in his study on
refusal speech acts, assumed differences in the ways people from different cultural backgrounds
perform refusals even when they use the same linguistic code (i.e. English). Three groups of
subjects, Americans, Arabs and Japanese were compared in the ways they performed refusals.
The aim of studying three groups of participants who differ in terms of ethnicity and culture was
to point out the differences in realizing speech acts of refusals in different cultures and
problems posed to L2 learners when producing speech acts in the target language. Results
indicated that the respondents from the three cultures similarly used excuse and regret
strategies when refusing an invitation made by a boss. However, Arabic speakers used excuse
strategy most frequently and the regret as the second most frequently used strategy. Arabic
speakers made use of other semantic formulas including gratitude, positive opinion and
negative ability. They also exploited agreement and wish. When refusing an equal status person,
the three groups similarly used excuse the most often in combination with a set of other
semantic formulas. It is found that only non- native speakers of English used gratitude in when
refusing equals. When refusing the invitation of a person in a lower status, all the three groups
were found to be similar in that they made excuse the most often and used postponement the
second often. The use of gratitude is also evident by Arabs in this situation.
Within the Malays context, a few studies, such as Marzuki, Damio & Hie (2009), and Maros
(2006) have been conducted on the speech acts of apologies, complaints, and request. These
studies concentrated on Malay speakers by looking at the speech act manifestation in both
speakers mother tongue and English. However, there have been some attempts to investigate
the realisation of different speech acts by Malays with other non- native speakers of English like
Iraqis (e.g. Abdul Sattar & Lah, 2010), Iranians (e.g. Farnia & Abdul Sattar, 2009) and Thai (e.g.
Farnia & Abdul Sattar, 2010) following an intercultural approach.
It also investigated refusals to invitations between familiar interlocutors. Results indicated
that explanation was the second most frequently used strategy by Malay subjects when they
refuse an invitation to both higher and equal status persons (a friend or a supervisor) after
expressing regret. The findings also indicated that expressing negative ability or willingness
received the third place of frequency of use for both Chinese and Malay students. Statistical
data indicated that Malay respondents used significantly more statement of regret in their
responses than Chinese respondents. In addition, Malays used significantly more negative
ability, greetings and repayment strategies in their responses than their Chinese counterparts.
It is to conclude that more research is needed on speech community such as Iraqis and
Malays as it can be extensively beneficial to the understanding of the culture of its speech
community. The lack of knowledge of speech act realization patterns and strategies across
cultures can lead to breakdowns in cross-cultural and inter-ethnic communication.

2.4. The study
The present study investigates the speech act of refusal to invitations in English among I raqi
and Malay students at the Universiti Sains Malaysia ( USM), Penang, Malaysia. It also aimed to
find out the preferred semantic formulas or the appropriate strategies used in refusal to
invitations and whether there are any similarities or differences in speech act realization
between Iraqis and Malays.
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2.5. Subjects
Thirty Iraqi and thirty Malay university students participated in this study. The choice of
Malays is due to the fact that they are the largest ethnic group in Malaysia. The Malay group
consists of 4 males and 26 females, between the ages of 20 to 23. The Iraqi group consists of 12
males and 18 females, between the ages of 21 to 37. It should be noted that both age and
gender effects were not considered in this study.
As it was intended to have comparability between the subjects in Iraqis and Malays behaviour
within the context of invitations (refusals), the subjects were chosen from the undergraduates
and postgraduate population at Universiti Sains Malaysia, for the year 2010 to 2011.
All Iraqi subjects had studied English for 12 years in government schools in Iraq before joining
the university. None of the group had ever travelled to any English-speaking country other than
Malaysia. As for Malay subjects, they have been formally exposed to English language since the
age of 7, the year they entered primary schools. The formal exposure continued in the adult
years through work related needs. In Malaysia, English is regarded as an important second
language for instrumental purposes, a neutral language for social integration and a pragmatic
one for professional growth and career advancement. Informally, at all levels of development,
subjects have access to the language through various communication channels, such as the
television, radios, and written advertisements.
In spite of the common belief that language proficiency enhances pragmatic knowledge,
studies are not yet reached an agreement, showing contradictory results with respect to the
extent to which proficiency relates to pragmatic competence (Kasper & Rose, 2002; Barron,
2003; Felix- Brasdefer, 2007; Dalmau & Gotor, 2007) cited in Linde (2009). Therefore, proficiency
effects were not considered in this study.

