Pragmatic analysis of refusal strategies in spoken English of Bahraini and Indian L2 learners

Figures & data

Table 1. SD and Frequency of RS.

SD		DCT (Request)			DCT (Offer)			Role Play
No. of RS		BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
		N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Negative ability	High	37	31	18	0	0	0	5	13	8
	Low	32	22	7	0	0	0	8	12	8
	Acq.	34	35	10	0	0	0	6	17	7
Direct No	High	11	24	1	16	33	10	5	4	2
	Low	9	8	2	22	38	17	10	4	3
	Acq.	8	13	6	14	29	9	8	3	5
St. impeding events	High	71	65	18	44	44	8	13	21	16
	Low	69	61	16	51	34	7	10	5	16
	Acq.	66	65	15	62	57	11	18	21	11
Alternative	High	20	18	8	23	27	6	0	0	0
	Low	17	27	6	34	36	14	0	0	0
	Acq.	10	20	12	22	19	5	0	0	0
Avoidance	High	7	8	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Low	29	21	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Acq.	12	10	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Statement of regret/apology	High	34	39	16	11	11	0	14	8	8
	Low	65	51	24	14	18	0	11	8	8
	Acq.	40	40	11	20	13	1	10	19	14
Let off the hook	High	0	0	0	14	24	10	0	0	0
	Low	0	0	0	6	13	7	0	0	0
	Acq.	0	0	0	6	22	10	0	0	0
Gratitude/Appreciation	High	0	0	0	47	41	20	0	0	1
	Low	0	0	0	48	51	28	1	2	6
	Acq.	0	0	0	52	59	24	6	1	4

Table 2. SD and Number of RS.

SD			DCT (Request)			DCT (Offer)			Role Play
No. of RS			BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
			N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
1	High	1	9	0	0	11	6	0	0	3	0
	Low	1	0	0	0	4	18	0	0	1	0
	Acq.	1	17	0	0	2	5	0	0	0	4
2	High	2	69	58	18	45	58	18	14	4	4
	Low	2	60	69	24	61	45	8	9	4	6
	Acq.	2	52	70	17	51	45	18	9	14	9
3	High	3	8	16	9	14	18	4	3	8	6
	Low	3	20	13	4	6	15	8	5	5	6
	Acq.	3	13	14	8	10	21	8	6	3	0
4	High	4	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	5
	Low	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4
	Acq.	4	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1
5	High	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Low	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
	Acq.	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	4

Table 3. DI and Number of RS.

DI			DCT (Request)			DCT (Offer)			Role Play
No. of RS			BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
			N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
1	low	1	17	0	0	17	19	0	0	4	0
	High	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	Med.	1	8	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	3
2	low	2	50	84	25	75	66	15	10	2	11
	High	2	77	46	14	36	48	14	10	7	2
	Med.	2	54	67	20	46	34	15	12	13	6
3	low	3	8	19	12	13	21	10	2	8	4
	High	3	17	8	3	10	10	6	7	5	4
	Med.	3	16	16	6	7	23	4	5	3	4
4	low	4	0	2	2	0	1	0	1	1	1
	High	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6
	Med.	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3
5	low	5	0	0	0	17	19	0	1	2	1
	High	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	2
	Med.	5	0	0	0	0	10	0	0	1	1

Table 4. DI and Order of RS.

		DCT- Request
Imposition	Group	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
High	BLEs	St. Impeding events (37)	St. Impeding events (52)	St. Impeding events (8)	Alternative (1)
High	ILEs	St. Regret/ Apology (42)	St. Impeding events (58)	St. Impeding events (12)	Negative ability (1) St. Impeding events (1)
High	NEs	St. Regret/ Apology (22)	Negative ability (17)	St. Impeding events (7)	Alternative (2)
Low	BLEs	St. Regret/ Apology (31)	St. Impeding events (22)	St. Impeding events (4)	————
Low	ILEs	St. Regret/ Apology (23)	St. Impeding events (20)	St. Impeding events (3)	________
Low	NEs	St. Regret/ Apology (11)	Avoidance (7)	Direct No (1) St. Impeding events (1) General principle (1)	Let off the hook (1)
Acq.	BLEs	St. Regret/ Apology (35)	St. Impeding events (38)	Statement of impending events (5)	________
Acq.	ILEs	St. Regret/ Apology (42)	St. Impeding events (43)	St. Regret/ Apology (4)	________
Acq.	NEs	St. Regret/ Apology (13)	St. Impeding events (9)	St. Impeding events (4)	________

Table 5. Gender and frequency of RS in offers.

