Abstract

With the development of the society, the world is becoming more and more interrelated and China plays a increasingly important role in international communication. In intercultural communication, people should behave well to maintain face, thus apology is widely used since it is avoidable to make mistakes. Apology can be understood like this: A is responsible for his actions that hurt others and admit that A is impolite to others. What’s more, A should show regret and give compensations at the same time. Based on the studies of second language acquisition and current motivation theories, this thesis discusses the differences of apology between China and America by case analyses. For instance, it is found that if A faces an American B whose social status is lower or higher, he just need to apologize directly and explain the reasons. When facing Chinese, if B’s social status is superior, he should apologize respectfully. Provided that the B’s social status is inferior, he can refuse to apologize or just say some simple words to show his regret. By exploring the reasons of differences of apology between China and America, the thesis aims at helping people be better aware of the differences of apology between China and America and help people make appropriate apologies in intercultural communication.

Keywords: intercultural communication; differences; apology; strategy

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

2.1 The definition of apology-2

2.2 Previous studies on apology abroad-2

2.3 Previous studies on apology at home-5

3. Differences in Apology between China and America-5

3.1 Different situations of apology-6

3.2 Different strategies of apology-7

4. Reasons for Differences in Apology between China and America-9

4.1 Collectivism versus individualism-9

4.2 Large power distance versus small power distance-10

4.3 High context versus low context-11

5. Conclusion-12

Works Cited-14