Article published in:
Language and Dialogue
Vol. 7:3 (2017) ► pp. 387–412

The compliment response strategies of Egyptian Arabic-English bilinguals

| Prince Sultan University (Saudi Arabia)
The present study examined the compliment response behaviour of Egyptian Arabic-English bilinguals in both spoken Egyptian Arabic and English. A total of 433 undergraduates completed the Arabic and English versions of a Discourse Completion Task comprising 12 imaginary situations that varied in topic and in the relation between the interlocutors. The results revealed the participants’ preference for agreement and additional response types in both Arabic and English to varying extents while non-agreement responses were rarely used. Significant differences were noted for language type, gender, social distance, social dominance and topic while exposure to the foreign language resulted in minimal differences. Results are interpreted within a pragmatic and sociolinguistic framework and implications are proposed.
Keywords: compliment response, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, pragmatic competence, foreign language teaching
Published online: 27 November 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.7.3.03sal
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