Using data from the ESRC-funded project Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication (PIC), this paper applies contrastive qualitative and quantitative analysis to data derived from oral statements, logbooks and retrospective reports by language teaching assistants in France and England. It demonstrates that the incidence of 'indirect complaint' (Boxer, 1993) is significantly higher amongst English assistants than amongst their French counterparts and also that the 'severity' (Olshtain and Weinbach, 1993) is similarly greater. The study nevertheless shows that personality is a stronger determinant of cultural outlook and behaviour than nationality.
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JFL The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Journal of French Language Studies, 20 (1), pp 75-87 2010, © 2010 Cambridge University Press. see also Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication - the website of the PIC project www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/pic