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Preliminary Draft

Speech act of Warning

Comparative Study between Jordanian and Malaysian

Students at UKM

BY

Ala' Eddin Abdullah Ahmed Bani kalef

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Introduction:

During the past two decades, much work in linguistics has focused on sentences as minimal units

of communication, and the project of rigorously characterizing the structure of sentences in

natural language has met with some success. Not surprisingly, however, sentence grammars have

contributed little to the analysis of discourse. Human discourse consists not just of words in

sequences, hut of words in sequences directed by a speaker to an addressee, used to represent

situations and to reveal intentions. Only when the addressee has apprehended both these aspects

of the message communicated can the message be interpreted (David Andreoff Evans,1981)

Language plays a great role in our life. It is the system of human communication which

consists of the structured arrangement of sounds (or their written representation) into larger units,

e.g. morphemes, words, sentences, and utterances. In common usage it can also refer to non-

human systems of communication such as the “language” of bees, and the language of dolphins.

(Jack C. Richards: 196).

Language is an integral part of human behavior. It is the primary means of interaction

between people. Speakers use language to convey their thoughts, feelings, intonations, and

desires to others. Language is enriched by the uses that people make of it these uses, and the

meaning transmitted, are situational social and cultural .Situational meanings are conveyed

trough forms of language that occur or are excluded in various context. (Bonvillain 2008).

Likewise, De Laguna (1927: 20) (cited in Nerlich 1956: 328) states that "speech is the

great medium through which human cooperation is brought about". This means that language is

fundamentally a medium for functional communication. Further, Communication is defined,

according to (Devito 1997), as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt

to create shared understanding. This process requires a vast repertoire of skills in intrapersonal

and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and

evaluating. Use of these processes is developmental and transfers to all areas of life: home,

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school, community, work, and beyond. It is through communication that collaboration and

cooperation occur.

Moreover, it is a fact that speech functions are not determined by the type of the sentence,

i.e. whether declarative, imperative, etc. The following utterances (a) and (b) do things. There are

no special grammatical marks that identify them (they just look like ordinary imperative

sentences, but they differ in function):

a. Do that one more time and see what happens. (Warning)

b. Get out of here! (Giving instructions)

It is axiomatic to say that sentences can convey various functions. A simple single

sentence can express different functions. For example, a simple declarative sentence such as

'This is my chair' can be viewed as a statement, an interrogative, an exclamatory sentence or an

order. A sentence like “I will see you after three hours” can be taken as a warning, a promise or a

prediction, also In saying, "Watch out, the ground is slippery", we performs the speech act of

warning someone to be careful.. All of these acts share the same proposition; i.e., I will see you

after three hours, but they differ in their illocutionary force: a warning, a promise, or a

prediction. This, of course, depends on the way the speaker exploits the same words, behind

which he or she wants to convey his or her message to the addressee(s). Moreover, in order to

know which of these views or meanings is implied, we require the pragmatics of the sentence.

This would include the following sort of information: about the identity of the speaker and

listener, the speaker's intention in using the utterance, or the context within which the sentence

took place.

Depending on the previous preview, the researcher will adopt the speech act theory in

analyzing and comparing the speech act of warning in Jordanian Arabic and Malaysian

English varieties. In this study, the researchers will examine, depending on a questionnaire made

in UKM, the definitions, strategies, expressions, patterns and means that determine and specify

warning acts in communicative interplays and interactions: how does an interlocutor express and

comprehend warnings in particular social contexts?

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In this study, the researchers will examine some strategies, realizations, expressions, patterns and

means that determine and specify warning acts in communicative interplays and interactions:

how does an interlocutor express and comprehend warnings in particular social contexts?

The study provides some imaginative situations along with its responses from both Jordanian and

Malaysian participants to investigate and scrutinize the linguistic and pragmatic features that

show and characterize the function of warning as a speech act in both Jordanian and Malaysian

social contexts.

LITERETUARE REVIEW

One of the powerful theoretical paradigms thatimpacted the course of linguistic inquiry in this

regard is Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1955).

Austin’s theory described three acts of statements: Locutionary acts, Illocutionary acts

andPerlocutionary acts. He focused on illocutionary acts,asserting that here we might find the

“force” of a statement and establish its performative nature. For example, to say:

1. “Don´t run with scissors.”

2. “I warn you, don´t run with scissors.”

The first statement has the force of a warning when spoken in a certaincontext. This

utterance may be stated in an explicitly performative way. The second statement is neither

truenor false. Instead, it creates a warning. By hearing the statement andunderstanding it as a

warning, the auditor is warned, which is not to saythat the auditor must or will act in any

particular way regarding thewarning.

