<![CDATA[Studies on request strategies in academic settings have mostly focused on East Asian or single-national contexts, leaving comparative perspectives from Southeast and Central Asia limited. In particular, little is known about how age, gender, and pragmatic awareness shape students’ communicative behavior across diverse cultural backgrounds. This study addresses the gap by examining how Indonesian, Kazakhstani, and Uzbek EFL students formulate academic requests and how socio-demographic and cognitive-affective factors influence their choices. The research draws on Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and relational approaches such as rapport management. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed: quantitative data were gathered from 347 students using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and demographic surveys, analyzed with chi-square tests, and enriched through semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed strong cultural variation: Indonesians preferred conventional indirectness to preserve harmony, Kazakhstani students favored directness reflecting explicitness and efficiency, while Uzbeks adopted a hybrid pattern. Age and gender significantly influenced strategies, with older and female learners tending toward indirect forms. Thematic analysis highlighted pragmatic awareness through monitoring language, cultural expectations, anxiety regulation, and growing confidence. The study extends politeness theory by showing that clarity can function as a pragmatic value, and it offers pedagogical implications, recommending explicit intercultural pragmatics instruction via case studies, role-plays, and email simulations.]]>
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