An Empirical Study on Apology Strategies Adopted by Chinese EFL Learners

Due to his insufficiency in linguistic realization rules as well as social-appropriateness rules, a Chinese L2 learner, more often than not, opts to make an offence unconsciously in their daily conversation with a native speaker. In order to restore harmony, as is disputed by Wolfson (1989), the act of apologizing must be properly performed so that the severity of the offence could be minimized to the least degree. It is for this reason, the present paper reports on a small empirical study concerning the realization patterns of English apology strategies by a Chinese English learner. It reveals that the apology strategies used by a Chinese EFL learner generally fit within the theoretical framework of the five strategies developed by Olshtain and Cohen (1983). On the other hand, there are also some nuances in the use of strategies and intensifiers, when the modification of the social and contextual variables occurs.