A LINGUISTIC STUDY OF REFUSAL STRATEGIES USED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF HAILS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

The present study examines the refusal strategies used by the students at the University of Hail (UOH). It tackles two main questions related to what refusal strategies, classified by Beebe et al. (1990), Saudi students at the University of Hail (UOH) employ in their refusal responses and their reasons for using the refusal strategies. The current study has used a modified written discourse completion test (DCT). The students are asked to provide written responses to express their refusals to the given situations. The collected data are analyzed according to the content, number of students, and order of formulas employed by Beebe et al. (1990). The findings indicate that Saudi students at the (UOH) use more expressions of excuses/ reasons/ explanations followed by expressions of regrets. In many cases, they avert the use of no in their refusal strategies, except in some cases where it is followed by excuses or explanations. Moreover, this study reveals that Saudi students have three reasons for justifying their refusals indirectly. These reasons are respect, face-saving, and indirect communication.