CROSS-CULTURAL PRAGMATIC STUDY OF APOLOGY STRATEGIES IN BALOCHI WITH REFERENCE TO CHINESE LANGUAGE

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Cross-cultural studies help to reduce linguistic misunderstandings. Owing to the mastery of the grammar and vocabulary of any language, speakers who may be fluent in a second language, may still be unable to produce language that is socially and culturally acceptable, thus indicates the importance of pragmatics in general and cross-cultural pragmatics in particular. The development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) creates urgency for the Baloch and the Chinese people to know each other's language and culture, as the project is located in 'Gwadar', a Baloch region, where Balochi is widely spoken. The purpose of this paper is to explore apology strategies used in the Balochi language spoken in Balochistan, Pakistan with reference to Chinese, including Baloch cultural values which influence language.   Methodology: The data were collected through Discourse Completion Test from 30 native speakers of Balochi language enrolled in various departments at International Islamic University Islamabad Pakistan. On the other hand, the Chinese language data were adopted as a reference from a research study conducted by Chang (2016). The Balochi data were analyzed by employing the framework presented by Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper (1989).   Findings: The findings show that the Baloch native speakers use indirect strategies of apology, explanation strategy, and taking and denying responsibility which are similar to the Chinese language.   Contribution: The paper may help to expand the scope of cross-cultural pragmatics to non-western languages. The paper may also be significant in the teaching curricula to design comparative courses in Chinese and Balochi.   Keywords: Apology, Balochi, Chinese, cross-cultural pragmatics, strategies.   Cite as: Hussain, M., & Aziz, A. (2020). Cross-cultural pragmatic study of apology strategies in Balochi with reference to Chinese language. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(2), 152-169. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp152-169