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„expresses displeasure  or annoyance  –

censure- as a reaction to a past or going action, the

consequences  of  which  are  perceived  by  S  as

affecting  her  unfavorably” (Deveci, 2015)

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1. Present and discuss indirect complaint sequences taken from spontaneous speech.

Typical responses to complaints and responses (agreement, reassurance or commiseration)

Advice responses that serve to encourage the speaker

Joking and teasing responses that demonstrate light-hearted goodwill

Question responses to show interest in the speaker’s complaint

Commiseration responses in exclamatory form

2. Present sample complaints without responses and encourage discussion on how each complaint makes students feel.

3. Ask students to fill in the indirect complaint that might come before the following responses. For each of such complaint exchanges, have a group discussion about how setting, context, and interlocutor variables affect how people complain and respond.

4. Ask students to arrange short conversations in order.

5. Give the context of a situation with gender, social status, social distance relationships, and have small groups play roles of mini-drama, videotape, play back and analyze the interactions.

Possible Tasks and Exercises:

Look at the situation practice making a complaint.

Situation 1:

You have been planning a trip for months and are very excited. But it’s 12 hours of travel time, including two flights. Your first flight is delayed three times, which will cause you to miss your connecting flight. That means you will also miss a special event tomorrow at your destination. And you already bought tickets to the event. Talk to the airline worker about the problem.

Situation 2:

Your professor puts students into small groups for a big project. The project is 25% of your final grade. You are in a group with two other people. One is a hard worker. But the other texts people a lot and doesn’t do enough work. The hard working student is not bothered by the lazy student. But you are. Talk to the lazy student or the professor about the problem.

(Everyday Grammar)

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English:
- stay polite (e.g.  I’m sorry to say this, but…)

An effective complaint often has three steps: explaining the problem; stating your feelings; and asking for action.
1. Explain the Problem:
Explain the Problem: „I think you may have…“/„I‘m sorry to have to say this, but…“/…
2. State your feelings:
Say how you feel about the problem: „This is unacceptable…“/„This is….“/…
3. Ask for Action:
Ask for action to be take on the problem: „Could I please speak with the manager?“/…

German:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGwM5pzxQCQ

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Potential difficulties for German Sek1 learners

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Potential difficulties for German Sek1 learners

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the German language is very direct without being impolite

when directly translated from German a complain can sound very rude to a English speaking person

https://www.business-spotlight.de/sprachratgeber-business-englisch-lernen/how-be-polite-englische-hoeflichkeitsformen

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- Deveci, T. (2015): The Complaint Speech Act Set Produced by University Students Speaking English as a Foreign Language. Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301820825_The_Complaint_Speech_Act_Set_Produced_by_University_Students_Speaking_English_as_a_Foreign_Language

- English Learning (2018): How to Make a Complaint in English. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/how-to-make-a-complaint-in-english/4657004.html