A Study of Gender Differences in Refusal

• Main Authors: Li, Guozhen, 李虢貞
• Other Authors: Huang, Lijung
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/70920944256726281992

碩士 === 靜宜大學 === 英國語文學系 === 100 === This study explores how gender influences the use of refusal strategies to requests or invitations by Mandarin speakers in Taiwan. A situated questionnaire, Discourse Completion Test (DCT), was designed according to three factors including social, power, and imposition. The DCT was administered to a group of 100 participants including 45 males and 55 females, age ranging from 18 to 40 located in Taiwan. Two major types of refusal strategies were identified and categorized – direct and indirect refusals which were further subcategorized into 24 strategies including 8 adjuncts which accompany a refusal but cannot be used to fulfill a refusal alone according to the data. This paper will present and discuss the results which reveal that there are no significant differences between men and women in the use of refusal strategies but still have some similar and different linguistic strategies employed by men and women and also discuss how the three selected factors are at play in choosing appropriate refusal strategies.