Gender		DCT- Offerer			Refuser			Same/Opposite
No. of RS		BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
		N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Direct No	Female	29	50	22	17	56	10	28	49	18
	Male	23	50	14	35	44	26	24	30	18
St. impeding events	Female	80	69	8	74	58	19	81	67	9
	Male	77	66	18	83	77	7	76	36	17
Alternative	Female	38	42	15	36	50	15	43	37	13
	Male	41	40	10	43	32	10	36	28	12
St. regret/apology	Female	12	14	0	20	22	1	19	24	0
	Male	33	28	1	25	20	0	26	10	1
Let off the hook	Female	20	39	15	9	34	10	13	17	14
	Male	6	20	12	17	25	17	13	27	13
Gratitude/Appreciation	Female	85	87	38	76	108	33	84	72	37
	Male	62	64	34	71	43	39	63	41	35

Table 6. Gender and number of RS.

Gender	No. of RS		DCT (Request)			DCT (Offer)			Role Play
			BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
Requester Gender	1	Female	2	0	0	13	14	0	0	0	0
		Male	24	0	0	4	15	0	0	4	4
	2	Female	98	92	27	76	78	23	14	8	8
		Male	83	105	32	81	70	21	18	14	11
	3	Female	20	29	13	15	24	12	12	11	5
		Male	21	14	8	15	30	8	2	5	7
Refusers’ Gender	1	Female	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3
		Male	2	0	0	17	29	0	0	2	1
	2	Female	88	113	24	90	65	38	10	12	11
		Male	93	84	35	67	83	6	22	10	8
	3	Female	18	26	15	9	40	4	10	10	7
		Male	23	17	6	21	14	16	4	6	5
Same/ Opposite Gender	1	Same	2	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	0
		Opposite	24	0	0	17	22	0	0	4	4
	2	Same	82	98	28	87	83	25	19	18	4
		Opposite	99	99	31	70	65	19	13	4	15
	3	Same	18	24	13	16	21	6	10	8	3
		Opposite	23	19	8	14	33	14	4	8	9

Table 7. Gender and order of RS in offers.

DCT- Offer		Group	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Offerer	Female	BLEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (60)	St. of impending events (27)	St. of impeding events (8)	———
	Female	ILEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (48)	St. of impeding events (40)	Alternative (10)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (2)
	Female	NEs	Direct No (17) Gratitude/ Appreciation (17)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (16)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (5)	———
	Male	BLEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (40)	St. of impeding events (42)	Negative ability (5)	St. of Regret/ Apology (2)
	Male	ILEs	Direct No (50)	St. of impeding events (35)	Alternative (9)	St. of Regret/ Apology (1)
	Male	NEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (16)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (18)	St. of impeding events (4)	———
Refuser	Female	BLEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (62)	St. of impeding events (31)	St. of impeding events(3)	St. of Regret/ Apology (2)
	Female	ILEs	Direct No (53)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (46)	Alternative (17)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (1)
	Female	NEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (25)	St. of impeding events (15)	St. of impeding events (3) St. of Positive Opinion, feeling, or agreement (3)	———
	Male	BLEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (38)	St. of impeding events (38)	St. of impeding events (10)	———
	Male	ILEs	Direct No (44)	St. of impeding events (40)	St. of impeding events (5)	St. of Regret/ Apology (1)
	Male	NEs	Direct No (21)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (27)	Alternative (4) Gratitude/ Appreciation (4)	———
Opposite	Same	BLEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (60)	St. of impeding events (37)	St. of impeding events (8)	———
	Same	ILEs	Direct No(48)	St. of impeding events (36)	Alternative(9)	Let off the hook(1)
	Same	NEs	Direct No (18)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (19)	St. of impeding eve (3)ts3	———
	Opp.	BLEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (40)	St. of impeding events (32)	St. of impeding events (5) Alternative (5)	St. of Regret/ Apology (2)
	Opp.	ILEs	Direct No(30)	St. of impeding events (19)	Alternative(8)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (2)
	Opp.	NEs	Gratitude/ Appreciation (16)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (15)	Alternative (5)	———

Table A1. SD and order of RS.

