The use of indirect strategies among university students in Ghana: A case study of University of Cape Coast

Abstract

This study aimed at finding out why and how students employ the use of sarcasm. The students of University of Cape Coast served as a case study. It also discussed how the social variables - gender and age influence the employment of sarcasm. The sampled size was eighty undergraduate students representing forty males and forty females with ten males and ten females in level hundred, two hundred, three hundred and four hundred respectively. The study used questionnaires. The study revealed that the aim of using sarcastic comments is to correct and tease. The study also revealed that gender has an influence on the issuing of such indirect strategies. In terms of age, it was revealed that students barely pass sarcastic comments towards people older than them. This shows their respect for the elderly as the culture demands in Ghana