As for my date collection, I asked people from diverse backgrounds to finish the questionnaire. An interesting observation is that my Indian friend replied to question 1 with the answer "Hello sir" whereas others replied with an answer "I am so sorry/I am sorry." In situation 3, several of my American friends would say "I am so sorry sweetie. Are you Okay?" However, to my international friend, they will start off the sentence with "Hey/Hello" instead of calling the baby as sweetie. Another thing I notice is that when it comes to being late to a friend, Americans will find an excuse or send a text saying that they will be late, whereas people from Asia and Africa will offer a sincere apology. One answer from my Ghana friend regards to question 6 shows that he wishes his friend will not forgive him and offers whatever he can do to fix the situation. He would use phrases like "please forgive me/ offer an apology." Another Ghana friend of mine wrote, "Please forgive my lateness. It was unintentional."
In situation 9 for being late in an job interview, one of my American friends offered answer which I thought was very interesting. She wrote, "Sorry to inconvenience you. " From my perspective, this seems to be quite unique because a lot of people would say sorry and offer an explanation in regards to why they are late.
To sum up, most of my American friends will use excuse me in situation 1, 2, 3 whereas my international friends will offer a solution regarding to the situation. I thought it was very interesting because when I gave the survey to my Ghana friend, I was the one noting all his responses. The way he talked was very sincere and he would offer a lot of solutions. Based on my observation, people from overseas tend to use a more formal way in regards to apologies. Overall, I sent out eight questionnaires to two from Ghana, four from the United States, one from India and one from Zambia. All of them are undergrad and graduate students from Wheaton College.
In situation 9 for being late in an job interview, one of my American friends offered answer which I thought was very interesting. She wrote, "Sorry to inconvenience you. " From my perspective, this seems to be quite unique because a lot of people would say sorry and offer an explanation in regards to why they are late.
To sum up, most of my American friends will use excuse me in situation 1, 2, 3 whereas my international friends will offer a solution regarding to the situation. I thought it was very interesting because when I gave the survey to my Ghana friend, I was the one noting all his responses. The way he talked was very sincere and he would offer a lot of solutions. Based on my observation, people from overseas tend to use a more formal way in regards to apologies. Overall, I sent out eight questionnaires to two from Ghana, four from the United States, one from India and one from Zambia. All of them are undergrad and graduate students from Wheaton College.