2.6. Instrument and procedure
Data is based on the results of a Discourse Completion Test (henceforth DCT), which was
based on a study by Wannaruk ( 2008). It consists of three situations. The use of DCT is suitable
for this study due to the fact that,DCTs can provide a sound template of stereotypically
perceived requirements for socially appropriate responses in the group studied. It also enables
the researchers to obtain sufficient data in a relatively short period of time (Lorenzo-Dus,
2001). Kasper ( 2000) also confirms the fact that a DCT is an effective means of data collection
when the purpose of the study is to inform about speakers pragmalinguistic knowledge of the
strategies and linguistic forms by which communicative acts can be implemented, and about
their sociopragmatic knowledge of the context factors under which particular strategic and
linguistic choices are appropriate (p.329).
As for the argument that DCTs are not a typical tool for collecting natural and authentic data
it should be noted that the virtue of authenticity in naturally occurring speech must be
weighed against its reflection of speakers sociolinguistic adaptation to very specific
situations.(Kwon, 2004). Since the aim of the present study is to scrutinize the participants use
of refusal strategies under some given situations, a DCT is believed to be an adequate
instrument to choose.
Subjects were arranged randomly. Sixty Iraqi and Malay university students participated in
this study. Each group was met individually by the researchers at USM, Penang, Malaysia.
Researchers provided the subjects with detailed instructions about the tasks. Each subject was
given 30 minutes to complete the provided task. Subjects were presented with the written
situations and were asked to read each situation, and write down what they would say under
each situation.
Each situation was based on two social variables: relative power and social distance
between the interlocutors. This study investigated refusals and acceptance to invitations to
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higher (+P), equal (=P) and lower (-P). This study investigated refusals and acceptance to
invitations between familiar interlocutors (+D).
Table 1. Description of the three situations
Situations Description
Situation 1:
Lecture [+P, -D]
Professor - student,
A professor invites his student to attend a guest speakers
lecture
Situation 2:
Dinner [=P, -D]
Student - student,
A friend invites a student to dinner.
Situation 3:
Lunch [-P, -D]
A freshman- A senior student,
A freshman invites a senior student to lunch in the
university cafeteria

3. Data analysis
The present study follows a similar approach of data analysis adopted by earlier researchers
on different speech act realizations, e.g. apol ogy (Holmes 1990; Blum-Kulka & Olshtain, 1984),
requests (Blum-Kulka, House & Kasper, 1989), invitations (Al-Khatib, 2006), refusals (Beebe et
al., 1990). The responses were coded using a modified classification of refusal strategies
proposed by Beebe et al. (1990).This classification system has been widely used and adapted to
examine refusals among native and non-native speakers in different languages (Bardovi-Harlig &
Hartfort, 1991; Gass & Houck, 1999; Nelson et al., 2002; Ramos, 1991). Data collected from the
subjects were analyzed by using semantic formulas as units of analysis (frequency, sequences
and content) and were categorized according to the refusal taxonomy by Beebe et al (1990).
Semantic formulas represent the means by which a particular speech act is accompl ished, such
as a reason, an explanation, or an alternative (Fraser, 1981; Olshtain & Cohen, 1983; Beebe et
al., 1990). According to Fraser (1981), a semantic formula may consist of a word, a phrase, or a
sentence that meets a given semantic criterion or st rategy. The terms semantic formula and
strategy have been used interchangeably in the literature of cross-cultural pragmatics to refer
to the same concept.

4. Results
In this section, an analysis of the data is presented as follows:

A. Semantic formulas used for refusal to invitations
In Situation One (S1), a professor invites his student to attend a guest speakers lecture. The
social relationship between the participants is that of high power and familiarity. It was
found that both groups Iraqis and Malay employed indirect strategies when refusing
invitations (see table 2 ). It was found that few respondents from both groups (3 Iraqis and 2
Malays) used direct strategies like no because saying no to someones face might be
interpreted as an insult to the other person. Instead, they used negative ability. The findings
show that 11 Iraqi subjects used negative ability to express their refusals while this strategy
was used by 17 Malay subjects.

