Complaint Strategies in Arabic: An intra-Lingual Comparison of Jordanian and Saudi female Undergraduates

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the complaint strategies that Jordanian and Saudi female undergraduates use when complaining about their academic advisors to friends, people in charge, and the complainers themselves. A data completion task (DCT) with three scenarios was devised and given to 34 female undergraduates (17 Jordanians and 17 Saudis). The results revealed 19 complaint strategies. These strategies indicate that Jordanian females are more aggressive and offensive than Saudi females, who are quieter and have more control over themselves when they express complaints.