[[alternative]]A Contrastive Analysis of Complaints between American Students and Native Speakers of Mandarin Chinese with Teaching Applications

[[abstract]]This thesis is based on the framework of Trosborg (1994). A speech act of complaints consists of complaints (head act) and directive acts as the core, external modifications and internal modifications as adjuncts. In practice, there is an additional "opting out" strategy often manifested in complaints. The most frequent strategy employed by native speakers of Mandarin living in Taiwan is "indirect attribution." The second is "direct criticism." The relationship and gender of interlocutors influence their complaint strategies. Interlocutors of the same gender tend to be more direct with each other. Each strategy has multiple forms depending on intended meaning and situation. Modality is discussed in the context of internal modification. Native Mandarin speakers' attitudes and volitions are frequently expressed through monosyllabic adverbs and sentence-end particles. Compared to native English language speakers, advanced Mandarin learners’ complaints bear similarities to those of native Taiwanese speakers of Mandarin. However, the intermediate-level Mandarin learners use "direct criticism" more frequently than native speakers. This is evidence that intermediate-level learners can not distinguish semantically between complaints and criticisms. Intermediate-level learners fail to choose appropriate strategies in various relationships and situations. Learners do not use appropriate directive acts -- demonstrating a U-shape (restructuring continuum of interlanguage). Also, intermediate learners use more external modifications than native speakers because learners are unable to assert their intentions by means of vague complaints and directive acts. Intermediate-level learners use frequent external modifications to mitigate or amplify the intensity of their message. So, although learners employ fewer internal modifications than native speakers, their use of internal modifications exhibit individual differences. Interestingly, learners frequently overuse internal modifications because of experiences in other language acquisition. Along with acquisition difficulties, the researcher discussed some teaching implications, curriculum design, teaching aids, instructions, teaching approaches, activities and students. Finally, on the basis of raw data and findings, the researcher designed a lesson plan with suggestions for instruction included.