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ACritiqueof“ContrastiveAnalysisofComplimentbetweenEnglishandChinese”1.IntroductionofthearticleRuiYu,LiFu&Xiao-YuHou’s“ContrastiveAnalysisofComplimentbetweenEnglishandChinese”isaclassicininterculturalcommunicationstudies.ItispublishedinJournalofInterculturalCommunicationStudiesXVI,2007,Volume1,Pages153-162.2.AnalysisofthearticleThesocialphenomenonofcomplimentbehaviorexistsinvarioussocietiesandlinguisticcultures.Thecomplimentbehaviorcannotonlyenhancetherelationshipbetweencommunicatorsbutalsoconsolidateandstrengthenthesolidarityamongcommunicators.Thus,thecomplimentbehavioroperateslikesociallubricant.ComplimentresponsesinChineseandEnglishhavedifferentcharacteristicsbecausetheyareinfluencedbydifferentsocialfactors.Consequently,thestudyoncomplimenthasbeenpaidextensiveattentionto.ThisthesisaimsatinvestigatingthecharacteristicsofcomplimentresponsesinChineseandEnglish,comparingtheirdifferencesandsimilaritiesandattemptingtoanalyzethereasonswhichleadtothedifferencesandsimilaritiesfromcross-culturalperspective.BasedonJuliaGousseva’sexperiment,asimilarexperimentwasdesignedandcarriedoutbythepresentauthor.ThepurposesweretofindthefeaturesofcomplimentinChinesebyChinesestudents,todiscoversimilaritiesanddifferencesofcomplimentbetweenEnglishandChineseandtoexplorethereasonswhythedifferencesinlinguisticperformanceexist.Thisarticleprovidesdeeperresearchonthissubjectandexaminesgenreofwrittendiscourse.MostofpreviousstudiesabroadandinChinafocusonthesyntaxandthetopicofcomplimentbehavioritself.Thisarticlealsoclaimsthatmostofthestudies,suchasitsfunction,implication,andcausesarebasedmostlyonthestudyontheoralcompliment.Asfortheoralcompliment,thispapershowsitveryclearintheliteraturereview.AnditdemonstratesthesyntacticdifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishcomplimentsbythetable.Whenitcomestotheresearchonthewrittencomplient,itmentionsfocuslyonthegenderdifferenceincompliment.Inthisthesis,thequantitativemethodandthequalitativemethodareadopted.ItcollectsmaterialsfromcollegestudentsatChineseDepartmentofaUniversity,andnativespeakersofChineseandnon-Englishmajors.TheexperimentwascarefullydesignedsoastokeepgreatresemblancewiththatofJuliaGousseva’s.Andthestudyconsistedoftwoparts,(1)gender-linkedfeatures,suchaspositiveevaluation,intensifiersandpersonalinvolvement,and(2)discoursestrategies,suchasgood/badnewstrategies,opening,closingandframingstrategies,andtheirinterestswereonthedifferencesassociatedgenders.ThenitanalyzesthedataandsummarizesthedifferentcharacteristicsoncomplimentresponsesinChineseandEnglishthroughacoupleoftables.Finally,itexplainsthedifferencesintheapplicationoflinguisticformsandstrategytothecompliment,soastolearnthesocialandculturalfactorsthatmightaccountforthesedifferences.Themajorfindingsofthisstudyareasfollows:(1)thebiggestdifferenceliesintheuseofpositiveevaluation,thatistosaytheAmericanstudentsusemorepositiveevaluation.ThismaybeexplainedbythatmanyAmericansareveryactiveinexpressingtheirideasandfeelingswhilemoreChinesewouldliketochooseneutralwordsandrestraintheirfeeling,formanyofthemweretaughttobeobservedandnottobeheardwhentheywereyoung.MostoftheEnglishspeakerstendtoacceptcompliments.Moreover,theyoftenofferseriesofcommentsontheobjectcomplimentedwhentheyacceptcompliments.Theyusuallyexpresstheirdisagreementdirectlywhentheyrejectcompliments.Inaddition,Englishspeakerusesomecombinedstrategiestoexpresstheirresponsestocompliment.(2)TheAmericanstudentsusemorefirstpersonpronoun(2.17vs.0.93)andlessthirdpersonpronouns(1.09vs.2.68)thantheirChinesecounterparts.Itisknowntousthattheideaofbeingself-orientedisfavoredbymanypeopleinAmerica.Theyintendtomaximizetheuseoffirstpersonpronouninordertoshowtheiropiniondirectlyininteraction.Onthecontrary,theideaofother-orientedhasexertedinfluenceoverChinaforthousandsofyears,andmanyChineselearntominimizeselfimportancebymaximizingtheuseofthethirdpersonpronoun.MostofChinesepeopletendtorejectcompliments.Whentheyacceptcompliments,Chinesepeopleoftentransfertheeomplimenttosomethirdpersonortotheobjectitself.Besides,Chinesespeakershaveonemorestrategy—DeterminationExpressiontorespondtocompliment.Theytendtoexpresstheirdeterminationswhentheymeetcomplimentfrompersonswhohavehigherstatus.Inaddition,Chinesespeakersemploymorediversesub-strategiestorespondtocomplimentsthanEnglishspeakers.Finally,MoreChinesespeakerstendtogivenoresponsewhentheymeetcomplimentsthanEnglishspeakers.(3)Chinesecollegestudentstendtoacceptcomplimentsmuchmorefrequentlythanotherpeople.Thereasonliesinstudents’adaptationtothechangeofculturewhichresultsfromsocialdevelopmentandtheinfluenceofforeigncultures.(4)Thereasonofallthesedifferencescanattributetotheiradaptationtodifferentsocialworlds,whichincludedifferenttraditionalvalues,differentpolitenessprinciples,differentrealizationofface,andinfluenceofwesternculture.Thestudyhassomesignificance.Firstly,thisstudyhelpsusunderstanddifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishcomplimentresponses.Thus,pragmaticmistakesinthecross-culturalcommunicationcanbeavoided.Secondly,thisstudyalsogivestheanalysisoftheChinesecomplimentresponseswhi