Abstract:
This
research
has been
an attempt to study
the
concept
of
cross-cultural communication. Communication across cultures requires a high
level of interaction and involvement through being sensitive to the give and
take of the communication process . Throughout the research it has been
indicated that socio-cultural knowledge is of central importance in pragmatic
competence or communicative competence.
Such knowledge can be acquired through language mediated social
interaction. To this
end
the research has dealt with three questions
investigating requesting strategies used by Sudanese students,males or females,
in order to find out the extent to which they communicate effectively when
using the foreign language; for communication nowadays is considered the
heart of language learning.
The questions investigated are requesting sensitivity between male and
female students,requesting forms
and
situation, seeking to show
any
differences and\or similarities in the students' requesting strategies.
The results of the study show that both gender groups are sensitive to
request, and it has also been found that both gender groups favored the usage
of polite forms of request . It has also been concluded that Sudanese students
are polite in all forms of situations educational and non- educational .
The researcher has recommended inclusion of socio-cultural information
in the language syllabus to improve students' communicative competence .