A Comparative Study on Different Responses and Perception of Indirect Complaints between Korean Graduate Students and Cambodian Students
An Indirect Complaint(IC) is defined as the expression of dissatisfaction about oneself or someone/something that is not present in conversations. The present study considered ICs as positive strategies to build rapport and solidarity and investigated different responses of IC between Cambodian Korean learners as a second language(L2) and Korean native speakers by analyzing two categories – verbal and nonverbal responses. Data from the conversation of each group showed that non-substantive responses were highly employed in the non-native group, while commiserating responses were frequently used in the native group in verbal responses. On the other side, non-verbal commiserating strategies were observed relatively more in non-native speakers than in natives. As a result of the post-interview on IC perception, every participant of both groups perceived the positive effects of ICs. Based on the result, this study suggests applying ICs as positive social strategies when teaching Korean as L2, which leads the learners to have more opportunities to interact and practice the L2.