The speech act of apology in Xitsonga : educational contexts

Abstract

The study explores how Grade 10 learners use the speech act of apology in an educational environment. Apologies are viewed in this study as a kind of remedial work; action taken to change what may be regarded as an offensive act into an acceptable one. Eight different strategies for complaining and twenty-one for apologising are presented with examples to illustrate each. Data was gathered using questionnaires in order to gain insight in the total number of complaint and apology strategies used. Analysis of the answered questionnaires showed that while there are strategies which are commonly used by both male and female learners, some strategies are used mostly by male learners and some mostly by female learners.