Refusals in Chinese: How Do L1 and L2 Differ?

This article reports on an empirical study of refusal strategies in Chinese by native speakers (NS) and nonnative Chinese learners (NNS). Sixty subjects (perceived as “students”) were to refuse an invitation by “the professor” to a Chinese New Year's party. The study found that the NS group produced 10 strategies, whereas the NNS group produced seven strategies. Among the total number of strategies, both groups favored the use of “apology” and “explanation” with similar frequency while differing in the choice of other strategies and their usage frequency. In direct refusals, the author noticed negative L1 (English) pragmatic transfer of NNS. The study found that L1 and L2 refusals in Chinese present fewer similarities and more differences, presumably due to the lack of L1 intercultural knowledge of L2 learners.