Variations in ways of refusing requests in english among members of a College Community in Ghana

Abstract

This paper discusses the ways by which members of the Berekum Training College, Ghana refuse requests in English, and how age and socio-economic status affect those refusal forms. Employing the ethnographic research design together with the theories of face and politeness, the study reveals that there are two major ways of making refusals in English among the group, namely: direct and, more frequently, indirect refusals. The direct refusals mostly come from elder and higher-status interlocutors to younger and lower-status interlocutors – direct refusals are vertical. On the other hand, indirect refusals are inter- and intra-age and status based – they are both vertical and horizontal. These findings have implications for understanding cross-, inter-, intra-, and socio-cultural communication