Food Invitations in Jordanian and Saudi Arabian Societies: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Food invitation is one of the speech acts examined in cross-cultural pragmatics. The diverse invitation strategies employed across societies have motivated substantial scholarly attention. Enhancing intercultural communicative competence in this speech act can strengthen interpersonal relationships. This study examines similarities and differences in the politeness strategies employed in food invitations in Jordanian and Saudi Arabian societies. Two instruments—memos and semi-structured interviews—were used to collect the data. Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory was adopted to analyze the strategies employed by both groups. Examining accepted and declined food invitations among Jordanians and Saudis can facilitate successful communication. Following the classification of politeness strategies used by both communities, the study provides an in-depth analysis of the cultural perspectives that may motivate the preference for particular invitation strategies. Future research could compare other sociolinguistic phenomena in the two communities, such as agreement and disagreement strategies.