한국인과 중국인 한국어 중급 학습자의 감사 부담감과 전략 사용 차이 비교 연구

A comparative study on burden of expressing gratitude and differences in the use of thanking strategies between Korean Native Speakers and Chinese Intermediate-level Korean Learners: Results from a Female speakers-focused study

This study aims to contrast the realization and strategy patterns of thanking speech acts between Korean Native speakers and Chinese Korean learners. (1) Is there a difference in the perceptions of Korean and Chinese learners thanking speech acts based on the situation? (2) Is there a difference in the use of thanking strategies by situation by Korean and Chinese learners? DCT was conducted to collect data from two groups consisting of 30 native Korean speakers and 30 Chinese Korean learners. For research question 1, we conducted an independent sample-test and a paired sample-test on the burden of thanking among the two groups. For research question 2, a chi-square test was conducted on whether the two groups used indirect strategies, and the thanking strategies used in each situation were analyzed. While Koreans do not feel pressured to thank their intimate counterparts, they were conventionally using various indirect and direct strategies to save face for the people who benefited them. The Chinese learners were burdened with almost all of the thanking situations, but preferred direct strategies according to cultural customs that made relationships awkward if they talked burdensomely with close friends. Furthermore, both groups felt burdened by situations in which the interlocutor voluntarily gave them grace, but their preferred strategies differed. Since Koreans used various thanking and compensation strategies to return what they received, their gratitude expressions tended to be longer. However, Chinese learners ended the conversation with only a direct thank-you because they feared that if they said too much to express their gratitude, their relationship with the other party would become distant. This contrasts with the utterance of Koreans who used additional expressions to avoid the sudden end of the conversation when only direct thanking strategies were used. The results of the study showed that the strategies used in each situation differed, but both groups were appropriately using strategies to avoid damaging the interlocutor’s face according to their respective cultural norms. However, this study confirmed that while Koreans used various indirect strategies to avoid awkward relationships with their counterparts in certain situations, Chinese learners tended to prefer direct thank-you expressions in the same situations. These differences caused by socio-cultural characteristics can make it difficult to maintain smooth human relationships along with pragmatic failures. Therefore, in the field of Korean language education, it is necessary to teach various expressions and strategies that are customarily preferred and used in actual thanking speech acts.