article

Intercultural Politeness and German Language Acquisition among Saudi Learners

  1. 1. Associate Professor of German as a Foreign Language, Departmen of European and Eastern Languages, College of Languages and Sciences, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
Issue: Vol. 8 No. 4 (2026)
Published: 2026-10-29
DOI: 10.53286/r83t9810

Abstract

This study focused on the relationship between intercultural politeness and German language learning experiences for Saudi university students in Riyadh in terms of (Pragmatic competence, sociopragmatic transfer, intercultural communication differences, and perception of intercultural pragmatics instruction). The current study used a cross sectional quantitative survey design. Astructured five pointlikert scale questionnaire was used to collect the data from 128 Saudi university learners taking formal German language courses in Riyadh. Purposive sampling was used according to three criteria: 1) Saudi nationals, 2) current enrollment in a university-level German language course, and 3) previous experience in learning German long enough to answer questions on the topic of Intercultural communication and politeness. Secondary school students and those who did not have any formal experience in learning German were not included in the sample.The descriptive findings showed that the participants' perception of the politeness norms of the Saudi Arabic language, the differences in communication style, and the sociocultural aspects of their communication experiences with Germans were found to be relevant to their experiences of communicating in German. The participants also reported that their awareness of the pragmatic conventions of German language, authentic communication, and instruction in intercultural pragmatics could facilitate their ability to comprehend and use German appropriately. The findings support the general conclusion that the development of second- and foreign-language pragmatics is not just about acquiring language knowledge but also communicative knowledge, which means that greater attention should be paid to contrastive pragmatic awareness, real communicative scenarios, and a conscious dialogue of politeness and sociocultural norms in German language programmes for Saudi learners.

Keywords

Intercultural politeness German language acquisition Saudi learners pragmatics face-work

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