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Allwood (1977) claims that we often recognize our utterances as being of a certain type

of action through the conventional content of the words we use. Then he turns to the question of

in what sense illocutionary forces are conventional. He gives the following examples:

(1) There is a bull in the meadow. (Implied Performative)

(2) I warn you there is a bull in the meadow. (Explicit Performative)

The lexical content of warn in conjunction with the indicative form of (2) makes it natural to

think that (2) has the force of a warning not a promise. This means that no specific conventions

for warning other than the lexical conventions connecting the word warn with its content are

really required.

Korta (2006)claims thatspeech acts are communicative acts performed through the oral or

written use of language. He focuses on the fact that a certain speech act can be variously

expressed; for example, he states that the following utterances express the same function, i.e.

warning: "I bet that there is a dangerous animal there," "I guarantee that there is a dangerous

animal there," "I warn you that there is a dangerous animal there." The word dangerous is often

employed for the speech act of warning.

There are differences between direct speech act and indirect speech act between researchers.

According to (Ferris, 2007; Riley and Mackiewitz, 2003) indirect speech act is preferred for

them than direct speech act because it is very motivated and encouraged to learning process and

learnsto correct the mistakes. They state that indirect speech act helps persons to discover their

own errors and they create new informationand ideas. On the other hand,(Champagne, 2001;

Holtgraves, 1999), point out that indirect speech acts may be more difficult to understand than

direct speech act, and indirect speech often takes significantly longer to reply to than direct

speech because it may take more mental processes to realize and understand.(Mills, 2003) states

that teachers may use politeness strategies such as indirect speech forms to soften a face-

threatening situation. He gives one comment requested the student to change a verb to past

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tense.The direct form was “change the verb remember to past tense,” the indirect form was

“could you change the verb tense?” We can notice the indirect form is more polite than direct

form.Cited in Baker and Bricker (2010).

Wunderlich (1980) state that speech acts can form sequences, where complex speech acts can

have elementary speech acts as their components, and where the perlocutionary object of one

illocution can be the sequel of another. Austin (1962) uses the speech act of warning as an

example: a warning may produce the sequel of deterrence, and saying something which aims at

deterrence may produce the sequel of alerting or even alarming.

Methodology

- The participants:

The participants of this study were 10 graduate participants. Six graduate Malaysian

participants provided native Malaysian data; four Jordanian graduate participants

provided the native Jordanian data. The participants of this study are doing their masters

or PH.D degrees. The age of the participants ranged from 23 to 37 years of age. The

participants are selected graduate because they are expected to have acquired the

appropriate sociolinguistic or social communication rules that represent the norms of their

cultures.

The participants are not required to follow any rules, but to express their reactions to

obtain realistic responses. Jordanian participants are asked to express their reactions in

their mother tongue to achieve real and serious responses.

- Data collection:

Data for this study was collected through an open ended questionnaire based on

interview data. The researchers interview graduate participants for eight imaginative

situations. The participants are asked about their reactions if they were in those specific

situations. The researchers record the reactions of participants of the eight situations

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which are divided into three sections according to the relationship between the Warner

and the Warned: from Higher to Lower, from Lower to Higher, and from Equal to Equal.

- Data analysis

There are three sections in analyzing the data: from High to Low, from Low to High, and

from Equal to Equal. After collecting the data, warning strategies have been classified

into four strategies (requesting, alerting, threatening, and advising). Some of which

have appeared in the three sections (Higher to Lower, from Lower to Higher, and from Equal

to Equal), others in either one of them. During the analysis, politeness in acting warning

will be taken into consideration.

Data Analysis for Jordanian participants' reactions

We suggest two general aspects in analyzing the data: formal and informal situations.

Each aspect will be looked at according to the relationship between the Warner and the Warned

which is of three sections: from High to Low, from Low to High, and from Equal to Equal. In

this analysis I will shed light on Brown’s theory of politeness to see to which extent Jordanian

Arab participants use polite expressions in their warnings.

General Overview

To most people act of warnings are multi-word hazard statements such as Danger, watch

out, watch up, and Keep out. However, most of the research that has systematically compared

differences in the word of warnings has examined individual signal words, such as danger,

Warning, and Caution. When presented individually, some signal words have been shown to

connote different levels of risks (e.g., Wogalter & Silver, 1995). For example, Danger is usually

rated higher than Warning or Caution, but there is little difference between perceptions of

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WARNING and CAUTION. Some of Malaysian participants used single word in warning

hearer .For example, Student's No 6 who expressed most of warning situations with one word,

he used ,caution , danger , and watch up .

However, some of participants mixed between using warning and threatening statements in

their reactions .for example Student's No 2 in his answer on the warning situation No 7 she said

'' This is the third time you late ,one more time you will be terminated'' .According to Donaghy ,

there are four kinds of speech act , advice , warnings ,promises and threats. Nicoloff claims

(1989, p.501) that the contrast between threatening and warning is very crucial .First; warning is

cooperative, whereas threats are uncooperative. Warning is an act of collaboration where the

speaker alerts the addressee to be on guard against potential danger .Threats, in contrast, are acts

of aggression.

