CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES IN TURKISH AND AMERICAN SPEECH COMMUNITIES: A SCHOOL SETTING

Abstract

Conflicts in communication are very common in every culture. However, resolving them varies from one culture to another. Conflict management strategies in communication revolve around five solutions collaboration, compromise, avoidance, competition, and accomodation as stated by Kilman (1977). This study attempts to explore ways of terminating verbal conflicts in academic settings. In the study, first, we aim to evaluate the ways of solving conflicts in two settings: a Turkish and an American University. Secondly, taking a pragmatic perspective, a classification of speech acts used to end conflicts is targeted according to both Killman’s strategies and a facework analysis. specifically, it is aimed to investigate:  generally how Turkish and American speakers end conflicts in discourse and which strategies they use in order to resolve conflicts  how “face” is reflected in those speech acts as categorized by Ting Toomey (1988, 1992).  any differences between Turkish and American speakers styles  any changes in conflict resolution due to power status in both cultures. Results are valuable in that they add up to the knowledge about intercultural pragmatic language use and cultural cognitions. Moreover, as the research aims to reveal basic verbal and behavioural differences between two communities, it is likely to contribute to intercultural understanding.