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Table 2. Frequency of semantic formulas used for refusal to invitations in S1, S2 and S3
Semantic
Formula
S1 Lecture [+P, -D] S2 Dinner [=P, -D] S3 Lunch [-P, -D]
Iraqis Malaysian
s
Iraqis Malaysian
s
Iraqis Malaysian
s
No 3 (5%) 2 (3.3%) 10
(16.7%)
7 (11.7%) 9 (15%) 6 (10%)
Negative ability 11
(18.3%)
17 (28.3) 11
(18.2%)
17 (28.3%) 5 (8.3%) 7 (11.7%)
Excuse 27 (45%) 25 (41.7%) 23
(38.3%)
27 (45%) 23
(38.3%)
27 (45%)
Regret 15 (25%) 19 (31.7%) 15 (25%) 16 (26.7%) 14
(23.3%)
14 (23.3%)
Wish 8 (13%) 2 (3.3%) 1 (1.7%) 0 (0%) 2 (3.3%) 0 (0%)
Future
Acceptance
0 (0%) 1 (1.7%) 2 (3.3%) 2 (3.3%) 5 (8.3%) 6 (10%)
Set conditions for
acceptance
0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1(1.7%) 2 (3.3%) 1 (1.7%)
Repletion 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (1.7%) 3 (5%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Beside, both groups were found to be similar in that they used excuse and regret strategies.
However, Malay group used more regret strategy than Iraqis. It should be noted that regret is
one of the common indirect strategies and has been found in most refusal studies including the
ones investigating Arabic (Al -Issa, 1998; Al-Shalawi, 1997). Through this strategy, the speaker
expresses regret for his or her inability to grant the interlocutors request or accept his or her
offer. The findings show that the subjects used regret strategy to soften the perlocutionary
effect of the face-threatening act on the addressee for declining an invitation. It should be
noted that the use of such apologetic expressions is a significant act of politeness and, hence, a
redressing strategy. In Malay culture, it is a norm to refuse in a polite way; thus the Malay
subjects, when speaking in English, used their own cultural norm of speaking indirectly, starting
their refusals with sorry, which is equivalent to maaf in their native tongue. Basically, they
are lexical and syntactic markers of politeness which speakers usually use to show their
awareness that something wrong has happened and it has to be amended. So, such speech
forms are seen by Malay people as markers of solidarity. See examples below:
1. I am so sorry I think I cannot because I have to work on my paper first.
2. Oh, Im sorry but I dont feel like eating at the universitys cafeteria.

Moreover, both groups used excuse more often than regret. The use of explanation is
probably the most common indirect strategy to express refusal. Explanation or excuse was the
most frequently used semantic formula among the subjects and occurred in responses given to
all three DCT situations. This strategy is used to reduce the illocutionary force of the refusal by
communicating to the interlocutor that the speaker would accept if it was not for some reasons
or excuses. Some reasons can be given in detail and some can be general. This is particularly
important since in some cultures such as Japanese (Beebe et al., 1990) and Arabic (Al -Issa, 1998;
Al-Shalawi, 1997), speakers tend to give vague reasons and excuses when refusing an invitation
whereas in the American culture speakers tend to be more specific (e.g. Nelson, Carson, Al Batal
& El Bakary, 2002). This can be explained by the fact that many subjects, being non-native
speakers of English, were not as specific and to the point as native speakers, as indicated by
pervious empirical studies such as Beebe et al. (1990). It is, as indicated by Al -Kahtani (2005),
attributable to their background cultural norms is beyond the scope of the present study.
However, it can be hypothesized that the interference of the background cultures of the non-
native speakers may contribute to their vague excuses as in the examples below:

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3. I have something to do.
4. I have some emergency job to do.
5. ..because I have to go to my cousins house.
6. ..I have class on that day.
7. Oh but I have a lecture at that time.