Austin, furthermore; differentiates between threatening and warning (Recanati, 1987, p.68)

when he categorized threats in the perlocutionary act whereas warning in illocutionary category.

Illocutionary acts: “such as informing, ordering, warning, undertaking, &c., i.e. utterances which

have a certain (conventional) force.” Perlocutionary acts: “what we bring about or achieve by

saying something, such as convincing, persuading, deterring, and even, say, surprising or

misleading”. Austin focused on illocutionary acts, maintaining that here we might find the

“force” of a statement and demonstrate its performative nature. For example, to say “Don´t run

with scissors” has the force of a warning when spoken in a certain context. Also Nicoloff

(1989.p.501) puts threats in the category of prelocutionary acts because perlocutionary acts are

reactions to, or aftereffects of, the utterance made in speech act.

According to Austin, also; the speech act of warning may be expressed by both Declarative

clauses (Bro , the seat is dirty) and imperative as ( Don't move further). One distinction Austin

makes in relation to Speech act of warning is that between implicit performatives and explicit

performatives. The intended illocutionary force of the imperative 'Don't do it', for example, is

implicit, as what the speaker has in mind by saying, it is not specifically indicated. Due to the

implicit nature of the clause, 'Don't do it' can be, depending on the paralinguistic or kinesic cues

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given by the speaker, and on the power or status relationship between the speaker and hearer, a

warning, a command, a request or an advice.

In order for the speaker to make the illocutionary force explicit, he or she has to indicate the

speech act involved by adding in what is called the performative verb before the clause. If the

clause is not declarative, this will involve its grammatical conversion into a declarative clause (or

a clause complex with declarative components): 'I warn you not to do it', 'I order you not to do it',

'I advise you not to do it' etc. In fact, all Malaysian participants' answers on the situation No one

are explicit warning statements.

Malaysian Participants, Moreover, fluctuate in using both direct speech and indirect speech in

their answers .Some of them used indirect speech as an act of politeness. According to Brown

and Levinson, politeness strategies are developed in order to save the hearers' "face." Face refers

to the respect that an individual has for him or herself, and maintaining that "self-esteem" in

public or in private situations. Beside the indirect speech, they used some of words that express

polite warning such as: Excuse me, please, and sorry. I f we examine participants' answer on the

same situation No sex, we will find that six participants out of eight use those words.

In addition, Malaysian participant use both speech and gesture to warn others and the most

common gesture for warning someone (Student NO 2 said This is the third time you late, one

more time you will be terminated, for example) consist of extending the index finger from a fist,

and then moving the hand back and forth with the index finger pointing towards the person being

warned .In fact, the pointing of a finger at someone in Arabic culture may be considered an

extreme insult or threat. They also used facial expression and shaking head as sign of warning or

to alert other. Student No 4said, for example, " Shake my head and hands and point to the seat''

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Participants, also, used different verbs in warning act as warn, advise, alert, and caution.. To

warn someone to do something is to suggest that he do it, while presupposing that it would be

bad for him not to do it (preparatory condition). On the other hand, to advise a course of action is

to suggest that someone perform that action while presupposing that it would be good for him to

do it. This opposition in the preparatory conditions explains why one and the same speech act

can be both a warning in the assertive sense and advice in the directive sense. For example, in

warning you that this part of town is dangerous at night, I can also advise you indirectly to stay

away from it. To caution is to warn or advise the hearer to take care of something (propositional

content condition). An alert is a warning to prepare for action against imminent potential danger

(such as the possibility of attack, "walking on thin ice", etc.).

Deep Analysis

In this phase, the writers will take into account two types of warning situations: formal and

informal. Then, the situations will be analyzed according to felicity conditions. In other words,

the relationship between the Warner and the addressee will be taken into consideration according

three sections: from High to Low, from Low to High, and from Equal to Equal.

Section 1: from Higher to Lower

Warnings expressed by Malaysian participants, in questions number 2,5 and 7, show that

warning from higher to lower can be formulated by various statements:

1. Requesting

Malaysian participant use both imperative and declarative sentences to warn other, for example:

Declarative sentences:

A. ''Mr. please be careful, the wires are bare ''.

B. Hey look ,watch out , look at the wires''

Utterances (a) and (b) refer to the same situation, which represent the formal relationship

from higher to lower. Utterance (a) shows that the Warner 'headmaster' alerts the addressee

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''teacher'' in polite way by using implicit performatives and by using the word 'please' that

soften the harshness of a direct request . Whereas statement (b) represents explicit warning, in

one hand, since the Warner cautions the addressee by using these words hey , look and watch

out. In other hand, utterance (b) represents negative politeness because the Warner cautions the

addressee without using any nickname.

