Cultural Differences in Writing English Native and Non-Native Acknowledgment texts: A Contrastive Study

Abstract

This study investigates the similarities and differences in different cultures between English natives and non-natives speakers in writing acknowledgments. Six major sections of acknowledgments in both English natives and non-natives were examined. Forty- three dissertations and books from different fields, 11 by English natives and 32 by non-natives including Iranians (Fourteen written by Iranians, seven in English and seven in Persian) were analyzed in percentages, and the quantitative results of the analysis were examined statistically. The results showed that the cultural origins and the teamwork had the most differences. There was the least gap due to supervisor and advisor, and the most gaps were seen between writing acknowledgments of natives and non-natives, which were due to family and God. The average of word counts of natives and non-natives writings came to a great similarity.