As for Iraqi sample, they show a tendency in accepting the invitation at first by expressing
their wish to comply. Eight Iraqi subjects used wish as a semantic formula to start their refusals.
The use of this strategy implies the speakers desire to help his or her interlocutor but at the
same time his or her inability to do so. This strategy also aims to minimize the threat to the
interlocutors positive face by expressing the speakers desire to help. Based on the finding
reported in the table above, it is clear that there is a difference in the use of wish strategy
between Iraqi and subjects as it is used more by Iraqis than Malays.
As for Situation Two (S2), where a friend invites a student to dinner, the subjects form both
groups similarly used No and negative ability. However, Malay expressed excuse more often
than I raqis. Few subjects from both groups used other semantic formulas including repetition,
future acceptance and wish strategies. Repetition strategy or repeating part of the requested act
is another avoidance strategy that aims to give the interlocutor time to prepare his or her
refusal as in examples 8 and 9. It also seems to serve as a distraction to the interlocutor from
the refusal itself. It is used by Beebe et al. under the verbal avoidance strategies.
8. This Sunday night?
9. Sunday night? I dont think so

Future acceptance is the strategy in which the speaker makes a promise to accept a similar
request or offer at some point in the future. This is can be seen in the use of the phrase next
time. This is another strategy to soften the illocutionary force of the refusal and minimize the
impact on the interlocutors positive face. However, this strategy does not seem to be very
common. For example, it was not found in two of the refusal studies that used the role play
method for data collection (e.g. Felix-Brasdefer, 2002; VonCanon, 2006). However, it was found
in two of the Arabic refusal studies (e.g. Al -Issa, 1998; Nelson et. al, 2002). This is also one of the
strategies listed by Beebe et al. (1990). The following are some examples from the data. See
examples below:
10. Im sorry. I have class after this, maybe next time.
11. Im sorry. I just had my lunch, maybe next time.
12. Sorry, I cant maybe another time.

Situation Three (S3) is the one in which a freshman invites a senior student to lunch in the
university cafeteria. The most frequently used semantic formulas in S3 were excuse and regret
strategies. Beside, direct strategies like no and negative ability were used by 14 Iraqi and 12
Malay subjects. In order to seek the satisfaction and the approval of the other person,
respondents also employed an indirect strategy, future acceptance (5 Iraqi and 6 Malay
subjects). Few subject used the set conditions strategy in which the speaker sets conditions for
accepting the request or offer. It serves as a strategy to show the speaker would be willing to
comply if the situation was different. This strategy also distracts the interlocutor from the
impact of the refusal and serves to minimize the threat to the interlocutors face. See examples
below:

13. If you have told me earlier maybe I could spend my ti me for the dinner.
14. Sorry Im in a hurry but if you could wait for me, Ill have lunch with you.

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B. Adjuncts to refusals
Adjuncts to refusal do not form part of the refusal itself but they are external modifications to
the main refusal and they serve as strategies used to attend to the needs of the interlocutors
positive face by expressing solidarity with the interlocutors (Beebe et al., 1990). Some of the
strategies used to achieve this type of solidarity with the interlocutor include expressions of
gratitude, expressions of positive opinion of the interlocutor, and showing consideration to the
interlocutors feelings. These strategies were identified by Beebe et al. (1990) and were found in
many other refusal studies including those investigating Arabic ( Al-Issa, 1998; Nelson, et al.,
2002). In this study, the subjects also used some additional semantic formulas that function as
adjuncts as a way to modify their refusals such as pause f iller, thanking and positive feeling as
explained in table 3.

