ANALYSIS OF APOLOGIZING STRATEGY USED BY INDONESIAN STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

This study examines how male and female students in the English Education Department of Suryakancana University express apologies in everyday situations. The research used a qualitative approach and collected data through a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) that presented ten common scenarios requiring the students to apologize. The participants were 40 students, consisting of 20 males and 20 females. The questionnaire was written in simple language and supported with Indonesian explanations to help the students understand each situation clearly. The results show that both male and female students most often used direct apology expressions. However, when the mistake was serious, especially in the case of losing a laptop, students tended to use stronger strategies such as intensifying their apologies, clearly blaming themselves, and offering to fix the problem. Another common pattern was explaining what happened without fully admitting fault. Differences between men and women were also found. Female students used more emotional expressions, repeated intensifiers, and supportive strategies such as humor and appeasers. Male students, on the other hand, were more likely to reduce the seriousness of the mistake or avoid full responsibility, particularly when talking to friends or juniors. These findings indicate that both gender and the seriousness of the situation influence how students apologize in daily communication.