Requesting, also, can be with justifying reason or not. Statement (a) is an example of

requesting with reasoning ''be careful'' because ''the wires are bare'' but (b) shows requesting

without reasoning. Reasons were used, to allow the person making the request, and to smooth the

harshness of a direct request and to appear polite.

Imperative sentences:

A. Don't move further

B. Hey , students do not go over there its danger

Negative imperative sentences were used by Malaysian participants to represent requesting may

function as a warning. In these sentences (a) and (b), one person is in a subordinate position

(student) and the other in a superordinate position (teacher). Utterance (a) direct request appear to

be threatening and the power of the Warner is clearly appears and tends to be a command,

thought the Warner did not give any reason for this command ,while (b) the Warner asked

students to avoid going over because it's dangerous .

3. Alert

A. ''I will alert the teacher, please be careful there is some wires are bare''.

B. ''Watch up your steps''.

An alert is a warning to prepare for action against imminent potential danger cited in (Daniel

Vanderveken. p. 174).Also alert may be expressed in two forms .Firstly, polite form that is

formulated by adding both, the marker please that help to excite agreeable emotions with

addressees, and the name of the hearer or his nickname, and this clearly appear in sentence (a).

Secondly, impolite form represents in sentence (b) and the social position of the speaker is

clearly visible in this utterance. Hence, the speaker used the imperative form to alert the hearer to

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be more caution with his steps without mentioning reasons for this instruction, which may

interpret as an insult that embarrasses the addressee.

3. Threatening

According to Brown and Levinson, positive and negative face exist universally in human

culture. In social interactions, face-threatening acts are at times inevitable based on the terms of

the conversation. A face-threatening act is an act that inherently damages the face of the

addressee or the speaker by acting in opposition to the wants and desires of the other.

Threatening act is another way of requesting that reflect the social status of the speaker and the

hearer. In this section, the authors will point out to the threatening between the higher'' speaker''

and the lower ''hearer''. Thus, the author will examine different Malaysian participants' answer on

the same situation particularly situation number seven.

A. ''This is the third time you late ,one more time you will be terminated''

B. ''If you late again tomorrow , do not bother to come to work again next week''

C. ''This will be the last warning for you; I hope do not repeat it again''.

Utterances (a) and (b) are for the speaker. He directly indicates that he dislikes some aspect

of the hearer’s personal attributes (hearer's punctuality).Requesting by threatening is that the

speaker believes that the hearer can do this request, otherwise the hearer will be punished

(fired).Threatening someone verbally can be analyzed, according to Nicoloff, as speaker saying

something to an addressee in order to get the addressee to think that the speaker is going to cause

harm to the addressee with the purpose of frightening the addressee and thereby getting the

addressee to do as the speaker wishes. Explicit act of threatening that were used by Malaysian

participants by using explicit if clause as in (a) or implicit one as in (b). On other hand, utterance

(c) the speaker did not use either implicit or explicit if cause, and he used the word hope to

mitigate the hearer's feeling so the utterance(c ) is considered to be more polite than (a) and (b).

Section two: Lower to Higher

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1. Requesting

Warning through requesting is common use by Malaysian participants .They used various

utterances in warning addressees. Hearers' social status in this section is higher than the speakers'

social position. Consider the following utterances:

A. ''Careful Mom, dad tea is hot''

B. ''Mom and dad ,be careful the tea is very hot''

The above utterances are one of them is in the declarative form (a), and the other is in

imperative. In both sentences, the speaker used vocative words (mom.dad) which represent high

mark of veneration the addressee. Also in both utterances, the speakers used implicit warning

which considers another way of felicitous requesting.

2. Alerting

A. I will shout on my father ,dad there is a cat

B. Scream, Watch out there is cat dad!

C. Shout cat, cat!

D. Pa, there is a cat! Stop!

E. Dad , that is cat sitting over there

In above utterances (a,b,c), the speaker alerted the addressee by shouting and scramming,

which represent impolite way in warning, since it may startle the hearer, and then the worst will

happen as an (accident).While utterances (d,e) the speaker alert the hearer in appropriate way by

using the vocative word (pa and dad) so, these utterances are an example of polite way of

communicating with other who is in superordinate position.

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3. Advising

A. ''Dad there is a kitten there at the parking. I think you should park somewhere else!''

B. ''Mother, father, I think the tea is too hot to drink!''

The above utterances are examples show how Malaysian participants used advising to warn

other who is in superordinate position. Utterance (a) the speaker used direst strategy in

suggestion, in which the speaker clearly states what he/she means, cited in (Koester 2002).

