The study of apology strategies used by Thai high-school EFL male and female students in Thai high school

This study investigates the apology strategies of Thai high school EFL students, focusing on gender differences, the influence of social variables (social status, social distance, and seriousness of offenses), and the influence of their native language, Thai, on their English apologies. Grounded in speech act theory and politeness theory, it references J.L. Austin (1962), John Searle (1969), and Brown and Levinson (1987). Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative analysis of written Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs) with qualitative insights from an open-ended questionnaire. Holmes’s (1990) taxonomy of apology strategies was used as an instrument. Thirty students (13 males, 17 females) from Samutprakarn province participated, responding to 12 scenarios involving different Holmes’s (1990) types of offenses developed to elicit apology strategies. Scenarios varied in social distance (D), status (P), and seriousness of offenses (R) to examine their influence on apologies. Findings show that Thai EFL students use a range of strategies, including expressions of regret, offers of repair, and explanations. The most used strategy was Expression of Regret (A2), often combined with Acknowledgement of Responsibility (C). Gender differences were not significant: both genders tended to employ explicit apologies and provide explanations to mitigate the offense. The influence of Thai culture was evident in the preference for indirect and formal strategies, reflecting cultural norms of politeness and face-saving. The study highlights the need for integrating pragmatic competence into English teaching in Thailand, addressing both linguistic and cultural communication aspects.