Compliment Response Behaviors of Korean College Students in Their L1 and L2

Abstract

This study examined compliment response (CR) behaviors of Korean college students in their L1 (Korean) and L2 (English). The participants were the first year college students in a public university in Gyeongnam. Through discourse completion task, the researcher examined their CR behaviors with regard to language, proficiency, and gender of the participants. The findings illustrated that unlike in the past, the majority of the participants accepted compliments, which is the most common CR in the west. In spite of the participants’ changing pragmatic practice, however, a close analysis illustrated while they shifted their CR practice depending on the language they employed, the participants were greatly influenced by their home culture when using CR strategies. The participants’ proficiency and gender also affected their CR use.