A Cross-cultural study of the speech act of apology by Turkish and Kurdish speakers of English and the native speakers of English

Communicative competence incorporates the knowledge of syntactic rules and the target language. Speech acts, as the basic units of communication are significant in the linguistics competence in a given language. The current research study explores the speech act of apology utilized by Turkish and Kurdish (non-western cultures) speakers of English and the native speakers of English (western culture) to find out the similarities and differences in the apology strategies they employ when English is used for the medium of communication. The research study revealed significant insights into the most frequently used apology strategies by all three groups: Turkish, Kurdish, and native speakers. In the meantime, the strategies selected and utilized demonstrated that culture and cultural similarities or differences play a major role in the selection of the apology strategies in English for non-native speakers. Likewise, the level of second language proficiency is proven to be a clear indicator of native-like responses. The research findings have also indicated developments in the learners' pragmatic knowledge and awareness. Unlike this study, some further studies may include different social groups incorporating variables such as age, gender, regional and occupational differences for a comprehensive analysis.