Navigating Compliment Responses among Jordanian and Omani Students: A Conceptual Study

Abstract

Compliment is one of the linguistic aspects used by Jordanian and Omani speakers. Therefore, understanding the strategies of compliments is essential to improve communication during interactions. This study aimed to investigate the pragmatics of compliment responses between Jordanian and Omani students, highlighting the differences and similarities in their use of compliment strategies in their interactions. A quantitative approach, in the form of a questionnaire, was adopted to collect data from both student groups. This study employs Herbert's (1986, 1990) theoretical framework to analyze the data. It categorizes compliments into five types: acceptance, mitigation/deflection, rejection, no response, and request interpretation. It is expected that there will be some differences and similarities, although the forms of their compliments may vary considerably. Thus, the hypotheses to be examined are: First, the Jordanian and Omani students' compliment strategies are different. Second, the compliment strategies used by both groups are largely similar. Third, the forms of compliments differ between the two groups despite speaking the same language.