| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣科技大學 === 應用外語系 === 98 === The purpose of the study was to investigate the refusal strategies used by EFL graduate students and help to offer suggestions for effective communication. The research questions in the study are: (1) What are the refusal strategies of the EFL graduate students? (2) Are there any differences between male and female EFL graduate students in using refusal strategies? (3) What are EFL graduate students’ perceptions toward the use of refusal strategies? The participants of the study were 10 graduate students selected from the graduate students in a university in northern Taiwan. The present study adopted two instruments. The main instrument was a role play sheet which was adopted from Takahashi and Uliss-Weltz’s (1990). A total of 12 situations were created on our role play sheet. Each situation contained a blank in which only a refusal would fit. The other instrument was an interview guide used to obtain more qualitative data. The result of the present study showed that the most frequent strategy used by participants is explanation and excuses. The other strategies used more often include gratitude or appreciation, pause filler, and statement of regret. Besides, The result of the study pointed out that the EFL graduate students utilized fewer direct refusal strategies. In addition, the most frequent refusal strategy is the same for males and females. Furthermore, results also indicated that most of the participants answered that rejecting the boss’s suggestion is the most difficult situations for them to refuse. Besides, most of the participants answered that rejecting a friend or a colleague is easier. In addition, results indicated that refusing in Chinese is much easier that refusing in English. Finally, the results of the present study are sexpected to enhance the understanding of EFL refusal strategies used by graduate students in Taiwan and further facilitate the effectiveness of EFL communication strategies employed by students.
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