Table 3: Adjuncts to refusals in S1, S2 and S3
Adjuncts S1 Lecture [+P, -D] S2 Dinner [=P, -D] S3 Lunch [-P, -D]
Iraqis Malaysia
ns
Iraqis Malaysia
ns
Iraqis Malaysia
ns
Pause filler 3 (5%) 13 (21.7) 3 (5%) 10
(16.7%)
3 (5%) 9 (15%)
Thanks 4 (6.7%) 2 (3.3%) 7
(11.7%)
5 (8.3%) 10
(16.7%)
4 (6.7%)
Positive feeling 5 (8.3%) 6 (10%) 0 (0%) 2 (3.3%) 0 (0%) 5 (8.3%)
Address terms 4 (6.7%) 10
(16.7%)
0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Both groups were found to be similar in the use of adjuncts in the three situations. Results
show a similar use of adjuncts like pause filler, thanks and positive feeling when they refuse an
invitation. However, findings show that Malays used more pause filler as an adjunct when they
refused an invitation to a high and equal status person than their Iraqis counterparts. It was also
found that Malays used positive feeling as an external modifier to their refusals more than Iraqi
subjects.
The subjects also softened their refusals responses in S1 by the use of address terms. Since
the person to be refused was a professor, the use of Prof. was usual for both Iraqi and Malay
subjects. In the researchers view Iraqi subjects are commonly known to rank-conscious. This is
demonstrated by an attempt to emphasize, and even exaggerate their recogniti on of the higher
social rank of their interlocutors as a way of showing respect. For example in S1, the subjects
began their refusals responses by defining the relationship between their interlocutors and
themselves with regard to social status. This was accomplished by referring to the rank of the
hearer using address terms (i.e., professor, teacher, doctor and Sir) which gave their refusals
responses a formal tone. This is might be the influence of mother tongue as in the Arabic
language community there is an elaborate set of terms of address like (Sir sayedy, Mr. sayed,
Mrs. Sayeda, Miss anissa, Doctor dicktor, Professor ustath). The case is also true for Malay
respondents, as they feel bound to use such terms as it is to give the person greater recognit ion
or respect. Therefore, the use of forms like professor, Dr. or sir were evident in the data as
seen in the following responses:
15. Sorry Dr I cant come I have an exam.
16. Well Prof. I do not think I can come because I have a lot of things to do.
17. Thank you Doctor. Unfortunately I have to focus on the paper. There is a lot to do.

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11
C. Sequence of semantic formulas used for refusing invitations
Table 4. Sequence of semantic formulas used for refusing invitations in S1, S2 and S3
Malay Sample Iraqi Sample
S1 Lecture [+P, -D]
Regret + Negative ability + explanation 9
Positive feeling + explanation 2
Regret + explanation 4
Regret + negative ability 3
Regret + wish + explanation
Positive feeling + explanation + regret
Negative ability + explanation 2
Wish + explanation

Thanks + negative ability + explanation
Wish + explanation 7
Regret + explanation + Thanks
Positive feeling + explanation
Positive feeling + regret +explanation
Regret + negative ability + Explanation 3
No + regret + explanation 2
No + regret + negative ability +explanation
S2 Dinner [=P, -D]
Regret + negative ability + explanation 5
No + explanation + future acceptance
No + thanks + Explanation 3
No + explanation + regret
Negative ability + Regret
Negative ability + explanation 5
Repletion + No+ Negative ability + Explanation
Repletion + set condition + regret + future
acceptance + Thanks
No + explanation
Repletion +Negative ability + Explanation
Regret + Positive feeling + explanation

No + explanation 4
Regret + negative ability + future
acceptance
No + regret + negative ability + explanation
Wish + explanation + regret
No + regret + explanation
No + Thanks
No + Thanks + Explanation
Thanks + negative ability +explanation
Thanks +explanation 4
Regret + future acceptance
S3 Lunch [-P, -D]
Regret + Negative ability + explanation 4
Regret + Negative ability + explanation + Thanks
Positive feeling + explanation + Future acceptance 2
Explanation + Future acceptance
No + Thanks
No + explanation 3
Positive feeling + explanation 2
Regret + explanation+ Future acceptance 2
Regret + explanation+ set condition
No + Thanks + explanation 2
Positive feeling + Negative ability +explanation +
Thanks
Positive feeling + Negative ability+ regret
Negative ability + explanation

No + Thanks + Explanation 2
Wish + Negative ability + Explanation
No + Negative ability
Regret + Negative ability 2
No + Negative ability + Explanation
No + Thanks 2
No + Thanks+ Future acceptance
No + Thanks+ regret
Regret + Explanation 4
Thanks + explanation 3
Negative ability+ explanation
Regret + explanation + Future acceptance 4

In Situation One (S1), a professor invites his student to attend a guest speakers lecture, the
typical order of the semantic formulas used in refusing invitations by the Malay subjects is
Regret + Negative ability + explanation and Regret + explanation.

