Resumen de Effects of cultural background of college students on apology strategies

Wei Hong

• This article presents the research findings from a cross-cultural comparison of apology strategies written in English by two groups of college students. The study analyzed the e-mail correspondences for class absences from students to professors in two undergraduate classes, a technology class and a Chinese language class. It was found that the cultural background of the students and the course attendance policies were two major factors that caused different apology strategies. The differences are attributed to the different perceptions of social distance, politeness, severity of offense, and obligation for apology. It may be concluded that, although expressed in English and in the same given situation, the data present a great difference in the choice of apology strategies due to sociopragmatic and cultural interventions.