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Article published In:
International Journal of Language and Culture
Vol. 8:2 (2021) ► pp.245–266

How Saudi migrants’ metapragmatic judgments of Arabic L1 nonverbal greetings change after intense and prolonged exposure to English

| King Khalid University
| Birkbeck, University of London

This study investigates the impact of spending more than three years in an English environment on Saudi migrants’ metapragmatic judgments of Arabic L1 nonverbal greetings and their personality traits. Participants are 437 adults comprising three groups: Saudi L2 speakers of English in the UK, Saudis in Saudi Arabia, and British L1 speakers of English in the UK. They observed and rated an audiovisual stimulus illustrating Saudi L1 nonverbal greeting behaviours of handshake and cheek-to-cheek kiss. Statistical analyses revealed that appropriateness ratings by Saudi migrants in the UK diverged from those by Saudis in Saudi Arabia and approximated those of English L1 users in the UK. Moreover, appropriateness ratings by Saudi migrants were differently associated with personality profiles, which differed for three traits between the two Saudi groups. These findings suggest change in L1 metapragmatic judgements as well as personality as a result of prolonged and intense exposure to an L2. The results are interpreted in the light of Cook’s (2012) concept of multicompetence.

Keywords: metapragmatic awareness, nonverbal greetings, personality, Arabic, English
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Transfer
    • 2.2L2 influence on L1 pragmatic competence
    • 2.3Metapragmatic awareness
    • 2.4Cultural variations in nonverbal greetings
    • 2.5Personality
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methods
    • 4.1Quantitative data
      • 4.1.1Participants
      • 4.1.1Instrument
      • 4.1.3Quantitative data collection and analysis
    • 4.2Qualitative data
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Quantitative analyses
    • 5.2Qualitative analysis
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 June 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.21013.als
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