A preliminary study of refusals in the Brazilian and Spanish cultures: an analysis of external modifiers employed in e-mails and private messages on Facebook

Keywords: politeness, refusals, supportive moves, Brazilians, Spaniards

Abstract

This article presents an approach to the supportive moves used in refusals made by 20 native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and 20 native speakers of Peninsular Spanish. The participants of the study conducted a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) with sixteen situations related to the academic field. In each one of them, they had to decide whether to send an email or a private message through Facebook. The data gathered shows that, in refusals with a higher power rank, both Spaniards and Brazilians thank more when the addressee is unknown. However, excuses are more frequent when there is a lower social distance. Among the differences found, we would like to emphasize the higher use of apologies in high power rank situations and the offer of compensatory and alternative proposals among Spanish speakers, especially with familiar addressees. 

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Author Biographies

Sara González Berrio, Universidad Nebrija, Universidade Estadual Paulista

PhD student enrolled in a cotutelle program between Nebrija University and São Paulo State University. In 2014, she graduated with a Master's Degree in Linguistics Applied to Teaching Spanish as a Second Language. She has also participated at the Lecturer Program of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (MAEC-AECID) at two Brazilian Universities from 2013 to 2018. 

Susana Martín Leralta, Universidad Nebrija

Holds a PhD from the University of Bielefeld (Germany). She currently holds the position of Dean of the School of Languages and Education at Nebrija University (Madrid), where she is a graduate professor. She is a research member of several R & D & I projects, and has published a book and several articles and reference chapters.

Nildicéia Aparecida Rocha, FCLAr-Universidade Estadual Paulista

Professor at the Department of Modern Languages at São Paulo State University -Unesp. Sheholds Postdoctoral Studies in Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages (University of Seville), a PhD in Linguistics and a Master's Degree in Literary Studies. She is also the leader of a research group in Language Teaching and Learning at the Unesp. Her main research areas are Applied Linguistics, Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages, Teacher Training and Discourse Analysis. She is the author of several books and various publications. 

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Published
15-12-2018
How to Cite
González Berrio, S., Martín Leralta, S., & Rocha, N. (2018). A preliminary study of refusals in the Brazilian and Spanish cultures: an analysis of external modifiers employed in e-mails and private messages on Facebook. Texts in Process, 4(2), 194-218. https://doi.org/10.17710/tep.2018.4.2.4berrioleraltayrocha
Section
Working papers