		DCT Request
Refuser Distance	Group	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
High	BLEs	St. Regret/ Apology (50)	St. Impeding events (35)	St. Impeding events(10)	———
High	ILEs	St. Regret/ Apology (41)	St. Impeding events (40)	St. Impeding events (6)	———
High	NEs	St. Regret/ Apology (22)	Avoidance (9)	St. Impeding events (2)	———
Low	BLEs	St. Regret/ Apology (26) Negative ability (24)	St. Impeding events (49)	Negative ability (3)	Alternative (1) St. Regret/Apology (1)
Low	ILEs	St. Regret/ Apology (29) Direct No (23)	St. Impeding events (44)	St. Regret/ Apology (5)	Negative ability(1) St. impeding events (1)
Low	NEs	St. Regret/ Apology (14)	Negative ability (13)	St. Impeding events (6)	Alternative (2)
Acq.	BLEs	St. Impeding events (33)	St. Impeding events (28)	St. Impeding events (5) Negative ability (4)	———
Acq.	ILEs	St. Regret/ Apology (37)	St. Impeding events (37)	St. Impeding events (5)	———
Acq.	NEs	St. Regret/ Apology (10)	St. Impeding events (9)	St. Impeding events (4)	Let off the hook (1)

Table A2. DI and Frequency of RS.

DI		DCT (Request)			DCT (Offer)			Role Play
No. of RS		BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
		N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Negative ability	High	56	44	24	0	0	0	9	18	12
	Low	15	16	2	0	0	0	2	12	3
	Acq.	32	28	9	0	0	0	8	12	8
Direct No	High	7	22	0	33	49	29	9	3	2
	Low	11	11	7	11	30	3	7	5	3
	Acq.	10	12	2	8	21	4	7	3	5
St. impeding events	High	97	96	24	80	67	12	16	14	15
	Low	37	35	7	38	36	7	13	16	14
	Acq.	72	60	18	39	32	7	12	17	14
Alternative	High	19	17	16	43	37	15	0	0	0
	Low	18	24	2	24	28	4	0	0	0
	Acq.	10	24	8	12	17	6	0	0	0
Avoidance	High	6	7	3	0	0	0	0	2	5
	Low	25	17	9	0	0	0	2	3	6
	Acq.	17	15	9	0	0	0	3	6	9
Statement of regret/apology	High	47	51	23	21	24	0	14	13	13
	Low	40	29	12	16	10	1	6	9	4
	Acq.	52	50	16	8	8	0	15	13	13
Let off the hook	High	0	0	0	7	17	6	1	0	2
	Low	0	0	0	15	27	14	4	7	4
	Acq.	0	0	0	4	15	7	0	1	2
Gratitude/Appreciation	High	0	0	0	71	72	42	0	0	0
	Low	0	0	0	38	41	14	0	0	0
	Acq.	0	0	0	38	38	16	0	0	0

Table A3. Gender and Frequency of RS in Requests.

Gender		DCT- Requester			Refuser			Same/Opposite
No. of RS		BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
		N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Negative ability	Female	70	45	16	51	61	21	49	48	18
	Male	48	43	19	52	27	14	54	40	17
Direct No	Female	1	26	9	14	18	4	13	31	4
	Male	13	19	0	14	27	5	15	14	5
St. impeding events	Female	71	92	27	98	99	27	111	98	31
	Male	99	99	22	108	92	22	95	93	18
Alternative	Female	7	31	11	26	30	16	24	28	15
	Male	30	34	15	21	35	10	23	37	11
Avoidance	Female	12	15	8	23	19	9	28	21	8
	Male	33	24	13	25	20	12	20	18	13
Statement of regret/apology	Female	14	64	24	59	86	23	72	66	24
	Male	65	66	27	80	44	28	67	64	27

Table A4. Gender and frequency of RS in role plays.

Gender		RP- Requester/ Offerer			Refuser			Same/Opposite
No. of RS		BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE	BLE	ILE	NE
		N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Negative ability	Female	13	20	6	12	19	12	14	31	13
	Male	6	22	17	7	23	11	5	11	10
Direct No	Female	11	9	2	12	2	7	20	4	5
	Male	12	2	8	11	9	3	3	7	5
St. impeding events	Female	24	27	16	26	25	20	29	33	29
	Male	17	20	27	15	22	23	12	14	14
Avoidance	Female	2	5	10	1	5	10	4	11	12
	Male	3	6	10	4	6	10	1	0	8
St. regret/Apology	Female	20	23	8	22	21	15	23	27	21
	Male	15	12	22	13	14	15	12	8	9
St. positive opinion, feeling, or agreement	Female	0	5	7	1	5	8	1	10	12
	Male	2	5	8	1	5	7	1	0	3

Table A5. Gender and order of RS in requests.