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12
Examples:
18. Sorry professor, I cant make it. I have something on.
19. Im sorry I cant attend I have something going on.
20. Sorry Dr. I have to finish my assignments.

Similarly, the Iraqi subjects are found to use the same set of semantic formulas as regret +
negative ability + explanation and regret + explanation. They are also found to use another set
where they express wish at the first position then followed by Explanation.
Examples:
21. I wish I can but I have exam in the time of your lecture.
22. I wish I can but Im very busy.

The Iraqi subjects happen to be different from the Malay group in the use of the patterns: no
+ regret + explanation and no + regret + negative ability +explanation where the use of flat no is
evident.
As for Situation Two (S2), where a friend invites a student to dinner, the Malay respondents
used the same set of semantic formulas as in S1 regret + negative ability + explanation. They use
other patterns like negative ability + explanation and regret + explanation is also evident in their
responses.
Examples:
23. Im sorry. I cant I have a class on Monday morning and I dont want to wake up late.
24. I am really sorry. I cant make it. I have a date on Sunday night.
25. I dont think I can come over. I have to attend my secondary school reunion.
26. Sorry I have other things to do.

The Iraqi subjects also used the set regret + explanation in addition to thanks + explanation.
More direct strategies used by Iraqi subjects through the set no + explanation. Example:
27. Sorry I have something to do on Sunday.
28. Thank you very much for your invitation but I have something to do on Monday.
29. No, Im so busy on Sunday.
30. No, Im very busy. I have another dinner party.

Situation Three (S3) is the one in which a freshman invites a senior student to lunch in the
university cafeteria. In this situation, the typical order of the semantic formulas used in
refusing invitations by the Malay subjects is similar the one used in S1 that is regret + negative
ability + explanation and regret + explanation.
Examples:
31. Im sorry I cant join because I have promised to eat my lunch together with my
friends.
32. Sorry I cant. My friend is waiting for me.
33. I am sorry. I have something else to do.
34. Sorry, I have a lecture.

The use of direct strategies by the Malay subjects can be seen very clearly in the sets below:
35. [No + Thanks] such as: No. Thanks
36. [No + explanation] such as: No Im busy.
37. [No + Thanks + explanation] such as: No thanks I still have a lot of work to do.
19.

13
38. [Negative ability+ explanation+ such as: I cant join. Sunday is the due date for me to
settle my assignments.

As for the Iraqi sample, the use of the patterns regret + explanation and thanks + explanation
is frequent as they did in S2. Moreover, they are also found to use the set regret + explanation +
future acceptance.
Examples:
39. Sorry Im about to leave.
40. Thank you but I dont have time.
41. Sorry, but I need to get these done, maybe next time.

However, direct strategies are also employed by use of flat no or I cant. This occurred in
the use of different patterns as follows:
Examples:
42. *No + Negative ability + Explanation+ such as: No I cant because Im busy.
43. [No+ Thanks] such as: No, thanks a lot.
44. [No + Thanks+ Future acceptance] such as: No, thanks maybe next time.
45. *No + Thanks+ regret+ such as: No, thanks. Im sorry.
46. *No + regret + explanation+ such as: No, Im sorry but I have a lecture.
47. *No + Negative ability+ such as: No, I cant.
48. [No + Thanks + Explanation] such as: No thanks I have it a little time ago.

