Abstract:
This study aims to explore the request and politeness strategies employed by native speakers of Kabyle and Chaoui across various interactional contexts, as well as the similarities and differences in their use. It also examines how social variables like gender, social distance, and power dynamics influence their request realization. To achieve the research objectives, a quantitative method was adopted, using an Oral Discourse Completion Test (ODCT) to collect data. It includes four situations of different social contexts, and was distributed to 40 participants, consisting of 20 Kabyle and 20 Chaoui speakers. The data were analyzed following Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) framework, while Brown and Levinson (1987) model was applied for the identification of politeness strategies. The findings indicated that Kabyle and Chaoui males opted for indirect strategies when requesting their male and female interlocutors, while Kabyle females preferred direct strategies in same-gender. Both strategies are employed in cross-gender interactions. Chaoui females used direct strategies with males and females. Both groups employed indirect strategies with higher/equal and direct with lower status individuals. Kabyle males favored positive politeness in cross-gender and negative in same- gender interactions. Kabyle females and Chaoui male and female participants chose positive politeness in both interactions. Both communities used negative politeness with higher/equal status, but Kabyle preferred positive, while Chaoui favored bald-on-record in high-low interaction. Moreover, the results revealed that social factors impact the use of these strategies, Kabyle and Chaoui speakers show politeness through religious expressions.