DCT-Request		Group	1st	2^nd	3rd	4th
Requester	Female	BLEs	St.of impeding events(63)	Negative ability(21)	St. of Regret/ Apology (60)	Negative ability(15)
	Female	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (53)	St. of impeding events (58)	St. of impeding events (13)	St. of impeding events (1)
	Female	NEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(22)	St. of impeding events (15)	St. of impeding events (7)	Alternative (1)
	Male	BLEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(43)	St. of impeding events (49)	St.of impeding events (9)	Alternative (1)
	Male	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (54)	St. of impeding events (63)	Negative ability (6)	Negative ability (1)
	Male	NEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (24)	St. of impeding events (14)	St. of impeding events (5)	Alternative (1)
Refuser	Female	BLEs	St.of Regret/ Apology (39)	St. of impeding events(55)	St.of impeding events (8)	St. of Regret/ Apology (1)
	Female	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (68)	St. of impeding events (59)	St. of impeding events (12)	St. of impeding events (1)
	Female	NEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(22)	Negative ability(16)	St. of impeding events(11)	Alternative(2)
	Male	BLEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (64)	St. of impeding events (57)	St. of impeding events (9)	Alternative (1)
	Male	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (39)	St. of impeding events(62)	St. of impeding events(6)	Negative ability(1)
	Male	NEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (24)	St. of impeding events (17)	Negative ability(3)	———
Opposite	Same	BLEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(50)	St. of impeding events(62)	St. of impeding events(9)	Alternative(1)
	Same	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(52)	St. of impeding events(66)	St. of impeding events(9)	Negative ability(1)
	Same	NEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(22)	St. of impeding events(18)	St. of impeding events(8)	Alternative(1)
	Opp.	BLEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(53)	St. of impeding events (50)	St. of impeding events(8)	———
	Opp.	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(55)	St. of impeding events(55)	St. of impeding events(9)	———
	Opp.	NEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(24)	Negative ability(13)	St. of impeding events(4)	Alternative(1)

Table A6. Gender and order of RS in role plays.

Role Play		Group	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Requester/ Offerer	Female	BLEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (17)	St. of impeding events (11)	St. of impeding events (8)	Gratitude/ Appreciation (2)
	Female	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(10)	St. of impeding events (11)	St. of impeding events (7)	St. of Regret/ Apology (2) St. of impeding events (2)
	Female	NEs	St. of impeding events (7)	St. of impeding events (5)	Negative ability (2) St. of impeding events (2) Alternative (2)	Alternative (2)
	Male	BLEs	Direct No (10)	St. of impeding events (12)	St. of Regret/ Apology (4)	Negative ability (1)
	Male	ILEs	St. of impeding events (9)	Negative ability (9)	Negative ability (4)	Negative ability (2)
	Male	NEs	St. of impeding events (8)	St. of impeding events (11)	St. of Regret/ Apology (8)	St. of Regret/ Apology (2)
Refuser	Female	BLEs	St. of impeding events (13)	Negative ability (7)	St. of Regret/ Apology (6)	St. of impeding events (2)
	Female	ILEs	St. of impeding events (13)	Negative ability (7)	St. of Regret/ Apology(6)	St. of impeding events(2)
	Female	NEs	St. of impeding events (6)	St. of impeding events (7)	St. of Regret/ Apology (6)	St. of Regret/ Apology (3)
	Male	BLEs	Direct No (9)	St. of impeding events (10)	St. of impeding events (8)	Negative ability (2)
	Male	ILEs	Direct No(9)	St. of impeding events (10)	St. of impeding events (8)	Negative ability (2)
	Male	NEs	St. of impeding events (9)	St. of impeding events (9)	Negative ability (5)	Alternative (2) Negative ability(2) St. of impeding events (2)
Opposite	Same	BLEs	Direct No(17)	St. of impeding events (14)	St. of impeding events(10)	Negative ability (2) Gratitude/ Appreciation(2)
	Same	ILEs	St. of Regret/ Apology(13)	St. of impeding events (13)	St. of Regret/ Apology (8)	St. of impeding events(3)
	Same	NEs	St. of impeding events(8)	St. of impeding events(12)	St. of Regret/ Apology(6)	St. of impeding events (4)
	Opp.	BLEs	St. of Regret/ Apology (10)	St. of impeding events(9)	St. of Regret/ Apology (2)	———
	Opp.	ILEs	Direct No (7)	Negative ability (6)	St. of impeding events(4)	St. of Regret/ Apology (1)
	Opp.	NEs	St. of impeding events (7)	Let off the hook (4) St. of impeding events(4)	St. of Regret/ Apology (4)	Alternative (1) St. of Regret/ Apology(1) Direct No (1)