Perception and evaluation of requests on social media in Chinese and Japanese.

This study explores how Chinese and Japanese participants perceived different variables in making, accepting and refusing requests and how they evaluated certain requests between peers on social media. The study comprised two parts: 50 students for each language completed a questionnaire survey, and another four students took part in focus groups. The quantitative results from the questionnaires show both similarities and differences between the perceptions of the Chinese and Japanese participants. The qualitative analyses of the focus groups indicate that both the (in)directness of the request head act and the types and numbers of mitigation influenced the participants' evaluations of requests on social media. Implications for (in)directness and (im)politeness, as well as the triangulation of different methods, are also discussed. • This study explores Chinese and Japanese speakers' perception and evaluation. • Perceptions of making, accepting and refusing requests are investigated. • How Chinese and Japanese evaluate requests between peers on social media are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language & Communication is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)