Abstract
Within the framework of Brown and Levinson’s (1978, 1987) politeness theory, this study examined how the learning of Japanese can influence the perception of politeness factors in a request refusal situation of native speakers of Russian. We focused particularly on the degree of difficulty as well as the degree of consideration a speaker gives towards the hearer’s face in the refusal situation. According to Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory, the weightiness of a face threatening act (Wx) is calculated as Wx = D (S, H) + P (S, H) + Rx, where D is the social distance between interlocutors, P is the power relations between interlocutors, Rx is the cultural and situational context, S is a speaker, and H is a hearer. In this study we assumed Rx from two perspectives: the intrinsic content of the situation (Ri) and differences in language/ linguaculture (Rl). We used a regression tree analysis to reveal the hierarchical relations of these four factors (D, P, Ri, and Rl) when predicting the difficulty to refuse a request and the level of consideration one gives towards their hearer’s face. The following factors were observed in our study: the influence of L2 (Japanese) onto L1 (Russian), the maintenance of Russian national identity, and the accommodation to the target language culture.
