Politeness in Requests: Pragmatic Perception of Politeness in Requests Across Academic Cultures of English L1s and Punjabi ESLs

The present research study is anchored in the fields of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) & cross cultural studies of speech acts to investigate comparatively the pragmatic perception of politeness in ‘Request patterns’ across cultures of native English speakers (EL1s) and native Punjabi speakers learning English as second language (P-ESLs). The stimulus for this research study is to create harmony between English and Punjabi native speakers by having awareness of differences in the cultural conventions in making requests. It is evident from the results & findings of this study that in spite of the fact that there is great difference in the execution of request statements from the people of both cultural groups yet they are identical in their pragmatic perception or sensitivity of politeness in the speech act of request. Moreover, the stereotypes of less polite or unfriendly attitude of Punjabi ESLs in cross-cultural communication more especially in the speech act of request, is originated by the socio-cultural conventions of English society, lack of pragmatic competence of English language of Punjabi ESLs and excellence of linguistic competence of English L1s.