5. Discussion and Conclusions
This research is concerned with the strategies used in refusing an invitation by Iraqi and
Malay university students. This study investigates refusing invitations between people of higher,
equal and low status and familiar interlocutors.
By analyzing the results of the present study, many observations about how both groups
react to an invitation can be made. First, within the context of refusals, the findings of this study
seem to reinforce the notion stated by Brown and Levinson (1987) that people cooperate in
maintaining face in interactions. Refusals are intrinsically face-threatening (Beebe et al., 1990).
Thus, indirect refusals are preferred by both groups. These indirect strategies are used to s often
the illocutionary force of their refusals in order to minimize the offense to the interlocutors
positive face (Brown & Levinson, 1987). In fact, these indirect strategies have been found to be
used more frequently than the direct ones (Al -Issa, 1998; Nelson et. al, 2002).
However, the use of direct strategies like no was employed by few subjects from both Iraqi
and Malay groups in situation 1. This can be explained, as indicated by Wannaruk (2008), The
manner of avoiding saying no is probably due to the fact that both groups consider the face of
the interlocutor of the most importance in an interaction (Brown & Levinson, 1978). They do not
want to hurt people's feelings or insult people by saying no. However, the use of no was more
by the I raqi subjects in the three situations than the Malay subjects. The Malay subjects were
found to use more negative ability as a strategy to refuse an invitation. Although negative
ability carries a degree of directness, it is less direct than no in the respondents opinions. They
used negative ability because they wanted to be direct, but were still able to sound polite.
These linguistic forms, such as I dont think, maybe, and probably are used to soften the
illocutionary force of a statement (Felix- Brasdefer, 2006; Farnia & Abdul Sattar, 2009).
As mentioned before, indirect strategies have been found to be used more frequently than
the direct ones in this study. For the Malay group, the reason for making an indirect refusal is to
save face of others and to maintain good relationship among the interlocutors and the society
as whole ( Maros, 2006). This leads to the conclusion that the Malays cultural rules of indirect
speaking are evident in the use of request strategies as employed by the respondents.
19.

14
Therefore, the use of strategies like regret and explanation were quite high. This confirms
previous studies such as Farnia, Buchheit and Jenny Wu ( 2010), where explanation was the
second most frequently used strategy by the Malay subjects when they refused an invitation to
both higher and equal status person (e.g. a friend or a supervisor) after expressing regret.
Identical refusal behaviour by the Malays was found when refusing a request in a previous study
conducted by Farnia and Abdul Sattar (2010) as it has been reported that the preference for
indirect strategies by the Malays, particularly the use of regret, explanation and alternatives
could be explained by the subjects tendency to politely mitigate the refusal to request.
However, it seems that the subjects might have thought that when refusing a request, they
needed to offer more than a simple apology, an explanation as well suggesting alternatives in
the form of solutions. Another way of mitigation in the Malay responses was found in the use of
external modifiers like the use of pause filler in situation 1 and situation 2. They also used
positive feeling as a way to modify their refusals by showing their desire to help his or her
interlocutor but at the same time his or her inability to do so.
As for the Iraqis, the findings indicated that they show great variations in the employment of
both conducted on native speakers of Arabic like Nelson et al. (2002) who investigated the
speech act of refusal and found that Egyptian males employed more direct strategies when
refusing invitations to individuals of either higher or lower status than the Americans. As for the
use of indirect strategies, the Iraqi subjects show an identical behaviour in the use of similar
strategies like explanation, regret and others. This is also in line of other studies conducted on
native speakers of Arabic such as Al -Kahtani ( 2005) who indicated that Arabic speakers used
excuse most frequently and regret the second most frequently used strategies. He also reported
that Arabic speakers in his study make use of other semantic formulas including gratitude,
positive opinion and negative ability. They also exploited agreement and wish. This is also in line
with the results obtained from the present study as the Iraqi subjects used significantly more
wish strategy by showing their desire to help his or her interlocutor but at the same time his or
her inability to do so than.
Therefore, in the light of the findings, there is no concern for cross-cultural communication
among the Iraqi and Malaysian groups. For example, Iraqi students who study in Malaysia and
who thus interact with familiar local students and staff and perhaps with students from other
countries might not face a great chance of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and
mismanagement since there much similarities than differences in the use of strategies when
accepting or refusing an invitation. The language used in social interactions carries with it
nuances of two different cultures yet both are dominated by identi cal Islamic traditions.
Therefore, people from both cultures are expected to show a similar behaviour and treatment
even upon using a different linguistic code like English. This might leads us to conclude that the
fear of not fitting socially, when interaction among both groups might not be felt.
Finally, this study gives further relevance to the importance of the understanding of speech
acts across cultures and the fact that the understanding, or lack thereof, can hinder or
strengthen the communication exchanges between cultures. This study could be especially
relevant for teachers of foreign or second languages as it further supports the idea that
language, particularly in speech acts, is laden with culture. Speech acts include real life
interactions and require not only knowledge of the language but also appropriate use of that
language within a given culture. Though the results of the present study show more similarities
than differences between the subjects under study, further research may provide us with a
more global view of the cultural tendencies in the act of accepting and refusing invitations
among non-native speakers like Iraqis and Malays.

