This paper examines the phenomenon of sociocultural transfer and its motivating factors within the realization patterns of speech act refusal by Chinese EFL learners. EFL refusal data were collected using a written data collection test (DCT), which was designed and then followed by semi-structured interviews. Using semantic formulas as units of analysis, EFL refusal responses were compared with similar data elicited from native speakers of English. The results show two areas in which sociocultural transfer is existent in EFL learners' speech: options of selecting semantic formulas and content of semantic formulas. Each was found to reflect cultural values transferred from Chinese to English. Furthermore, based on the interview data, it was found that learners' social system and political factors, traditional socio-psychological ideology and economy possibly motivate sociocultural transfer.
