A Sociolinguistic study of American and Indonesian apology strategies based on status

Lie, Ho (1998) A Sociolinguistic study of American and Indonesian apology strategies based on status. Bachelor thesis, Petra Christian University.

Abstract

This study investigates apology strategies used by Indonesians and Americans in their own languages in three designed situations involving three types of relationship between eomplainer and complainee. It is aimed to find the similarities and differences between the two nationalities in using apology strategies. Based on data elicited from 15 Indonesians and 15 Americans by means of discourse completion tests, it is noted that all strategies outlined by Olshtain and Cohen and Trosborg are present ! among both Indonesian and American participants. With some strategies, both nationalities are found to react to the status parameter. Both offer direct apology more to superiors than to subordinates. Promise of for-bearance are given only to superiors while no concerns for hearer are directed to them. Both also share similar tendency to use some strategies much more often than they use others. Offer of repair, expression of apology, expla-nation and acknowledgement are those used to high frequen-cy. However, differences are detected between the two groups of participants in the distribution of the strategies in the three situations. In the most frequently used strategy, that is offer of repair, for instance, the Americans employ it equally often in the three situations, while Indonesian participants give it most often to in-feriors, and to superiors the least.

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