However; the use of imperatives as in (a) are also regarded as the most direct and impolite forms

of making a suggestion (Edmonsonand House 1981; Koike 1994; Hinkel 1997) since they have

the most literal pragmatic force. In other hand; utterance (b), the speaker applied different type of

advising . This type of conventionalised forms used to make suggestions (Banerjee and

Carrell1988) still allow the hearers to understand the speaker's intentions behind the suggestion.

Section three: Equal to Equal

1) Requesting

A. ''Tell him to be serious and tell him about the important of coming on time''. B. ''Brother please comes on time, or else we will die''.

C. ''Make sure you are on time, or not, I will not join you anymore.''

The above utterances describe the same situation. These utterances have different level of

politeness as the following:

o (A) and (c) have not any mark of politeness, since the speaker used the direct imperative

and the implicit Result clauses which is considered as a sign of threatening, while,

o Utterance (b) the speaker used lovely vocative words as ''brother and please'', so this

utterance has high level of reciprocal emotions.

o

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2) Alerting

A. ''Excuse me sir the seat is not clear''.

B. ''Excuse me sir the seat is very dirty was spill some milk''.

C. Excuse me please do not sit on this seat because I already spilled a bottle of milk on this

seat, I am truly sorry.

D. ''Hey , do not sit there is a milk , sorry I accident''

E. ''Bro, the seat I dirty''.

Although all the above utterances relate to the same situation, they have disparate level of

politeness as well different ways in apology. Goffman (1971) defines apologies as remedial

interchanges used to reestablish social harmony after a real or virtual offense. He further claims

that a successful apology has felicity conditions the most important of which are for the

apologizer to acknowledge an offense has taken place, to take responsibility for that offense, and,

finally, to offer some compensation or reparation. In order for an apology to have an effect, it

should reflect true feelings. Utterance © has higher level of politeness than other utterances,

because the speaker applied the apology strategy as the following:

§ Expressing regret for the offense through the use of intensifiers such as sorry and truly.

§ Requesting the acceptance of the given apology with clauses such as Excuse me and

please.

§ Acknowledging responsibility for the act. Cited in (Fraser (1981:263)

§ Implicit or explicit explanation or account by the offender to mitigate his/her responsibility. Cited in Trosborg (1987:150–152)

3) Threatening

A. ''Make sure you will reach before 10 :.am we will be in deep trouble if we failed to make

it , okay''!

B. ''Deal or die''

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Utterances (a) and (b), show that the speaker used inimical threatening since he/she

cautioned the hearer by giving the negative ramifications if the addressee does not respect the

appointment.

Results

The findings revealed that Malaysian respondents used the following warning patterns: § Requesting § Alert § Advising § threatening

The authors note the following:

A. The formulas of speech act of warning are determined by social distance, formality of the

situation, and status of the participants.

B. Findings further reveal that the majority of the respondents used explicit rather than

implicit warning strategies.

C. Malaysian participants tend to use repetition strategy in warning such as, shout shout or

hot hot.

D. Empirical findings seem to suggest that gender differences do exist in warning—so much

so that female are considered to be more polite, less harshness, and prone to using more

softening devices than are men.

E. L2 learners tend to transfer their native sociopragmatic strategies to warn in L2. Also L2

learners tend to warn differently in L2 from L1 (Bro , the seat is dirty).

F. The findings reveal that although the speech act of warning are universal, its

conceptualization and verbalization vary across cultures since the Malaysian respondents

are from different origins (Malay, India, and china ) so their reactions were different.

The same situation, for example will have different reactions:

v ''I will shout on my father, dad there is a cat''. ( the respondent is from Indian origin)

v Dad there is a little kitten there at the parking. I think you should park somewhere else.

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(The respondent is from china origin)

v ''Dad , that is cat sitting over there'' (The respondent is from Malay origin)

Table 1 clarifies the similarities and differences between both Jordanian participants' reactions and Malaysian participants:

Malaysian Participants' Reactions

Jordanian Participant' Reactions

Malaysian respondents ' reactions influenced

by their social distance and formality of

situations

Jordanian respondent's reactions influenced by

their social distance and formality of situations

Malaysian Respondent's reactions used explicit

rather than implicit warning strategies

Jordanian respondent's reactions applied

implicit more than explicit warning strategies.

Malaysian participants tend to use repetition

strategy in warning such as hot hot , stop, stop.

Jordanian respondent's reactions rarely use

repetition strategy in warning.

Warning reactions are influenced by genders.

(Females' reactions are more polite than

males').

Unfortunately, there are no Jordanian female

participants in this study.

Table 1; comparison between Jordanian participants' reactions and Malaysian participants' reactions

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Malaysian participants prone to use gestures

and facial expressions in warning.

Jordanian respondents constantly use gesture

as well as body language.

