The paper titled "An Analysis of Mitigating Devices of Request Used by Saudi EFL Learners" examines the linguistic mitigating devices employed by Saudi learners of English as a foreign language when making requests. The study aims to identify the types of mitigating devices used and investigate how social distance affects their usage.
The research involved 97 Saudi undergraduate students majoring in English at King Khalid University. Data was collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) questionnaire containing five request situations with varying levels of social distance between interlocutors. The responses were analyzed using the Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) framework.
The findings revealed that Saudi EFL learners utilized internal mitigating devices more frequently than external ones, with 74.22% of occurrences being internal mitigations. The most common device was the interrogative form, used in 29.89% of cases. Mixed mitigating devices and syntactic downgraders were also prevalent. Regarding social distance, the results did not show a significant impact on the choice of mitigating strategies.
The study concludes that Saudi EFL learners tend to use more direct request strategies, contrasting with some previous research on other language groups. The authors suggest this may be due to cultural factors influencing perceptions of politeness and directness. These findings contribute to understanding the pragmatic competence of Saudi EFL learners and have implications for language teaching and curriculum design.
The research provides insights into the pragmatic knowledge of non-native English speakers, though the authors note limitations in generalizing the results due to the sample size and geographic scope. They recommend further studies with larger, more diverse samples to build on these findings and enhance understanding of pragmatic strategies in language learning.