... none of the subjects from the VLE and the NSE groups used DP, IPr, IPh, IOH, IRI, IP and IRQ. The number of the other formulas such as IR, IW, IER and IRQ were similar in the refusals of the ... distance of the speakers and the hearers and to the formality of the invitations. Some important factors which emerge from the above reviewed studies inform the present study. Firstly, speakers of ... not shift their refusal strategies noticeably according to the status of the interlocutors. The above review of the related literature of the speech act of refusal shows that the use of refusal...