Malaysian participants are usually using

directness in warning whether form higher to

lower or from lower to higher position.

Jordanian respondents use politeness

expressions such as vocative and indirectness

specially in lower to higher position.

Warning reactions are also effected by age.

The elder respondents' reactions are wiser

that younger .

Warning reactions are influenced by age (elder

participants employ more effective expression

than younger do.

Conclusion

The conclusions drawn in this research are preliminary and need to be supported by further

research to arrive at more definite conclusions about warning realizations by Malaysian L2

learners. The generalizability of findings may be constrained by the following considerations:

1. Collecting natural data would be more reliable, for what one claims one will do in a given

situation is not necessarily what one actually does in a real life situation.

2. Gender was the only variable examined. Variables relating to how the participants

perceived context-external factors such as differences in power, social distance,

perception of seriousness, and type of social contract have not been controlled.

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Since warning is an area of language that causes problems for speakers of English as a

second/foreign language, the following recommendations are put forth:

ü Further pragmatic research is still needed in order to achieve a better understanding of

cultures and to avoid stereotypes.

ü Having learned English as an L2, the researchers believe that school curricula should focus not only on structure and vocabulary but also on language functions such as warning , apologizing and making requests

ü Since speech acts are cultural in essence, ESL/EFL learners must be made familiar with

the culture driving the speech acts, which would go a long way in facilitating successful

communication.

ü It is important for L2 learners to understand that speech act realizations vary because

social relationships in L1 may not apply to L2 and, thus, may not be understood by the

addressed.

In spite of the researchers’ belief that this study has thoroughly examined the questions at

hand, they still feel that warning, like other types of speech acts, need further

investigation. The fact that the use of speech acts may create major problems in

communication between people from different cultures renders it imperative that further

research be done in closely related matters such as:

1. Comparing and contrasting the warning strategies used by participants from

different age groups of the same culture to determine the potential differences

between the strategies used by various social groups;

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2. Addressing other variables such as gender, age, education, and status of the

warned to find out their potential effect on the use of a warning.

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11. Peter Longcope .The universality of face in Brown and Levinson's politeness theory .

• http://www.wpel.net/v11/v11n1longcope.pdf

12. Ruba Fahmi Bataineh a,*, Rula Fahmi Bataineh. Apology strategies of Jordanian EFL university students, Journal of Pragmatics 38 (2006) 1901–1927

22

13. Locher, A. Miriam, (2004). Power and politeness in action: disagreements in oral

communication, Berlin.

14. Zambrano, Marjorie J, (2005) The interpreter’s linguistic power: a new courtroom

reality in immigration hearings university of Pittsburgh.

• http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-08042005-144716/

15. Smith, C, (1970). Synonyms Discriminated Detroit: Gale Research Company.

16. Jennifer McCormick & Sarah Richardson (2006), Vocatives in MICASE, Michigan

Corpus Linguistics Home

• http://www.elicorpora.info/

17. Wierzbicka, A. (1996). Semantics: Primes and Universals, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

18. Allwood, J. 1977. A critical look at speech act theory.

(http://www.ling.gu.se/~jens/publications/docs001-050/012.pdf).

19. Baker,W and Bricker, R. 2010. The effects of direct and indirect speech acts on native

English and ESL speakers’ perception of teacher written feedback. System 38, 75–84.

20. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pragmatics/.

21. http://www.e-anglais.com/thesis.html#2.2

22. David Andreoff Evans, 1981, A situation semantics approach to the analysis of speech acts 1, Stanford University.

23

23. Bonvillain, Nancy, 2008, Language, culture and communication: the meaning of

message 5th edition.

24. Jack C. Richards, John Platt, Heidi Platt / 1985. Dictionary of Language Teaching &

Applied Linguistics.

25. Nerlich, Brigitte, 1956, Language, action and context: the early history of pragmatics in

Europe and America.

26. Devito, Joseph, Human Communication, 7th ed. Longman, 1997.

Recording script for participants of Malaysian Students

Questions that have been asked to the participants

1. You offered tea for your Mom and Dad. You drank first. You felt that the tea was too hot

to drink. If this were real, how would you warn your parents?

24

2. You are a teacher. You went for a trip to water dams with the school. When you reached

one of the dams, you saw a label saying DANGER. Your students were approaching to

water. If this were real, how would you warn them?

3. Your father is driving his car. He wants to park his car somewhere. You see a small cat in

the same place your father wants to park at. If this were real, how would you warn him?

4. Someone is getting down from upstairs. There is a small boy sitting on the stairs. You

want to warn him not to step on the boy. If this were real, how would you warn him?

5. You are a headmaster. Some of the electric wires are bare. A teacher is coming towards

the wires. If this were real, how would you warn him?

