A Study of Apology Speech Act in Sitcoms: Implications for Language Teaching and Learning

Because of their utmost importance in communication and interpersonal relationships, apologies have been widely studied and discussed thus far. In line with the same view and in order to introduce a clearer image of apology strategies to nonnative language users, this study investigated the apology exchanges used in a popular English situation comedy (sitcom) namely “The Simpsons”, aiming to determine the apology strategies, the types of offenses, and the factors leading up to the choice of apology strategies. To achieve these purposes, 8 seasons of The Simpsons were selected and used as the corpus, the conversations containing apology expressions were transcribed and used for analysis based on the frameworks proposed by Trosborg (1995) and Fraser (1981). The results of analyzing apology expressions revealed that expression of regret, acknowledgement of responsibility, and explanation were the most frequent apology strategies. Also, in some cases speakers resorted to using mixtures of apology strategies among which expression of regret mixed with explanation was the most common combination of apology strategies. It was also found that I‟m sorry and excuse me were the most frequent apology forms. Additionally, although the situation and the familiarity between the interlocutors were effective in choosing apology strategies, the nature and the severity of the infraction were found to be the most influential factors. The findings of this study have implications for L2 learners, helping them become more aware of cultural differences and thus apologizing more effectively.