«Excuse me, there is a queue here». The reaction of Spanish and English speakers in the face of an attack on their equity rights

Abstract

The present research combines the analytical perspectives of cross-cultural pragmatics and variational pragmatics, and adopts Spencer-Oatey’s (2002, 2008) rapport management theory as a frame of reference. The main objective is to analyse the speakers’ reaction to a situation in which their equity rights are under attack. The source of data collection was a questionnaire sent to 120 Spanish and 120 English informants, which were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Relevant cultural differences can be found, with a greater tendency of English informants to avoid potential conflict. As for the nature of verbal reactions, English informants opt mainly for the directive act, while Spaniards use both the directive and the reproach, with a greater presence of the latter. The most common formulation of the acts is mitigated, with an open preference for the use of the indirect speech act, particularly among English speakers. It can also be seen how cultural patterns intersect significantly with social variation.