6. Suppose that you spilled a bottle of milk on a seat in a public place. A gentleman wanted

to use that seat. If this were real, how would you warn him?.

7. You are a manager of a certain company. One of the employees comes late several times.

He is late again. Now you are face to face with him. If this were real, how would you

warn him?

8. Your friend is not punctual. Both of you have an important interview. You want him to

come on time, or else, something bad will happen. If this were real, how would you warn

him?

Participants Question Answer

1

Most probably, I will warn dad-using gesture that the tea is hot, if they still do not understand I will tell him the tea is hot.

2 May be show the symbol to my students, if they still

Student's Number

1

Name Vicky

Ag 24

Level of education

Master

Nationality Malaysian

Sex Female

25

do not understand, I will shout at them there danger and do not go that.

3.

I will shout on my father ,dad there is a cat

4

May I will get instructions to those who getting down from upstairs, that is a boy sitting over there, please be careful

5 I will alert the teacher , please be careful there is some wires are bare

6 Excuse me sir the seat is not clear

7 May be I will advise him in proper manner and explain the disadvantages when they come late to the office

8 Because , he or she is my friend so will advise him in proper manner

Question Answer

1 Mom and dad ,be careful the tea is very hot

2 Hey , students do not go over there its danger

3 Dad there is a wite kitten there at the parking. I think you should park somewhere else

4 Be careful there is boy !!

5 Take care , do not tough it !

6 Hey , do not sit there is a milk , sorry I accident spilled milk , its dirty now

8 Because , he or she is my friend so will advise him in proper manner

7 This is the third time you late ,one more time you will be terminated

Student's No

2

Name Christine

Ag 25

Level of education

Master

Nationality Malaysian

Sex Female

26

8 Make sure you will reach before 10 :.am we will be in deep trouble if we failed to make it , okay

Question Answer

1 Careful Mom ,dad tea hot

2 Hey, you do not go there danger !

3 Scream, Watch out there is cat dad!

4 Please , stop do not step on him .

5 Hey look ,watch out , look at the wires

6 Excuse me please d not sit on this seat because I already spilled a bottle of milk on this seat sorry.

7 This will be the last warning for you, I hope do not repeat it again .

8 Make sure you are on time , or not , I won't join you any more .

8 Make sure you will reach before 10 :.AM we will be in deep trouble if we failed to make it , okay

Question Answer

1 Probably shake my hand and heads and tell them not to drink

Student's NO

3

Name Alia raman

Ag 30

Level of education

Master

Nationality Malaysian

Sex female

Student's NO

4

Name Deva

Ag 37

Level of education

Master

Nationality Malaysian

Sex female

27

2 I will use a whistle to warn them .

3 Shout cat , cat

4 Shout to the person coming down the stairs

5 Shout to the teacher to be careful

6 Shake my head and hands and point to the seat .

7 Give him a strict warning using the company rules

8 Tell him to be serious and tell him about the important of coming on time .

Question Answer

1 Mother , father ,I think the tea is too hot to drink

2. Hey boys can you see the lapels, if you want kill yourself ,go ahead

3 Dad , that is cat sitting over there

4. Please watch up , with the boy

5 Mr please be careful with the wires

6 Excuse me sir the seat is very dirty was spill some milk

7 If you late again tomorrow , do not bother to come to work again next week

8 Brother please come on time , or else we will die

Question Answer

1. Oh hot, caution

2. Don't move further

3. Pa , there is a cat !!!!stop

Student's NO

5

Name Mohamed faraid

Ag 26

Level of education

Master

Nationality Malaysian

Sex Male

28

4. Carful, do not step on the bugger.

5. Watch up your steps

6. Bro , the seat is dirty

7. You have come on time

8. Deal or die

Student's NO

6

Name daharam

Ag 25

Level of education

Master

Nationality Malaysian

Sex Male

29

Recording script of Jordanian participants

Participants Question Answer

1

/diiru baalku bacdu saaxini stannu ta yubrud/

@NOو LM?K اIJK>ا BFC ?Gد! دBCو @?<=>

Take care! It is still hot. Wait until it cools down

2 /laa tgarrbu minl mai/

PQ>ا LR <@BSG T

Don’t get close to water

3.

/bii guTTah caTTariig/

VCBW>?X YWZ Y[@

There is a cat on the road.

4

/?ilwaladi lwalad/

N><>ا !N><>ا!

The boy! The boy!

5 /?il?aslaak mcarrayih/

YCBORك ا^KTا

The wires are bare

6 / macla_ ?axi! ilkursi caleeh ħaliib/

PMأ bcOR !d[ce Y[cX PKB=>ا

Excuse me, brother. There is milk on the seat.

