A Cross-Cultural Study of Iranians’

and Malays’ Expressions of Gratitude

Maryam Farnia & Hiba Qusay Abdul Sattar

Reviewed by Group 3: Mai Nga / Thanh Binh / Thanh Thuy

 rrr

Research cover page

 Table Of Contents

01 02 03
Abstract, Literature Review, Methodology
Introduction Objectives Thanh Binh
Mai Nga Mai Nga

04
Results, Discussion,
05
Strengths and
Conclusion Drawbacks
Thanh Thuy Thanh Thuy & Thanh Binh
 01
Abstract & Introduction
 1.1 Abstract
→ The Abstract is an effective one with
proper length, giving an overview of
the research.
 1.2 Introduction
● Overview:
○ The increased number of migrations, businesses, travels and
international education lead to a focus on studies on intercultural
interaction.
○ Cross-cultural studies take a comparative approach focusing on the
cross-cultural similarities and differences in linguistic realization and
the socio-pragmatic judgment in different contexts (Kasper and
Schmidt, 1996)
● Scope: expressions of gratitude
● Problem: the strategies used to express appreciation are language and
cultural specific.
● Purpose: examining strategies used by Iranians and Malays when expressing
gratitude.
→ Detailed Introduction providing an overview, the problem, the scope and
the purpose of the study.
 02
Literature Review & Objectives
 2.1 Expressing gratitude and saving face
1. The theoretical framework: Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness
2. Three universal claims of politeness in communicative acts
3. The main function of politeness
4. Use of expressions of gratitude
5. Face in different contexts

→ Providing the reader with theoretical framework of the study which relates
directly to the research topic and increases one’s overall knowledge about the
topic
2.1.1. The theoretical framework
2.1.2. Three universal claims of politeness in
communicative acts
2.1.3. The main function of politeness
The main function of politeness is the use of a
variety of strategies to weaken or balance face-
threatening acts which may affect the public image
and ensuring smooth and harmonious
communication.
 2.1.4. Use of expressions of gratitude
Expressions of gratitude are used “when a speaker wants the
addressee to know that s/he is grateful for what the addressee has
said or done” (Jautz, 2008, p.142, cited in Farenkia (2012).
 2.1.5. Face in different contexts
● In the Malay context, “face” means maintaining a person’s dignity
by not embarrassing him or her as an individual.
● In Persian context, ‘pride’ and ‘honor’ are two basic components of
face, including personality, character, self-respect and social standing
as well as esteem and dignity.
 2.2 . Selected studies on expressions of gratitude
1. Pham (2013) investigated the effects of social distance on the act of expressing gratitude in
Vietnamese.
2. Siebold (2012) examined the differences in expressing explicit and implicit thanking in
Spanish and German.
3. Al-Khawaldeh and Žegarac (2013) examined Jordanians’ perceptions of the ways and
the extent to which gender influences the communication of gratitude in some everyday
situations.
4. Farnia and Raja Rozina (2009) examined the speech act of expressing gratitude among
Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners.
5. Ahar and Eslami-Rasekh (2011) investigated the use of gratitude strategies by native
English speakers, Persian native speakers and Persian EFL learners.

→ A good summary of the of relevant past research with critical evaluation , except for the
third one
→ Presenting a logical argument and building a clear rationale for additional research.
 2.3. Objectives

→ Clear objectives provide a detailed view of the aim of the study (no research
questions, however)
 03
Methodology
Subjects / Instruments / Data Analysis
 Subjects

● The researchers used a random

sampling method for selecting
the 60 respondents of this study.

● The personal details are shown

in Table 1 (Methodology – Subject
– Page 7)
 Subjects

● The subject description is detailed

and comprehensive.

● The females outnumber the males.

However, it is noted that age and
gender effects were not considered
in this study.

● Language proficiency of
participants has been addressed in
the literature review.
 Instruments
1. An open-ended questionnaire in the form of a DCT:

• Participants were asked how they

would react in each of the given
situations.

• Each situation was based on two

social variables: “relative power”
and “social distance” between the
interlocutors.
 Instruments
1. An open-ended questionnaire in the form of a DCT:

• The researchers were aware of the instrument’s drawbacks:

• “Responses to hypothetical situations do not necessarily reflect what the speakers would say if
they found themselves in these situations, but rather what they think they would say”, “more
useful in establishing what is perceived as socially appropriate in a given language.”

• “In this sense, the present study aims to examine the subjects’ ability to use a socially
appropriate language when expressing gratitude in English.” (Methodology – Instruments –
Page 8)
 Instruments
1. An open-ended questionnaire in the form of a DCT:

• The situations are well-thought, balancing the variables.