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15
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Appendix A

Classification of Refusals

I- Direct
A. Performative (e.g., I refuse)
B. Nonperformative statement
1. No
2. Negative willingness/ability (I cant. I wont. I dont think so.)

II- Indirect
A. Statement of regret (e.g., Im sorry, I feel terrible)
B. Wish (e.g., I wish I could help you.)
C. Excuse, reason, explanation (e.g., My children will be home that night.; I have a
headache.)
D. Statement of alternative
1. I can do X instead of Y (e.g., Id rather doId prefer)
2. Why dont you do X instead of Y (e.g., Why dont you ask
someone else?) Set condition for future or past acceptance (e.g., If you had asked me
earlier, I would have)
F. Promise of future acceptance (e.g., Ill do it next time; I promise
Ill or Next time Ill- using will of promise or promise)
G. Statement of principle (e.g., I never do business with friends.)
H. Statement of philosophy (e.g., One cant be too careful.)
I. Attempt to dissuade interlocutor
1. Threat or statement of negative consequences to the requester
(e.g., I wont be any fun tonight to refuse an invitation)
2. Guilt trip (e.g., waitress to customers who want to sit a while:
I cant make a living off people who just order coffee.)
3. Criticize the request/requester, etc. (statement of negative feeling or opinion); insult/attack
(e.g., Who do you think you are?; Thats a terrible idea!)
4. Request for help, empathy, and assistance by dropping or holding the request.
5. Let interlocutor off the hook (e.g., Dont worry about it. Thats okay. You dont have to.)
6. Self-defense (e.g., Im trying my best. Im doing all I can.
J. Acceptance that functions as a refusal
1. Unspecific or indefinite reply
2. Lack of enthusiasm
K. Avoidance
1. Nonverbal
a. Silence
b. Hesitation
c. Do nothing
d. Physical departure
2. Verbal
a. Topic switch
b. Joke
c. Repetition of part of request, etc. (e.g., Monday?)
d. Postponement (e.g., Ill think about it.)
e. Hedging (e.g., Gee, I dont know. Im not sure.)

19.

19
Adjuncts to refusals
1. Statement of positive opinions/feeling or agreement (Thats a good idea;
Id love to)
2. Statement of empathy (e.g., I realize you are in a difficult situation.)
3. Pause filler (e.g., uhh; well; uhm)
4. Gratitude/appreciation

Appendix B

Biodata:
1. Gender:
2. Age:
3. Level of study: Degree, Master, Doctorate, other :
4. Nationality:
Instructions: Please read the following 3 situations. After each situation you will be asked first to
refuse an invitation as a response in the blank after You. Respond as you would in actual
conversation

Example: One of your close friends invites you to dinner.
Your friend: How about coming over for dinner Sunday night?

You refuse by saying: Hmm, no. You know Im busy in my exams.

1. You are in your professors office talking about your final paper which is due in two weeks.
Your professor indicates that he has a guest speaker coming to his next class and invites you to
attend that lecture.
Your professor: By the way, I have a guest speaker in my next class who wi ll be discussing issues
which are relevant to your paper. Would you like to attend?

You refuse by saying:

2. A friend (who is a student) invites you to dinner.
Friend: How about coming over for dinner Sunday night? Were having a small dinner party.


3. You are a senior student in your department. A freshman, whom you met a few times before,
invites you to lunch in the university cafeteria.

Freshman: I havent had my lunch yet. Would you like to join me?

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