7 /?ismac ?awwal marra w ?aaxir marra wi?a btiiji

mit?axxir laa tiiji cad-dawaam marra _aanyih/

hQKوام ! اN>?X Pj[G T BMkJR Pj[J@ واذا mBR BMوا mBR اول

Y[o?p mBR

Listen! This is the first time and the last time to come late.

If you do that once again, don t come to work.

8

/?iltazim bilmawcid can jad laa tZaiyic caleena halfurSah/

YsBt>?ه ?I[cX h[vGا T Nw LX NX<Q>?@ مxJ>ا

Take it seriously and come on time so that you won't

make us lose this chance.

Student's No

1

Name Moaath

Ag 23

Level of education

Master

Nationality Jordanian

Sex Male

30

Question Answer

1 /?i_aai zaii n-naar/

ا<|?ي زي ا<I?ر

The tea is as hot as fire.

2 /baccdu cani lmai la?inha xaTiirih/

mB[WM ?}o~ PQ>ا LX وNO@

Get away from water because it is dangerous.

3 /?uucak yaabah fii bissih giddami s-sayyarah/

mام ا<�]?رNZ Y�@ P� Y@?C �Xاو

Beware, dad. There is a cat in front of the car.

4 /Diir balak fii walad /

P� �>?@ BC و<N د

Be careful there Is a boy!

5 /tqarbi_ calislaak/

ا�cX b@BSG^ك

Don’t be close to the wires!

6 /?ilmaqcad mi_ naZiif/

�[vo bR NOSQ>ا

The seat is not clean!

7 /?it-ta?xiir Zid maSla iti - arikah/

ا<��c�R N� B[MkJ ا<|Bآ�

Coming late goes against the company's interest.

8

/yaa weel weelak ?i?a btit?xxar halmmarrah/

mBQ>?ه BMkJJ@ اذا �cCو �Cو ?C

Woe unto you if you come late this time.

Student's Number

1

Name Abedalsalam

Ag 27

Level of education

Master

Nationality Jordanian

Sex Male

31

Transcription for Arabic Wo

Question Answer

1 /?inħaragi lsaani ti_ rabuu_ ta yubrud/

اB�oق <�?B|G Po@>ش BFC ?Gد

My tongue burned. Don t drink until it cools down.

2 /raja?an ?ilmai xaTar caleeku laa tgarbu/

ا<BSG T <=[cX BWM PQ@>,رw?ءًا

Water is dangerous, please don t get so close.

3 /?ucak yaabah fii bissih/

Y�@ P� Y@?C �Xاو

Beware dad there is a cat.

4 /Law samħt camahlak fii walad/

N>و P� �c}QX ��QK <>

Please , be careful there is a boy.

5 /intabih mantii_ _aayifi l?aslaak/

YFJoك! ا^�> �C?� b[JIR!؟

Watch out! Don’t you see the wires!?

6 /_uuflak kursi _aani haaZ wisix/

�Kه�ا و Po?p PKBآ �c�<�

Look for another seat this one is dirty.

7 /tacaal bakkiir yaa abiibi/

PF[Fe ?C B[=@ ل?OG

Come early, dear.

8 /tacaal calmawcid willa biSiir ?i_i mu kwaiyis/

�C<آ <R Pا� B[�@ Tو NX<Q>?X ل?OG

Come on time, or else something bad will happen to you.

Student's NO

3

Name Yusif

Ag 30

Level of education

PH.D.

Nationality Jordanian

Sex Male

32

rds Following are the Arabic symbols used in this study: - Consonants:

Arabic Consonant Symbol Description

Voiced glottal stop ? ء

b Voiced bilabial stop ب

t Voiceless dento-alveolar stop ت

ϴ Voiceless inter-dental fricative ث

J Voiced post-alveolar affricate ج

ħ Voiceless pharyngeal fricative ح

X Voiceless uvular fricative خ

d Voiced dento-alveolar stop د

Voiced alveolar fricative ? ذ

r Voiced alveo-palatal trill ر

z Voiced alveolar fricative ز

s Voiceless alveolar fricative س

T Voiceless dento alveolar stop ط

ϴ Voiceless alveo-palatal fricative ش

S Voiceless alveolar emphatic fricative ص

Z Voiced alveolar emphatic fricative ظ

đ Voiced alveolar emphatic stop ض

c Voiced pharyngeal fricative ع

Voiced uvular fricative غ

f Voiceless labio-dental fricative ف

33

- Vowels:

short long Example in arabic

a aa WXرا

u uu ود]^

o oo ل`aه

e ee cXو

i ii de

q Voiced uvular stop ق

k Voiceless velar stop ك

l Voiced alveolar lateral ل

m Voiced bilabial nasal م

n Voiced alveolar nasal ن

� h Voiceless glottal fricative

w Voiced labio-velar glide و

y Voiced palatal glide ي