Asking for Permission in English and Tharu

Abstract

The main purposes of this study entitled ‘A Comparative Study of Asking for Permission in English and Tharu’ were to identify different forms as well as terms of asking for permission in Tharu; to compare and contrast them with that of the English language and to provide some pedagogical implications. For those purposes, the researcher collected data from the eighty ‘Western Tharu’ speaking Tharu native speakers using stratified random sampling procedure from four VDCs of Kailali districts through questionnaires. For English data, the researcher used the secondary sources of data from some authentic English textbooks and some previous researches carried out in the Department of English Education related with the topic. The findings of this study show that forms of asking for permission are reflected through 'affixation' or in 'separate lexical items' or 'in both: affixation and separate lexical items' in the Tharu. But the forms (moods) of sentences and sentence initial modals reflect the forms of asking for permission in English. In English formal and polite forms were used with family members but Tharu native speakers used temperate forms with their family members and strangers while seeking permission with them. Both the English and Tharu native speakers used formal and polite forms with friends, doctors, headmaster, boss, president and prime minister. This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter introduces the study in terms of general background, review of the related literature, objectives and significance of the study. The second chapter deals with the sources of data, sampling procedure, tools for data collection, process of data collection and limitations of the study. Similarly, the third chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of data. The data have been presented and analyzed descriptively and analytically with the help of tables and charts. Finally, the fourth chapter contains the findings and recommendations of the study.