Negotiating Frames Through Refusal Acts: A Pragmatic Analysis of Native/ Non-native Speakers' Interactions in Problem-Solving Telephone Conversations

The purpose of this study is to investigate frame negotiation and construction through a pragmatic analysis of the speech act refusal. This act serves as a marker of conflicting frames in Problem-Solving-Service Call (PSSC) interactions between native speakers of English and non-native speakers of English (NNS). Sixteen authentic PSSCs were recorded by eight NNS (Chinese) when they were talking to customer service representatives. A pragmatic analysis of moment- by-moment encounters of their interactions will, first, demonstrate how refusal acts trigger conflicting frames; second, how conflicting frames are further marked by structured linguistic items to indicate individuals’ presuppositions, and third how conflicting frames are redefined through a co-constructing process. Instructional implications are provided to suggest frame knowledge building in second language learning activities.