Uses of Praying in Persian and English Movies in the Light of Hyme's Model

With regard to the salient role of language in shaping the culture of a society, the present study is seeking to delve into praying in Persian and English languages. To achieve this purpose, 168 movies were watched and conversations including praying instances were transcribed and later analyzed. The collected data was scrutinized based on Hymes’ (1967) model of speaking. The results exhibited that Iranians employed praying in their everyday life much more than the English people did. In addition, people’s intentions of using the speech act of praying and their referents were uncovered. In the end, the possible reasons of the differences in two languages of Persian and English were discussed.