• The use of an open-ended questionnaire may not appropriately serve the first objective of
the study: “It is attempted to investigate the pragmatic behavior of Iranian and Malay
university students’ realization of the expressions of gratitude speech act.” (The objectives
of the study – Page 6).
 Instruments
2. A structured interview:

• The interview was conducted immediately after the completion of DCT. Participants were
asked about:

+ The factors they had been exactly paying attention to when they expressed gratitude with
regard to variation in contextual variables (i.e. social status and social distance)
+ The language (e.g. English, Malay, etc.) they had been thinking in when expressing the
gratitude, and whether they had switched their language of thought at some point during their
responses.
 +The
Thequestions
cultural differences
are designedwith
to respect
explore tothetherespondents’
notion of thanking between
perception the Malays
of politeness andand
international
language, which students
rightfully serves the second objective of the study.
 Data Analysis

• The respondents’ replies were coded following a coding scheme proposed by Cheng (2005)

Thanking Appreciation Positive feeling Apology

Imposition Alerter Other expressions Repayment

 The data analysis is theoretically backed up.

 04
Results & Discussion
7.1 Results about STRATEGY to express gratitude
• Both Malay and Iranian participants used “thanking” as the most frequently used strategy to express
their gratitude.
• Malays used “apology” and “alerters” more than their Iranian counterparts.

Malay Speaking indirectly, mitigating their thanking expressions using an apology

Culture “sorry” => redressing the face-threatening act of thanking.

• Iranian respondents used “positive feelings” more than their Malays counterpart.

Persian ‘super-non-egalitarian’ society (not equal), debt-sensitive culture

Culture => Speech act of gratitude is a threat to the speaker’s negative face.

Both Iranian and Malay data pose the quest that the subjects are following their understanding of the
notion of face based on the value of their own cultural background.
7.2 Results about Social STATUS and social DISTANCE
• Both Iranian and Malay respondents asserted that the degree of social status and social distance
relative to favor receivers are important.

• Both Malay and Iranian respondents reported that they would behave more formally if the favor
giver is older or a stranger and they would respond more informally if the favor giver is the same
age as they are or s/he is somebody who is familiar.

• Within Malay culture, college professors and school teachers are highly respected in East Asia
because of the influence of Confucianism. Students tend to behave respectfully when talking to their
teachers.

• The subjects also softened their responses by the use of address terms to emphasize their recognition
of the higher social rank of their interlocutors as a way of showing respect.
7.3 Results about PERCEPTION of cultural differences in the community

Few Malay participants were Iranian respondents

either familiar with or noticed reported that Malays use
any differences between expressions of thanking least
Iranian and Malay pragmatic frequently compared to
behavior in expressing Iraniansand Iranian use
gratitude. more elaborated and
extended thanking strategies
compared to Malays.
7.4 Other results
• Findings also reveal another similarity which involves reference to religious faith and is used to
express gratitude to God.

COMMENTS

• The rerults were presented clearly and logically in the tables.

• The author had connected the findings with the previous studies to strengthen the reliability.
• However, there was no explanation for the “chi-square test” that makes it difficult to understand the
statistics in Table 4.
7.5 Conclusion
• Malay students and Iranian students produced the same type of thanking strategies; however, they
differ in terms of the frequency of strategies they used.
• The findings show more similarities than differences in expressing gratitude among Iranian and Malay
respondents.
• Pedagogy implication: ESL and EFL teachers should design contextualized, task-based activities that
expose learners to different types of pragmatic information along with the linguistic means needed to
perform a particular speech act.
COMMENTS

• The research lacks of Limitation.

• The connection between the results and the pedagogy implication is not consistent.
• The conflict about the role of the language proficiency in expressing gratitude.
“Therefore, it can be assumed that there is no correlation between language proficiency and use of
strategies.” (P.5) and “In case of misunderstanding, it can be due to the level of language
proficiency or level of interaction among the two groups of native speakers” (P.16)
 05
Strengths and Drawbacks
 Strengths

Clear organisation

Adequate literature

Informative results that relevant to the research objectives

 Drawbacks
1. The research questions are not proposed.

2. The research design is not clearly described.

3. Age and gender are the two significant factors to study in communication manners;
the related studies showed the correlations of these factors and the gratitude manner.
However, their effects were not considered in this study.

Al-Khawaldeh and Žegarac (2013) – Literature review

 Drawbacks
4. The data is written language, and it was based on the given hypothetical situations,
not the real-life communication. The use of an open-ended questionnaire also
makes it less authentic and realistic to investigate the “behaviors”.

5. The effects of Language proficiency on expressing gratitude is not clearly

communicated in the research.

Farnia and Raja Rozina (2009) – Literature Review

 Drawbacks
4. The data is written language, and it was based on the given hypothetical situations,
not the real-life communication. The use of an open-ended questionnaire also
makes it less authentic and realistic to investigate the “behaviors”.

5. The effects of Language proficiency on expressing gratitude is not clearly

communicated in the research.

Conclusion – Page 16
Thank you for listening