استكشاف الفشل البراغماتي في ردود الإطراء: دراسة على متعلمي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية من الأكراد العراقيين

الملخص

Compliments and their responses play a vital role in cross-cultural communication, reflecting underlying social norms and cultural values. This study investigates pragmatic failure through the compliment response strategies employed by Iraqi Kurdish learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected quantitatively using a discourse completion task (DCT) questionnaire which includes four scenarios adapted from Zhang and Tang (2009), covering common compliment topics including ability, appearance, possession, and character. It elicits learners’ spontaneous responses to compliments in realistic and culturally relevant contexts. Qualitative data were collected using the exposure questionnaire focusing on learners' interactions with English through social media, online communication, reading books, and watching movies. The study aims to determine whether incidental exposure to English enhances pragmatic competence or whether learners still exhibit signs of pragmatic failure. A total of 60 undergraduate students majoring in the English language participated in the study. Quantitative analysis showed that learners most frequently used appreciation tokens (32.89%), praise upgrades (13.84%), and comment acceptance (11.11%), indicating a tendency toward positive and direct responses. Not using strategies like disagreement and advice suggests a reluctance to employ confrontational forms. Qualitative findings revealed that although EFL learners were regularly exposed to the target language, their compliment responses often failed to conform to English sociopragmatic conventions. Instead, they relied on response strategies influenced by their native language. These findings emphasize the importance of incorporating pragmatic instructions into EFL curricula to support learners in navigating compliment exchanges with both linguistic accuracy and cultural appropriateness.