Arab World English Journal ( August 2023) Theses ID 297 Pp. 1-68
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.297
A Sociopragmatic Study of the Strategies of Ostensible Invitations in Saudi Arabic
Shorouq Ashoor Dhaifallah Alzahrani
Department of English Language and Literature
Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia
Email: Azzahranishorouq@gmail.com
Author: Shorouq Ashoor Dhaifallah Alzahrani
Thesis Title: A Sociopragmatic Study of the Strategies of Ostensible Invitations in Saudi Arabic
Institution: Department of English Language and Literature, Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia
Degree: M.A
Subject/Major: Linguistics
Year of award: 2023
Supervisor: Abdulrahman Al-Shabeeb
ORCid ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5561-6957
Keywords: Ostensible invitations, Pretense, Sincerity, Saudi Arabic, Ostensibility
Abstract:
The current study investigated the speech act of ostensible invitations in Saudi Arabic from a sociopragmatic perspective. It was conducted to examine whether Saudi Arabic speakers draw on the same strategies stipulated by Clark and Isaacs (1990) for extending ostensible invitations. Additionally, the study aimed at investigating whether there are Saudi-specific strategies for extending ostensible invitations. To this end, the study examined 37 recalled instances of ostensible invitations provided by Saudi Arabic speakers in the Central Region of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. The corpus of the study was compiled through face-to-face and written interviews with 37 informants aged between 18 to 60. The collected data was analyzed on the basis of Clark and Isaacs’s seven strategies for establishing ostensible invitations. Results showed that Saudi Arabic speakers utilize the seven strategies proposed by Clark and Isaacs for extending ostensible invitations, yet with relative weight. The most frequently used strategies by Saudi Arabic speakers to issue ostensible invitations in the collected exchanges were the absence of persistence, which was detected in (86%) of the exchanges, and the absence of motivating the invitee, which was used in (73%) of the collected ostensible invitations. Those were followed in order of frequency by vague arrangements (59%), implausibility (49%), inappropriate cues (19%), solicitation (14%), and hedging (5%). In addition to Clark and Isaacs’s proposed strategies, the study found that three more strategies are employed by Saudi Arabic speakers to highlight the ostensibility of their invitations which are: using intensifying and empty swearing devices (e.g., d̪ˁaroori, laazem, wallah, etc.) (27%), extending the invitation in the form of a question (5%), and asking someone else to extend the invitation on behalf of the inviter (5%), the last of which seems to be peculiar to Saudi Arabic speakers.
Cite as: Alzahrani, S.A.D. (2023). A Sociopragmatic Study of the Strategies of Ostensible Invitations in Saudi Arabic. Department of English Language and Literature, Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia (M.A.Thesis). Retrieved from Arab World English Journal (ID Number: 297) August 2023: 1-68.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.297
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