Greeting Speech Acts in Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: Uzbek EFL Learners and American English Native Speakers

초록

The purpose of this study was to examine cross-cultural variation in greeting speech acts produced by Uzbek EFL learners and American native English speakers. To accomplish this objective, 640 responses collected through a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) across eight situational contexts were analyzed using a component-based framework. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and chi-square tests were conducted to identify group differences in the distribution of greeting components and to examine the influence of sociopragmatic variables on greeting realization. The findings showed that, while both groups relied similarly on Greeting Formulas (GF), significant differences emerged in relational components. Uzbek learners used Politeness Markers (PM), Phatic Inquiries (PI), Contextual References (CR), and Small Talk Extensions (STE) more frequently, whereas American speakers favored Transition Moves (TM), reflecting a more task-oriented interactional style. Social status and formality further shaped component selection across contexts. The results indicate evidence of pragmatic transfer, as Uzbek learners projected L1-based politeness norms into English greetings. These findings contribute to interlanguage pragmatics and suggest the need for explicit instruction targeting context-sensitive greeting strategies in EFL settings.

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