Assessing the Egyptian EFL undergraduates' ability of using apology strategies : a TEFL perspective

الملخص EN

The present study analyzed the frequency of using different types of apology strategies by Egyptian EFL learners.

It examined how the participants' use of apology strategies varied according to certain social variables, namely social distance, power and the severity of offence.

For the purpose of data collection, the present study adopted a written discourse completion task originally designed by Blum-Kulka (1982) and used by other researchers including Nureddeen (2008).

The findings emphasized the influence of L1 culture and social variables on the choice of apology strategies made by the participants.

The study discussed the role of L2 pragmatic instructions in developing the EFL learners' pragmatic competence.